Japan's Honda to invest $40 billion in electric cars
Honda Motor Co. announced that it will invest US$40 billion in the production of electric vehicles over the next ten years. In addition, the company intends to invest about $64 billion in advanced research and development over the next 10 years.
The Japanese automaker plans to launch 30 new electric car models by 2030 and will produce more than two million electric vehicles annually. Honda expects this plan to enable it to meet its goals of ending sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040.
Honda was the first Japanese automaker to promise to phase out gasoline-powered cars, but the company currently only has one electric car model, the Honda e.
The company also said in a statement that it plans to equip car models that will be sold at the end of this decade with solid-state batteries of its own design. Until then, Honda plans to use lithium-ion batteries from General Motors Co., Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. and Envision AESC.