A couple of days ago, we wrote about Honda’s new environmental and safety targets, including its plan to produce only fully-electric cars by 2040. Company president and representative director Toshihiro Mibe announced the Japanese carmaker’s goal of attaining carbon neutrality with EV technology and renewable power sources, as well as initiatives for better car and motorcycle safety through the use of its Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS).
Honda plans to incorporate ADAS in all its automobiles by 2030. By 2050, it aims to eliminate traffic collision fatalities involving its cars and motorcycles.
For the propulsion of its motorcycles, meanwhile, Honda has expressed interest not only in electrification, but also in other strategies such as improving the fuel efficiency of its gasoline engines and the use of biofuels. The key to successfully electrifying motorcycles, it says, is the battery, which at the moment is still quite expensive. In developed countries with high demand for electric vehicles, it plans to use its Mobile Power Pack as it targets both business and government customers; this technology is also being tested in India with rickshaw-type motorcycle taxis.
For personal-level consumers, Honda plans to broaden not only its product lineup, but also the availability of battery-swapping stations. To make things more convenient for customers, it agreed to form a consortium with European and other Japanese manufacturers to make battery packs interchangeable.
This year alone, Honda has scheduled the release of two business-use electric motorcycles: the Gyro e and the Gyro Canopy e. It also has plans to introduce three new electric motorcycles for personal use in the ‘below 50cc’ and ‘below 125cc’ categories by 2024. Likewise planned are unspecified EV models for the ‘FUN’ area, which we happen to be especially excited for.
With an electric future looming on the horizon, will big manufacturers like Honda be able to retain the same brand image and customer satisfaction as it makes the shift from internal combustion? Only time will tell.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopBikes.ph. Minor edits have been made.
