Honda and GM team up to make ‘millions’ of affordable EVs

Honda and General Motors will be teaming up to create a new generation of affordable electric cars.

The two mega-manufacturers will start making “millions” of jointly-developed EVs from 2027, focusing on the massively popular compact crossover segment.

Part of the deal will involve standardising equipment and procedures across both manufacturers, as well as looking into developing future battery technology that’ll help to drive the costs of electrification down whilst improving the performance and sustainability of these new EVs.

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Both companies have already been developing potential new battery technology on their own.

General Motors has been experimenting with numerous different types including solid-state, lithium-metal and silicon batteries, whilst Honda has been working on its own solid-state battery technology.

All of this feeds into both companies’ ambitions to become completely carbon-neutral within the next couple of decades.

General Motors wants to become fully carbon-neutral by 2024 (including eliminating all tailpipe emissions from its model line-up by 2035) and Honda wants to become a carbon-neutral company by 2050.

GM crossover could cost as little as $30,000

One model that’s already been confirmed to come out of this new partnership will be a General Motors-build crossover for the North American market, with a price point that could be as low as about $30,000.

This would undercut the already-announced Chevrolet Equinox EV, which is due to be available to the general public by autumn 2023.

Honda and General Motors are also already co-developing the Honda Prologue SUV, which is due to be launched in early 2024, and Acura’s first electric SUV, which will follow soon after.

The two companies are also working together on creating the Cruise Origin, which General Motors purports will be “one of the first purpose-built fully autonomous vehicles designed for driverless ride-hail and delivery”.

“GM and Honda will share our best technology, design and manufacturing strategies to deliver affordable and desirable EVs on a global scale, including our key markets in North America, South America and China,” Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, said about the new partnership.

“This is a key step to deliver on our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in our global products and operations by 2040 and eliminate tailpipe emissions from light duty vehicles in the U.S. by 2035.

“By working together, we’ll put people all over the world into EVs faster than either company could achieve on its own.”

Honda’s CEO Toshihiro Mibe added the company was committed to reaching its carbon-neutrality goal.

“The progress we have made with GM since we announced the EV battery development collaboration in 2018, followed by co-development of electric vehicles including the Honda Prologue, has demonstrated the win-win relationship that can create new value for our customers,” Honda’s senior managing executive officer Shinji Aoyama added.

“This new series of affordable EVs will build on this relationship by leveraging our strength in the development and production of high quality, compact class vehicles.”

“Our plans include a new all-electric product for North America positioned at a price point lower than the upcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV, building on the 2 million units of EV capacity the company plans to install by the end of 2025.”

This announcement comes just after Honda announced it would be partnering with Sony to help the Korean tech company “create a new era of mobility and mobility services”.

This includes the electric cars Sony has already revealed to the public, which could be in production as early as 2025.

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