Honda Motor Company expects to discontinue cars with internal combustion engines by the year 2040.
Yoshihide Suga, new Prime Minister of Japan, plans on achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. To this end, he has already promised incentives to the first companies to start moving towards that goal. As of right now, newly produced EVs account for only 1% of the national market, trailing behind China’s 6%.
The Honda e featured in our gallery and the video here is the only full-fledged electric Honda to date. In March, the company promised us to release two crossover SUVs by 2024 based on the Ultium platform by General Motors. Since the North American market brings over half of the total income for Toyota, starting the electrification there seems logical.
In other recent news, the company decided to shut down its Sayama factory in Japan, where it produced the mid-sized Odyssey van, the Legend sedan and the Clarity hydrogen saloon. The move was explained as another step towards complete electrification.
Toyota Europe will stop producing gas-powered cars next year, only leaving hybrids and all-electric models on the lineup.