Honda Announces Plans to Offer BEV and New Plug-in Hybrid in U.S. in 2012

Honda Announces Plans to Offer BEV and New Plug-in Hybrid in U.S. in 2012

By Scott Doggett July 20, 2010

CEO Also Announces Lithium Battery for Next-Generation Civic Hybrid, Coming in 2011.

Honda Motor Co. will introduce new advanced environmental technology vehicles, including a battery-electric vehicle and a new plug-in hybrid vehicle, to the U.S. market in 2012, the company announced today in the mid-year address by Honda President and CEO Takanobu Ito (pictured).

Speaking in Tokyo, Ito also announced application of a lithium-ion battery in the next-generation Civic Hybrid in 2011.

The announcement outlined Honda's commitment to developing advanced environmental technologies for application across all of the automaker's global operations. Highlights specifically related to the U.S. market include:

• By the end of 2010 and continuing through 2011, Honda will roll out a battery-electric vehicle demonstration program in the U.S. with participants, including: Stanford University, Google Inc. and the City of Torrance, Calif.
• The City of Torrance will receive a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle for evaluation by the end of this year.
• A battery-electric commuter vehicle will be introduced in the U.S. market in 2012.
• A new plug-in hybrid system for mid-size to larger vehicles will be introduced in the U.S. market in 2012.
• Honda's first hybrid application of a lithium-ion battery will debut in the next-generation Civic Hybrid to be introduced in 2011. The lithium-ion battery was developed through the Honda and GS Yuasa joint-venture company, Blue Energy Co.

Ito said that over the past several years, consumer preference has quickly shifted toward smaller-sized vehicles in every automobile market around the world due to increasing environmental awareness on a global basis, as well as the structural changes that happened to the global economy.

Honda must quickly respond to such changes in the times to achieve further growth and expansion in the future, he said.

"Our highest management priority is to establish a corporate structure that ensures a profit while we develop and commercialize advanced environmental technologies, strengthen our business in emerging markets and take prompt action to respond to the market shift toward small-sized vehicles," he said.

After stating that "honda will have no future unless we achieve a significant reduction of CO2 emissions," Ito said the company's goals must be "to provide good products with speed, affordability and low CO2 emissions."

Ito presented a long list of steps that he said Honda must take to achieve those goals. Ones related to green cars include:

• Honda introduced new models equipped with Honda's original lightweight and compact IMA hybrid system, namely Insight and CR-Z. The percentage of hybrid vehicle sales among all Honda vehicle sales in Japan increased to 16% in 2009. Honda will accelerate widespread market introduction of IMA by enhancing the lineup of models equipped with the IMA system.
• Honda will introduce multiple models, mainly small-sized vehicles, equipped with the IMA system in Japan within approximately one year from now. The first one will be the Fit Hybrid which will be introduced to the Japanese market this fall.
• Honda will also pursue the advancement of battery technologies that are critical to the advancement of hybrid vehicles. The next-generation Civic Hybrid will be equipped with a high-output and compact lithium-ion battery, which will be supplied by Blue Energy, a joint venture company between GS Yuasa and Honda that will begin production of the battery at its plant in the latter half of this year.
• A new plug-in hybrid system for mid-size to larger vehicles is currently under development. Vehicles equipped with this new system are scheduled to go on sale in 2012 in Japan and the U.S.
• Honda will fulfill customer demand more precisely by developing and adopting multiple hybrid systems that are appropriate for vehicles of different sizes and uses.
• In the mid-term, internal combustion engines will remain as the main source of power for automobiles, and therefore Honda will continue advancing technologies to improve the performance and fuel economy of internal combustion engines. Honda will begin renewing its engine and transmission lineup starting in 2012 to further improve its fuel economy.
• Diesel engine
• Diesel engines are also effective in reducing CO2 emissions. In addition to the currently available 2.2-liter engine, Honda is making progress in the development of a smaller diesel engine. A model equipped with this new smaller diesel engine will be introduced in Europe in 2012.
• In the long-term, fuel-cell electric vehicles will provide the ultimate mobility. And Honda will continue working on the technological advancement of the FCX Clarity as well as our hydrogen refueling systems.
• Battery electric vehicle
• Leveraging the technologies established through the development of fuel-cell electric vehicles, Honda will make progress in the development of a battery EV with a goal to put it in real world use as soon as possible. Honda's battery EV is scheduled to go on sale in Japan and the U.S. in 2012.
• The Yorii plant in Saitama, which will become operational in 2013, will start with small-volume production of environmentally-responsible vehicles which requires highly sophisticated manufacturing technologies to mature its advanced technologies, then eventually increase production volume. Then Yorii will evolve such manufacturing technologies, that are keys to the next-generation of Honda, to other Honda operations around the world to achieve the global growth of Honda.
• To accommodate the global shift toward smaller vehicles, Honda will begin production of mini-vehicles at its Suzuka Factory in 2012. Through mini-vehicle production at Suzuka Factory, Honda will establish manufacturing technologies that will contribute to the effort to reduce the bodyweight and cost of Honda's next-generation models. Such manufacturing technologies will be applied to small-sized vehicles, and then evolved from Suzuka to other Honda production operations around the world.
• Based on this decision, Yachiyo Industry decided to cancel the planned construction of a new Yachiyo plant. The mini-vehicle production at Yachiyo's existing plant will be continued.
• Based on its basic policy to build products close to the customer, Honda will further localize its production mostly in emerging markets.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.