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Honda to go electric and hydrogen only by 2040, Australia included

Japanese brand to drop internal combustion engines globally by 2040, with more immediate targets set in key markets – though Australian plans remain unclear.


Japanese brand Honda – one of the world's largest manufacturers of internal combustion engines, producing about 14 million per year for cars and motorcycles – has announced it plans to end production of petrol and diesel engines globally by 2040 and switch to electric power.

The company has forecast 40 per cent of Honda sales in "all major markets of electrification" will be made up of pure electric (EVs) and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) by 2030, increasing to 80 per cent in 2035, ahead of the 100 per cent target set for 2040.

Honda says the 2040 deadline applies globally – Australia included. It means popular models such as the Civic sedan and hatch, HR-V and CR-V family SUVs, and Odyssey people mover will switch to electric power within three decades.

It is unclear whether future high performance models such as the Honda Civic Type-R will be axed or switch to electric power.

Key to meeting its targets is an array of new Honda electric vehicles due over the coming years, led by two "large-sized" electric vehicles co-developed with General Motors, and underpinned by the American car giant's Ultium battery architecture.

Confirmed to launch for Model Year 2024 (roughly spanning May 2023 to May 2024), the EV pair will be split across the mainstream Honda and luxury Acura brands – though only the former could come to Australia, given the Acura marque isn't offered locally.

The company says 10 electric Honda models will launch in China within five years – headlined by a production version of the recently-revealed SUV e:prototype concept, due on sale in the northern spring of 2022 (March to May inclusive) – while a kei-sized compact city car will launch in Japan in 2024.

Above and top: Honda E electric vehicle.

The second half of the 2020s will see the introduction of a "series" of new electric vehicles based on an all-new, electric-only 'e:Architecture' platform developed in-house, with the cars riding on the architecture to launch first in the US, followed by "other regions".

The company says 100 per cent of Honda's Japanese sales will be electrified by 2030, featuring either hybrid, plug-in hybrid, all-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell power – though only 20 per cent of the vehicles sold will not have an internal combustion engine.

Honda's European arm will only offer electrified models by the end of 2022.

The Japanese brand targets carbon neutrality across all of its operations by 2050 (including motorcycles and manufacturing), with "zero traffic collision fatalities" planned for the same time.

On the autonomous front, Honda aims to fit "omnidirectional advanced driver-assistance systems" – in other words, its Honda Sensing active safety suite – to all new vehicle models and variants it introduces in "developed countries" by 2030, with Level Three semi-autonomous technology to be rolled out across additional models, joining the Legend sedan announced late in 2020.

Above: Honda HR-V Hybrid.

The Cruise Origin autonomous electric mobility vehicle – co-developed between Honda, General Motors and the latter's autonomous subsidiary Cruise – will be introduced in Japan around the middle of the decade.

Around five million yen (AU$60 billion) will be invested in research and development over the next six years.

As for how Honda's announcement applies to Australia: the 2040 zero-emissions vehicle promise is valid in our market, however it remains to be seen which of the Japanese brand's electric-powered and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles will make their way to Australia.

Honda doesn't currently offer an electric vehicle in Australia, however the brand's move to an agency sales model locally means there's a chance the city-sized Honda E hatchback could make its way Down Under in time – though nothing has been officially confirmed.


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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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