Honda was relatively late to the game on electrification. Only now are we seeing the Prologue and Acura ZDX on the road—both of which use GM's Ultium platform. But even as EV enthusiasm wanes, a new bespoke platform for Acura's next electric SUV and an entire range of 0 Series products means Honda has no plans of slowing its EV roll.
"Many people are talking about the slowdown of EV sales," Honda Global Executive Vice President Shinji Aoyama told journalists during a roundtable event in Monterey. "Our focus is clear based on our goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050."
"We have not changed our belief that battery EVs are the most effective solution in the area of small mobility, such as motorcycles or automobiles," he continued. "We are still in the early days of the EV era… We remain confident that the EV shift will continue to proceed steadily… So we will keep our long-term view and we expect that this ecosystem will change step by step."
For Honda, EVs are still part of the plan. This comes at a time when other automakers have started to roll back EV investments. Ford and General Motors are diverting more funds to plug-in hybrids, while companies like Audi and Mercedes-Benz are pushing their timelines back by years.
But that’s not to say Honda is going all-in on EVs—at least not yet. Kazuhiro Takizawa, the CEO of American Honda, noted that the company will take a "balanced" approach to electrification and that ICE and hybrid vehicles will still be part of Honda’s upcoming plans.
"We will continue to invest in the strength of our hybrid and ICE vehicles," Takizawa said, "giving us a balanced and flexible approach to electrification.… We are taking a unique, flexible approach at our EV hub in Ohio where we will begin the first phase of EV production late next year. This will enable us to better produce all of our gas and electric vehicles on the same production line."
Honda’s new 0 Series platform introduced at CES earlier this year will underpin future Honda SUVs and even a sports car. Acura will adopt the platform for its performance EV SUV—based on the concept debuted in Monterey—and an "NSX-Type" sports car, which Aoyama confirmed in the same interview. This new EV platform, Honda says, will be "light."
"We are trying to build a strong EV brand, not an EV business to achieve our goal of zero environmental impact," Aoyama notes. "That is our biggest mission facing us today."
