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Honda Set To Continue ICE Vehicles Till 2040 Despite EV Plans

Published

3 years ago

March 6, 2023

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in a recent statement that internal combustion engine technology (ICE) is unlikely to disappear from the scene until at least 2040, if not longer, due to charging infrastructure issues.

Mibe has been in the business of engine development for 30 years, so he’s personally not fond of the EV era. “But I have to separate my own feelings from what is best for the business,” he commented.

That includes the establishment next month of a standalone business unit to oversee the development of Honda’s EV and battery business, which eventually could include investment in charging stations, similar to Tesla’s Supercharger network, Mibe said in Marysville, Ohio, at the hub of the company’s U.S. operations.

“The charging infrastructure is not at a place that it needs to be for our customers,” he said.

The chief executive further confirmed that EVs based on its own dedicated platform would start arriving in the U.S. in 2026, after a pair of electric crossovers based on GM’s Ultium platform debut in 2024.Honda is committing $40 billion to develop hybrid and fully-electric technologies so that they make up 40 percent of its sales by 2030. That includes a $3.5 billion joint venture in Jeffersonville, Ohio, where it will build batteries with LE Energy Solution starting in 2025.

Despite these investments and feasibility studies, Honda is keeping realistic expectations about the longevity of the internal combustion engine, with Mibe noting that performance cars, trucks, and other heavy-duty vehicles will likely keep combustion engines for some time to come.

Before then, Honda in 2024 will get two new electric SUVs, the Honda Prologue and the Acura ZDX, from GM’s Spring Hills factory in Tennessee.