Faced with the growing global demand for electric vehicles, Honda is joining the flurry of global automakers spending tens of billions of dollars to go electric.
Honda said in a statement that it plans to launch 30 EV models by 2030, with an annual production volume of more than two million units.
The company said it would allocate around $39.9 billion over the next 10 years “in the area of electrification and software technologies to further accelerate its electrification”.
“From 2030 onwards, we believe we will enter a period of full popularity, and there will be a common fight between EVs. We will have small, medium and large-sized platforms in place and we will cover all segments with these three platforms,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in a press release.
Starting with a gasoline-free belt, Mibe explained Honda plans to continue to work with partners like GM to ensure scalability and reach a cost limit.
“At the same time, the technology will eventually become the home of the proper technologies that will be able to sustain and sustain the lead,” Mibe said.
In North America, Honda has agreed to source batteries from General Motors (GM), though the Japanese company said Tuesday that it hadn’t ruled out the idea of forming a joint venture to produce such technology with another partner.
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In China, the Japanese company has a battery deal with CATL, a market leader and Tesla (TSLA) supplier.
The $40 billion investment is the latest step in its push to have electric and fuel cell vehicles account for 100 percent of all sales by 2040, a target announced a year ago.
Honda and Japanese tech conglomerate Sony announced last month they would start a new company to develop and sell electric vehicles, with sales of their first electric model expected to begin in 2025.
At present, around 10 percent of European car sales are EVs, and the US figure is just two percent.
But demand is growing, and other major automakers including Honda’s Japanese rivals are investing money and resources into electric vehicles. Volkswagen and Toyota have each put up at least $35 billion for EVs. Hyundai has pledged the same sum to future-proofing its lineup, which includes investments in both electric and autonomous vehicles.
Earlier this year, the auto alliance grouping Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi Motors promised to offer 35 new electric models by 2030 as it announced a total investment of $25 billion in the sector.
Toyota, the world’s top-selling carmaker, has also recently hiked its 2030 electric vehicle sales goal by 75 percent, aiming to sell 3.5 million EVs a year from then.
