Honda Moving Ahead With Giant Ohio EV Hub, + New Electric Motorcycle Factory in India

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Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress initiated the largest reshoring initiative in US historical past. The Inflation Discount Act (IRA) stimulated billions upon billions of {dollars} of battery manufacturing factories and different cleantech manufacturing services within the US. It additionally inspired EV manufacturing within the US through stipulations on client EV subsidies. One of many first EV manufacturing plans to be introduced in affiliation with this was an enormous Honda battery manufacturing facility and EV hub in Ohio. Fortunately, this mission remains to be going ahead regardless of the administration change, considerations about what that can imply for Inflation Discount Act funding and the US EV tax credit score, and total uncertainty within the US and with international commerce.

Honda’s EV Manufacturing Hub in Ohio

The Honda manufacturing facility is big not simply due to its dimension, but additionally as a result of it’s going to function a sort of international middle and instance for the corporate, one thing that’s extremely atypical for Honda exterior of Japan. Which may be partly due to IRA insurance policies, but it surely may be as a result of the US is so vital for Honda.

Its factories in Ohio are receiving greater than $1 billion in funding from Honda this yr. This can embody 6 “giga presses” in addition to a brand new battery cell manufacturing system. The primary EV produced by Honda, the Acura RSX, is anticipated to enter manufacturing within the state later this yr. (In case you’re confused, figuring out that the corporate sells the Honda Prologue and the Acura ZDX, do not forget that GM produces these for Honda.) Then there would be the new Honda 0 EVs.

“The Honda EV hub in Ohio is establishing the global standard for EV production for people, for technology and for processes,” mentioned Mike Fischer, the pinnacle of Honda battery-electric car initiatives in North American. “As we expand EV production regionally and globally, this is the footprint and the characteristic performance that will be used.”

“The company’s emerging EV hub in Ohio, including a separate $3.5 billion battery plantwill be the flagship for Honda’s global manufacturing operations. That includes its Marysville Auto Plant being capable of producing traditional vehicles, hybrids and EVs on the same assembly line, officials said during a daylong tour of the operations,” CNBC experiences.

Honda is a large US automaker at this level, even whether it is Japanese at coronary heart. It produced a couple of million automobiles right here final yr, and 36% have been exported whereas People purchased the opposite 64%.

Electrical Bikes in India

Whereas most of us take into consideration automobiles once we consider Honda, the corporate additionally produces numerous two-wheelers. In India, it plans to supply numerous electrical ones. It has plans to construct a 100% electrical bike manufacturing facility there, most likely within the state of Karnataka.

India is the most important two-wheeler market on the earth, and Honda desires to have the very best share of electrical bike gross sales there.

As a part of an enormous abstract briefing on its bike enterprise just lately, Honda wrote:

Initiatives towards the popularization of electrical bikes

1) Enhancement of the product lineup

Honda has been strategically continuing with plans to introduce 30 electrical fashions globally by 2030 to attain the objective to extend its international annual gross sales of electrical bike fashions to 4 million models by 2030.

To this finish, Honda positioned 2024 as the primary yr of electrical globalization and made full-fledged entry into the market. In October 2024, Honda introduced two international electrical bike fashions in Indonesia: the CUV e: powered by two models of Honda Cellular Energy Pack e: swappable batteries; and the ICON e: powered by a hard and fast battery. The CUV e: is scheduled to go on sale in 20 international locations together with European international locations and Japan.

In November, Honda introduced two electrical bike fashions designed solely for India: ACTIVA e: powered by two models of Honda Cellular Energy Pack e:, and the QC1 powered by a hard and fast battery. Of the 30 fashions focused for introduction by 2030, Honda has already launched 13 fashions, making regular progress with the plan.

At EICMA 2024, Honda unveiled two electrical bike idea fashions: the EV Enjoyable Idea, the primary Honda electrical sports activities mannequin; and the EV City Idea that embodies the Honda imaginative and prescient of city mobility within the close to future.

By providing all kinds of electrical fashions that accommodate the more and more numerous buyer wants, Honda will attempt to turn out to be the main firm additionally within the electrical bike market.

2) Institution and enhancement of charging and utilization setting

For the popularization of electrical bikes, Honda has not solely been enhancing its product lineup but additionally implementing initiatives to enhance the setting for the utilization.

Along with Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, Honda started providing a battery sharing service in India by means of its native subsidiary, Honda Energy Pack Vitality India Pvt. Ltd. (HEID), for the additional popularization of electrical bike fashions powered by swappable batteries. Coinciding with the market launch of the ACTIVA e:, HEID will start providing the Honda e:Swap, battery sharing service that permits battery swapping in three main Indian cities, specifically Bengaluru, the Nationwide Capital Territory of Delhi, and Mumbai, which is able to eradicate the customers’ anxiousness of working out of battery energy and want to attend for recharging and supply mobility expertise with larger peace of thoughts.

Furthermore, Honda will strengthen after-sales providers and upkeep by leveraging the trade’s largest gross sales community^*1 consisting of 6,000 dealership areas all through India. As well as, with the plan to proceed introducing extra electrical fashions powered by a hard and fast battery, Honda will leverage its broad gross sales community to reinforce the battery charging community, which is able to eradicate buyer anxiousness of working out of battery energy.

By way of these initiatives, Honda may even attempt to seize the most important market share within the electrical bike market in India.

3) Discount of the price of possession of electrical bikes

Honda can be working to cut back the Complete Value of Possession (TCO), which can be one of many challenges related to the introduction of electrical bikes.

Honda is striving to promote its electrical bike fashions within the value vary the place the TOC for the three years of possession can be equal to that of ICE fashions. To attain this goal, Honda will start working a devoted electrical bike manufacturing plant in India in 2028. All kinds of electrical fashions can be produced by combining modules which might be commonized for a number of fashions. Moreover, for batteries, the core part of electrical fashions, Honda has been working with battery producers to determine specs suited to the traits of bikes and guarantee secure procurement.

4) Reutilization and recirculation of batteries

Working towards the belief of carbon neutrality, Honda is conducting numerous initiatives from the attitude of useful resource circulation, together with secondary use and recycling of batteries.

In India, in collaboration with OMC Energy, which operates a distributed energy provide and grid enterprise, Honda has begun an initiative to make the most of used Honda Cellular Energy Pack e: as energy feeders which is able to assist individuals in areas with unstable energy provide and off-grid areas in India, supplying energy to native shops and faculties.

In the end, Honda will work to construct a recycling-oriented/round worth chain, which incorporates the recycling of treasured metals and different supplies.

A lot goes beneath the radar with electrical two-wheelers. They’re stealthy like that I suppose. Or perhaps it’s simply that we’re too US centric as some commenters declare. In any case, it’s good to see Honda having a robust concentrate on electrifying two-wheelers — after all, it is aware of it wants to take action so as to not fall behind.