Honda announces target to sell only electric vehicles by 2040

Honda is the latest in a long string of automakers to announce ambitious goals to abolish the internal combustion engine. While some rival companies have vowed to sell only EVs in 10-15 years from now, the Japanese marque says its switch to a completely green lineup will take more time. 2040 is not the absolute cutoff date, but more along the lines of a target Honda wants to reach.

To get there, it aims for electric and fuel cell vehicles in North America to represent 40% of its annual sales by the end of the decade, rising to 80% by 2035 before abandoning the combustion engine altogether five years later. Achieving these ambitious goals will take a lot of work, which is why Honda is collaborating with General Motors on two large zero-emissions vehicles making use of GM’s new Ultium batteries used by the Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer.

The two EVs will be launched in North America for the 2024 model year, meaning they’ll go on sale in 2023. One will be badged as a Honda while the other as a fancier Acura. From 2025 onwards, a new family of EVs will be launched on a dedicated e:Architecture developed from the ground up exclusively for electric cars. North America will be the first region to get the new wave of EVs, with global markets to follow.

At home in Japan, Honda is targeting electric and fuel cell vehicles to achieve a sales ratio of 20% by 2030, 80% by 2035, and 100% by 2040. A fully electric kei car will be launched locally in 2024 and the company will offer an electrified powertrain for all of its JDM cars by the end of this decade.

As for China, the goal is to reach 40% of total sales by 2030 to be represented by electric and fuel cell cars, with the percentage growing to 80% by 2035 and 100% by 2040. No fewer than ten EVs will be launched within the next five years in the People’s Republic, including a production version of the SUV e:Prototype due in spring 2022.

In the long run, Honda will strive to become completely carbon-neutral by having a zero environmental impact. Whether we’re talking about car or motorcycle production, the target is to become carbon neutral by 2050 when all of the company’s corporate activities will also be earth-friendly.

By the middle of the century, Honda hopes there will be no more fatalities resulted from collisions involving its cars and motorcycles by heavily investing in R&D to develop new safety systems.

Source: Honda