GM and Honda expand tie-up to develop millions of affordable electric vehicles
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Loading... - Chiaki Makino
- 06 Apr 2022
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General Motors and Honda will jointly develop millions of affordable electric vehicles for crucial markets including North America and China, with production slated for 2027.
The Detroit- and Tokyo-based companies on Tuesday said they would use a new global production system based on GM’s Ultium battery technology, targeting mass market crossover SUVs in particular, as the automakers deepen an existing technology partnership.
A new electric vehicle is planned for North America at a lower price than GM’s Chevrolet Equinox EV, billed as one of its cheaper electric models at $30,000.
GM and Honda also aimed to standardise equipment in order to achieve “higher throughput and greater affordability” globally, they said in a statement.
Carmakers are trying to reduce costs of battery cars in order to make them more affordable for mass-market buyers, who are crucial to the auto industry’s efforts to decarbonise over the next two decades.
“GM and Honda will share our best technology, design and manufacturing strategies to deliver affordable and desirable EVs” in “key markets in North America, South America and China”, said Mary Barra, GM chief executive.
The move is critical for both companies’ carbon neutrality goals. Honda has already said all of its vehicles will be zero emission by 2040, while GM aims to phase out emissions from its light-duty trucks and cars by the middle of the next decade.
Several companies are joining forces to spread the cost of developing electric cars. Volkswagen and Ford have a global alliance that will enable Ford to build electric vehicles using VW’s platform, while Renault and Nissan plan to build them on the same systems. Lucid and Nio are among start-ups that have developed electric vehicle systems they hope to license to established players in order to help them scale the technologies.
GM and Honda have a long history of collaboration, having worked together on hydrogen vehicles since 2013, while Honda has invested in Cruise, the self-driving company spun out of GM. The pair said in April 2020 that they would work together on vehicles that used GM’s battery system, and later disclosed they will make two electric Hondas: the Prologue SUV and an Acura vehicle. Read More...
