On April 12, Honda Motor said that it will invest 8 trillion yen (about $64 billion) in research and development over the next 10 years, of which about 5 trillion yen (about $40 billion) will be invested in electrification and software technology, and it said that it will launch 30 electric vehicle models around the world by 2030, with an annual output of more than 2 million.
In addition, 43 billion yen (about 2.184 billion yuan) will be invested in the production of a demonstration line for solid-state batteries, with the hope that production will be put into operation in the spring of 2024.
It is not difficult to see Honda's determination to enter the new energy vehicle track. As early as 2021, Honda Motor said that it would stop selling gasoline-powered vehicles before 2040.
40% of global sales in 2030 will consist of battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, reaching 80% in 2035 and 100% in 2040.
Last year, Honda announced its electrification strategy, planning to launch 10 e:N series electric vehicles in China within five years, two of which will be released for sale this year. Among them, the first model of the Dongfeng Honda e:N brand, e:N, will be launched on April 26.
It is understood that Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 has earlier been unveiled at the 2021 Wuhan Auto Show, positioning a compact pure electric SUV, with a length, width and height of 4390/1790/1560mm, and a wheelbase of 2610mm. According to the declaration information, the car is equipped with a drive motor produced by Weipan Automotive Electronics (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. with models TZ190HSBMCF61 and TZ190HSAMCF61, with a maximum power of 182 horsepower (134kw) and 204 horsepower (150kw), respectively, and a comprehensive cruising range of 420 km and 510 km.
In addition, Honda also said that it plans to establish several specialized electric vehicle production plants in China. Earlier, according to Caijing Auto, Dongfeng Honda took over the second plant of Dongfeng Automobile in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone.
It is understood that after Dongfeng Honda took over, the plant was transformed into a brand new factory specializing in the production of pure electric vehicle models. On April 5, in order to ensure the stable procurement of liquid lithium batteries, Honda Motor and General Motors announced a cooperation agreement, and the two sides will work together to establish a new platform to jointly create low-cost and people-friendly electric vehicles. The two sides expect the new model to be available for sale in 2027, and the vehicle will be priced lower than the Chevrolet Equinox (priced at $30,000).
It is worth noting that when the electrification of automobiles becomes the trend of future automobile development, in order not to be left behind in the new energy vehicle track, it is undoubtedly a huge challenge for traditional automobile manufacturers to switch to the new energy vehicle track. At present, it is not only Honda Automobile that has laid out the field of electric vehicles.
In fact, Nissan and Toyota and other Japanese car companies are vigorously injecting electrification transformation, and earlier Nissan Motor released the "2030 Vision", planning to invest 2 trillion yen (about 112.84 billion yuan) in the next five years to accelerate the layout of electric drive products and technological innovation.
By fiscal 2030, 23 electric models will be launched, including 15 pure electric models. In the Chinese market, Nissan aims to achieve its goal of selling more than 40% of electric-driven models by fiscal 2026. Toyota has also launched a $35 billion all-electric vehicle program to increase annual global sales of all-electric vehicles to 3.5 million by 2030.
Traditional car companies have also been under a lot of pressure, many traditional car companies are actively transforming to electrification, and the transformation of traditional fuel vehicles into new energy vehicles has become an inevitable trend.
From the current point of view, the growth prospects of the electric vehicle market are broad, in the next 10 years, the annual sales of global electric vehicles also means that the competition in the future electric vehicle market is fierce, and if you want to survive in the fierce new energy track, large-scale research and development expenses must also be invested.