Japanese firm Honda is the latest manufacturer to confirm that it plans to phase out internal combustion engines globally, although it’s chosen a longer window than most, opting for a 2040 cut-off date.
The brand has announced that it plans to sell only fully electric and fuel cell vehicles by 2040. It expects EVs and fuel cell vehicles to account for 80 per cent of its global sales output by 2035.
The news isn’t too surprising, given that Honda recently confirmed that it would be selling only electrified cars in Europe by 2022. Assuming the UK’s 2030 internal combustion engine ban comes to fruition, it will most likely go fully electric by 2030 in the region.
Alongside its recent electric projects, namely the pint-sized Honda e and the SUV e:Prototype unveiled last week, Honda plans to debut a new platform engineered specifically for electric cars.
Named the e:Architecture, the platform will be used to launch a range of electric cars, the first of which will land towards the end of the decade. The brand was fairly coy regarding how many vehicles would be coming and when for most regions, but it did say that the Chinese market can expect at least 10 electric vehicles in the next five years.
Honda’s EV announcement didn’t end there, though. The firm also announced that it’s in the midst of developing its own solid state battery technology. Solid state batteries are the current rubik’s cube equation for EV car makers, each hoping to unlock the technology’s more dense potential for longer range and faster charging.
Honda also confirmed that it would be strengthening its ties with General Motors. It announced that it’s building two large electric SUVs in conjunction with the American firm, using GM’s ‘Ultium’ battery tech. Both will be launched in the US in 2024, one as a Honda and one as an Acura.
The move will end Honda’s incredible internal combustion engine history, which extends from the invention of VTEC and the popular B-Series and K-Series four-cylinder engines, to numerous Formula 1 constructor world championships and race wins.
