Honda to invest $63 billion in electric vehicle development
April 12, 2022
In a recent press conference, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., outlined its path to achieving carbon neutrality, including a planned investment of US $63 billion in electric vehicle development over the course of the next decade.
The auto manufacturer plans to budget approximately ¥8 trillion for its research and development expenses, with approximately ¥5 trillion (US $40 billion) focused in the areas of electrification and software. It also intends to expand its range of technologies and businesses by investing, at a scale of ¥10 billion a year, in startups with high-potential technologies and business models.
Based on its policy to utilise external funding methods on an as-needed basis, Honda has already issued Green Bonds totalling US $2.75 billion in March 2022. By allocating the proceeds from these to the development and production of EVs and FCVs, Honda hopes to further accelerate its initiatives toward the realisation of carbon neutrality.
From the second half of the 2020s, Honda anticipates further accelerating its independent battery R&D. For the all-solid-state batteries the company is currently developing, Honda intends to build a demonstration line with an operational goal of spring 2024. The company hopes to adopt its next-generation batteries to models scheduled for introduction in the second half of the decade.
In early 2024, Honda expects to introduce a commercial-use mini EV model in the ¥1 million price range before expanding into personal-use mini EVs and EV SUVs. By 2030, the company hopes to have launched thirty EV models globally.
