Honda Launches 3 New Electric Cars … In China, For China
Honda has been one of the biggest laggards in the EV transition — you might even say the biggest. It has not been interested in selling electric vehicles and has hardly introduced any. However, if you want to sell cars in China, the largest car market in the world (by far), then you’ve really got to be selling electric cars now. Last year, 25% of new car sales were 100% battery electric vehicles.
So, whether Honda likes it or not, it’s launching more electric cars. Earlier this week, at the 18th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (Auto China 2024), Honda launched three new electric car models. Of course, those electric cars will only be available in China. They are part of the new 烨 (yè) Series (or “Ye Series”). They include the 烨 (yè) P7 (“Ye P7”) and 烨 (yè) S7 (“Ye S7”) — the first two models in the series — as well as a sportier concept model, the 烨 (yè) GT CONCEPT (“Ye GT CONCEPT”).
In addition to these three models, Honda plans to launch three more Ye Series models by 2027 — in China, for China. Those of us outside of China, particularly in the US, can wish all we want that Honda would provide such offerings where we live and give electrics attention outside of China, but without strong policies requiring it, Honda’s going to just keep on Honda-ing in these less advanced markets. Hybrids are good enough for Honda here, apparently. Am I bitter? Do I sound bitter?
The unfortunate thing is how much people see Honda as an efficiency leader. The other unfortunate thing is how big Honda is in markets like the US. Frankly, Honda is one of the few companies that could possibly offer a “Tesla Model 2″/”Tesla Model C” competitor or replacement — but it’s nowhere close to doing that.
Getting back to the Honda China news, “The new series was named with the Chinese letter ‘烨’ which means ‘shine brilliantly,’ representing Honda’s desire to enable everyone who drives Ye Series models to unleash their innermost passions through the joy of driving, and let their individuality shine brilliantly.” Well that’s nice, isn’t it? (The funny thing is how much I immediately thought this vehicle line looked like a mix between Xpeng vehicles and NIO vehicles.)
“To represent Honda’s determination to continuously pursue new challenges and advancements and to accelerate its transformation in China where the EV shift is proceeding rapidly, the all-new Ye Series models will wear the new “H mark” designed exclusively for Honda’s next-generation EV models.” Interesting.
The company also talks about “the joy of driving” with these EVs, “an AI-powered assistant” (naturally), and “comfortable mobility.”
Honda doesn’t provide any specs or pricing for these vehicles, but you can find more details about them in the Honda press release.
The Ye P7 and Ye S7 are going to go on sale in China at the end of 2024, while the Ye GT concept’s release is planned for the end of 2025.
The one hope I have is that once Honda scales up production of some of these models and sales in China, the company will also look to sell them beyond China — in other parts of Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, and perhaps even further away. Can we dream?
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