First Sony and then GM, Honda electric circle of friends and then expand, this time to push the "low-cost" model?

Per reporter: Pei Jianru Per reporter Per editor: Sun Lei

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it has deepened its partnership with General Motors to jointly develop lower-priced electric vehicles. The two companies expect the new model to sell for less than $30,000 per unit, and will be sold globally from 2027 onwards, starting with the North American market.

It is reported that the project will leverage GM's next-generation Ultium battery technology, and the production scale is expected to reach millions of units. Honda Motor will first launch pure electric vehicles produced at plants in the region in North America, and then gradually expand its sales areas to markets such as Japan, China and Europe. Not only that, but as the production facilities of the two companies are gradually shared, other plants around the world in Japan and the United States can also put into operation the new pure electric vehicles mentioned above.

In addition, the two sides also said that they will deepen cooperation in pure electric vehicle battery technology in the future, including the development of next-generation batteries such as all-solid-state batteries that the two sides are currently promoting.

"Honda and GM will further strengthen their current technical cooperation in order to expand global pure electric vehicle sales by leaps and bounds." Honda Giken Kogyo Co., Ltd. representative to the director of the toshihiro Mibe said.

Mary Bora, CEO of GM, agreed: "The two companies working together will supply pure electric vehicles to the world much earlier than the two companies acting separately." ”

In fact, as representatives of traditional car companies, Honda Automobile and General Motors are accelerating the pace of electrification. Previously, GM had set a goal of halting production of fuel vehicles in the U.S. by 2035 and achieving carbon neutrality for its global operations by 2040. According to the plan, by 2025, GM will launch more than 30 electric vehicles worldwide, more than 20 of which will be introduced to the Chinese market, when its electric vehicle production capacity in China is expected to reach 1 million.

For Honda Automotive, its goal is to be carbon neutral by 2050 through all Honda-related products and company activities. To this end, Honda motor plans to account for 40% of sales of pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles in advanced markets including China in 2030, 80% in 2035, and 100% in 2040.

Image source: Daily Economic News Infographic

Among them, in the Chinese market, Honda Will further accelerate the launch of electrified models, launching 10 new Honda brand pure electric models in five consecutive years, and all new models launched by Honda in China after 2030 are pure electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, and no new fuel vehicles will be released.

It is worth mentioning that since entering 2022, Honda Motors has made frequent moves in the field of electrification. At the beginning of March this year, Honda Motor announced that it has reached a partnership with Sony Group Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Sony) to establish a joint venture through which it will jointly develop and sell high-value-added pure electric vehicles, and will also provide mobility services to commercialize. The new company is scheduled to be established in 2022, and the first all-electric model will go on sale in 2025.

It is worth noting that the new company is expected to plan, design, develop and sell pure electric vehicles, but will not operate its own manufacturing facilities, Honda's automobile manufacturing plant is responsible for manufacturing and production, and Sony is responsible for developing and providing a mobility service platform to the new company.

"The new company aims to further innovate, evolve and expand mobility globally, creating value by leveraging Honda's experience and technology in the environment and safety, combining the technology assets of both companies." Sony and Honda have many similarities in history and culture, but their respective technical areas are different. I am sure that the new company that combines the strengths of our two companies will open up endless possibilities for the mobility of the future. Toshihiro Mibe thinks.

Image source: Visual China

In January of this year, Honda Motor also partnered with Boston-based electric vehicle battery research and development company SES Holdings Pte. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as SES) signed a joint development cooperation agreement for lithium metal secondary batteries. SES plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) through SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), and Honda Motor will acquire approximately 2% of the shares of SES AI Corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange through SPAC's private placement subscription (PIPE private equity fund).

Honda said that it is studying the next generation of batteries from multiple directions, including self-developed all-solid-state batteries, and this joint development cooperation is also one of the research directions. In the future, Honda and SES will continue to work together to create a safe, long-lasting, high-capacity next-generation electric vehicle battery.

Not only that, in January this year, Honda Motor also reported a cooperation scandal with South Korean battery manufacturer LG New Energy. According to relevant reports, the two sides want to establish a battery joint venture in the United States, the scale of investment may be as high as 4 trillion won (about 3.4 billion US dollars), the annual production capacity of the factory can reach 40GWh, enough to power 600,000 electric vehicles.

Toshihiro Mibu once said: "If through the form of the alliance, Honda can complete the planned goals as soon as possible, then we are willing to form an electrification alliance." Considering that electrification is still difficult in terms of commercial landing, the establishment of alliances will become an important way to promote electrification. ”

With the continuous expansion of the "circle of friends", can Honda Achieve its electrification goal as soon as possible? The industry will stay tuned.

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