Honda announces pathetic electric vehicle ambitions in the US

Honda released more details about its electrification plans in the US, and only one word comes to mind: pathetic.

At this point, it’s fairly clear that Honda is years behind the rest of the industry when it comes to battery-electric vehicles.

Currently, the Japanese automaker only offers the Honda E, a short-range electric vehicle, in Europe.

In the US, the automaker says that its “first volume BEV,” the Honda Prologue, is coming in 2024, and it is going to be based on GM’s Ultium electric platform.

Today Honda announced that it is planning for a capacity of 70,000 Prologue electric SUVs in 2024:

Honda today announced an initial annual sales target of 70,000 units for the Prologue SUV, Honda’s first new volume battery-electric vehicle (BEV), when it goes on sale in 2024. Following the launch of Prologue, Honda brand electrified vehicle sales will be boosted by the introduction of additional vehicles based on its new e-Architecture now being developed. This will take Honda to anticipated sales of 500,000 BEVs by 2030, and ultimately leading to 100% zero emission vehicles sales in North America by 2040.

Honda previously announced its goal for 100% “electric” sales by 2040, but as we noted, the automaker is still betting on fuel cell hydrogen to achieve that goal, and its plans for battery-electric vehicles are still unclear.

Electrek’s Take

Honda has been one of the most disappointing automakers when it comes to battery-electric vehicles.

Not only the Honda E, which is a very limited EV, is its only current BEV offering, but the Prologue, their first “volume BEV,” is only possible, thanks to GM’s Ultium electric platform.

Now it plans to basically only have 70,000 EVs in the US by 2024, which is when I expect EVs are going to completely take over the US market.

An automaker that currently sells 1.2 million vehicles in the US is planning to sell 70,000 EVs in 2024 and 500,000 in 2030.

I think Honda is signing its own death warrant here. It’s way too slow of a transition, as barely anyone in their right mind will buy a car with an internal combustion engine in the US past 2025.