The Electrifying Story Behind Honda’s Carbon Neutrality Mission

In an April 2022 press release, Honda Motor Company announced some of the most ambitious goals in the industry for the electrification of the entire company’s products in the near and distant future. The company outlined goals for the future of electric vehicles at Honda, including a 100% zero-emission Honda lineup in North America by 2040 that will help continue to propel the progression of this area of technology by offering competition to industry contemporaries. Sometime in the 2024 calendar year, drivers around the continent will likely have the opportunity to check out Honda’s first battery-electric sport utility vehicle right here at Classic Honda of Midland, your Odessa Honda dealer. Additional electric vehicles are set to be made available in 2027.

Honda Emissions Goals

It seems Honda’s most lofty goals for the near and distant future encompass a series of steps that are projected to completely electrify all of Honda’s operations worldwide within the next few decades, including all corporate and product-based operations. Within the next ten years, Honda is budgeting $40 billion, including research and development, in the area of electric vehicle production and technologies. This figure truly demonstrates the commitment of Honda Motor Corporation to these specific carbon neutrality goals. By 2030, Honda will push to launch 30 models of electric vehicles throughout countries around the world, with plans to produce a special line of solid-state batteries on a demonstrative basis by 2024, investing $340 million USD total in operations related to the project. The end goal of all of these initiatives is to achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2050.

Practicing Sustainability In Production And Customer Relationships

Honda recently described the company’s mission to prioritize long-term customer relationships by shifting the focus of engineering and development to products designed to cultivate and maintain recurring business from customers, with Honda providing continuous service and value to buyers after a sale is made. This will be done by using a multifaceted approach to expand on and refine Honda’s diverse array of products according to how customers use them, considering geographical region and country throughout the research and development of new and continuing projects.

In order to realize the entirety of its ambitious goals, Honda is restructuring the company to make the organization more in tune with ever-changing contemporary needs necessitated by this fresh new approach to production. The idea behind the reorganization is to take core technologies previously separated by product type (motorcycles, autos, and power products) and combine them with new, technology-centered designations under the umbrella name of “Business Development Operations.” The branch of the company will now be divided into categories based on aspects of technology, including electrified products and services, battery, energy, mobile power pack, hydrogen, and software and connected technologies that incorporate all of those core areas in a comprehensive manner. Honda calls this their campaign for a “cross-domain synergy” effect across Honda Motor Company products, relying on this philosophy to drive the company’s underlying mission of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

What To Expect In The Meantime

Honda’s new 2023 hybrid models offer a bridge-like transition towards the company’s new vision for the future of its electric vehicles. The new, sixth-generation Honda CR-V Hybrid will build on the success of the current hybrid model, continuing to offer customers an affordable and efficient SUV option. With a larger and more modern design, the new CR-V is sure to be a hit here in Odessa. Honda is also introducing a new Honda Civic Hybrid, which is set to replace the outgoing Honda Insight and will provide an even more efficient version of Honda’s compact sedan.

Before long, you can expect to see the highly anticipated Honda Prologue BEV on our showroom floor as Honda’s first fully electric SUV in North America, debuting on the market in the 2024 calendar year. The name of this model symbolizes it as the first in the upcoming series of Honda battery electric vehicles, launching as a tangible step towards realizing the company’s goal of increasing its ratio of battery electric vehicles in North America over the next several years.

Honda has projected that 40% of its sales will be electric vehicles by 2030, with a jump to 80% ratio only five years later in 2035. The company hopes to finally realize its goal of 100% BEV sales in North America by 2040, which would be significant progress along Honda’s journey to fully realize its goal of having zero carbon footprint. Specs on the 2024 Honda Prologue have yet to be released. Still, enthusiasts, curious drivers, and prospective buyers are all invited to contact us to get more details about the Prologue as information becomes available.

Though limited details have been shared with the public in these early stages of the development of this new, fully electrified SUV, Honda promises more information to be made available in the coming months. Plans for a completely electric Acura have also been announced by the company this year, and the car is projected to be released in 2024. This model has yet to be given a specific name (or one hasn’t been announced, at least), but details on this model will be made available in the coming months of 2022, just as promised with the Prologue.

Honda’s Partnership With General Motors

Recently, General Motors and Honda have announced that they have entered into a partnership in which both companies will work together to develop affordably priced electric vehicles marketed to North American consumers. The collaboration is expected to yield positive results for the electric vehicle industry by improving technologies both companies have been working on, like lithium-metal, silicone, and solid-state batteries. Believing in the promise of solid-state battery technology as the “core element of the future of electric vehicles,” Honda continues to pump a great deal of time, effort, and funds into the technology as part of its contribution to the project, while GM continues to develop its more conventional lithium-ion Ultium battery technology.

With General Motors’ Ultium battery technology, Honda vehicles will be equipped with an estimated electric range of 300 or more miles on a full charge with 0-60 mph in as low as 3 seconds (temperature, terrain, battery age, loading, use, and maintenance will affect those figures). The unique battery technology also gives the car the capacity for energy storage from 50 kWh to over 200 kWh and is compatible with front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive applications. The companies are also developing and implementing new production methods aimed at improving battery cell manufacturing and accelerating the process of updating those systems.

How Will Honda’s New Initiative Impact The Average Driver?

With the promise of the new partnership with General Motors, Honda seems to be pushing its way into the electric vehicle race, offering competition to brands like Toyota, which has also revealed plans revolving around electrification of its lineup. However, Honda seems to stand out in the strategy and methodology behind its future-facing ambitions and its unique collaboration with General Motors, a company pouring comparable efforts and resources into its own technological strengths.

As other companies observe the implementation of Honda’s new initiative, as well as the partnership developed with General Motors, healthy competition is sure to prove beneficial to future buyers as the automotive industry as a whole continues to adopt new electric vehicle technologies. With complementary specialties and goals, these two companies are poised to assist in the acceleration of progress in battery electric vehicle technology within the industry, helping to provide car buyers here in Odessa with an increase in options for affordable, carbon-neutral mobility.

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