On April 12, Honda held an explanatory meeting on its automotive electrification business and announced that it will invest 5 trillion yen (about 253.5 billion yuan) in electrification and software over the next decade, of which 3.5 trillion yen (about 177.5 billion yuan) will be invested in research and development, and 1.5 trillion yen (about 76 billion yuan) will be invested.
In terms of products, Honda plans to launch 30 pure electric vehicle models worldwide by 2030, and make the annual production of pure electric vehicles exceed 2 million. In addition, Honda will invest about 43 billion yen (about 2.2 billion yuan) to build an all-solid-state battery demonstration production line, which is expected to be completed and put into operation in the spring of 2024.
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The company will invest 5 trillion yen to ban the global fire in 2040
In April last year, Toshihiro Mibe officially assumed the position of president of Honda and announced that he would completely stop selling new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040, making pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles account for 100% of sales. As a result, Honda became the first japanese automaker to publicly state its "ban on combustion.". Subsequently, Mibu Toshihiro has been accelerating the pace of Honda's electrification transformation.
At the same time, in order to cut spending in the field of traditional internal combustion engines, Honda has been reducing the number of derivatives of global models in recent years. Honda revealed that as of now, the number of derivatives of its global models has decreased by 50% compared with 2018. Honda aims to reduce the number of derivative models by 2/3 compared to 2018 by 2025. In addition, Honda plans to reduce the cost of automobile production by 10% compared with 2018.
Honda intends to use as much of its capital as possible for electrification and the company's future growth by improving its traditional business base. Overall, in the next 10 years, Honda's budget for research and development will reach 8 trillion yen. Of this, 3.5 trillion yen will be used for research and development in the field of electrification and software. Combined with the 1.5 trillion yen investment in production facilities, the total investment in electrification and software will reach 5 trillion yen over the next 10 years.
In addition to electrification in the automotive sector, Honda plans to expand the use of batteries and hydrogen energy in motorcycles, aircraft engines, marine engines, and generators to help it achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
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In 2030, the fire will be banned in China and a joint venture plant in North America will be discussed
In Honda's automotive electrification strategy, North America, China, and Japan are its three core markets, and Honda will launch products according to market characteristics.
First look at China, by 2027, Honda will launch 10 pure electric models in China. Just last October, Honda China released its electrification strategy in China and launched a new electric vehicle brand e:N, Dongfeng Honda's e:NS1 and Guangqi Honda's e:NP1 simultaneous debut, the two new cars will be launched in the near future. Honda has also promised that all models launched in China after 2030 will be electric vehicles, and plans to build dedicated electric vehicle factories in Guangzhou and Wuhan.
In North America, Honda will launch two medium- and large-sized pure electric vehicles developed in cooperation with GM in 2024, one is the new Prologue SUV of the Honda brand and the other is the electric SUV of the Acura brand. Honda also plans to build a dedicated electric vehicle production line in North America.
In Japan, Honda will take the lead in launching commercial micro-electric vehicles with a price of about 1 million yen (about 50,000 yuan) in the first half of 2024. This was followed by the introduction of micro-electric vehicles and electric SUVs for private consumers.
From the perspective of product launch, Honda's electrification process in China is relatively fast, and as for North America and Japan, it is slightly slower, probably because the North American electric vehicle market has not yet entered the explosive period, and the Japanese electric vehicle market is making slower progress. Because of this, Honda chose to test the waters with low-cost electric vehicles in Japan.
Specific to battery procurement, Honda will use GM's Ultium batteries in North America and consider establishing a joint-venture battery plant with other manufacturers; strengthen cooperation with CATL in China; and purchase batteries from Envision Power (Envision AESC) for its micro-electric vehicles in Japan.
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Aiming at low-cost electric vehicles, we will create a dedicated platform for pure electricity
In the field of electrification, Mibuhiro tends to use alliances to accelerate corporate transformation. Honda has worked closely with General Motors in recent years. Just in early April this year, Honda and GM announced the expansion of their existing partnership to develop low-cost electric vehicles, including popular compact SUVs, based on GM's latest generation of Ultium batteries and pure electric architecture platform, which are expected to be launched in the North American market in 2027. The electric vehicle jointly developed by the two sides will be priced below $30,000.
Last month, Honda signed a letter of intent with Sony to form a joint venture in 2022 to jointly develop and sell high-value-added pure electric vehicles, while the new company's first all-electric model will start selling in 2025. In the cooperation between the two parties, Sony will focus on software and services, and Honda will be responsible for production and sales. This is the first major collaboration between two iconic Japanese brands from different industries.
In addition, Honda plans to launch a product using "Honda e: Architecture", which is a pure electric vehicle platform that combines various hardware and software in 2026.
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Trial production of solid-state batteries
Solid-state batteries have become one of the cutting-edge battery technologies that major car companies are most concerned about. Honda revealed that it will accelerate the independent research and development of a new generation of batteries, and decided to invest about 43 billion yen to build an all-solid-state battery demonstration production line, which is scheduled to start in the spring of 2024. In terms of mass production, Honda aims to install all-solid-state batteries on models launched in the second half of 2020, that is, between 2026 and 2030.
In addition to Honda, two car companies have recently announced relevant plans. On April 8, Nissan Held an All-Solid-State Battery Technology Briefing, announcing that Nissan will conduct a lab-level feasibility study in 2022, build a pilot plant in Yokohama in 2024, and launch a mass production vehicle equipped with an all-solid-state battery in 2028. On the evening of April 11, Mercedes-Benz Held the first ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) Forum for Investors and Analysts, saying that it is working with partners to develop solid-state batteries and plans to achieve mass production of solid-state batteries in 2028.
In addition, Toyota's chief technology officer Masahiko Maeda previously said that Toyota is optimistic about solid-state batteries and expects to put the next generation of batteries into practical applications by 2025. Electric vehicles equipped with Toyota's all-solid-state batteries were licensed in August last year and road tests were launched. However, there are still many technical obstacles to the current all-solid-state battery, and it may take some time before industrialization. For example, Christopher Nifford, a senior scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation in Germany, previously predicted that the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries may not wait until 2030.
Text: Zhang Dongmei Editor: Li Peiyang Layout: Wang Kun Image source: Honda official website