Honda has announced it will sell two electric SUVs in the US in the 2024 model year, and plans to introduce hybrid gas-electric versions of its best-selling models. It’s the second Japanese automaker that has recently announced a future EV in the United States; last month Toyota said it plans its first mass-market electric vehicle by the end of 2021.
Dave Gardner, the head of sales for Honda of America, said last week one of the EVs will be an Acura, and the other will be a Honda brand, according to the Associated Press. He said more details would be coming later in 2021.
Japanese automakers— and Toyota in particular— once were the leaders in hybrid vehicles, but have lagged American companies in the all-electric vehicle market in recent years. But with California banning sales of new internal-combustion engine vehicles by 2035, and the Biden administration moving toward taking the government vehicle fleet all-electric along with other plans to reduce emissions, automakers have their EV work cut out for them
Honda plans to make its vehicles in partnership with General Motors, Gardner said during the announcement last week. Honda has lately dominated passenger-car sales in the US, and makes many vehicles with internal combustion engines, Gardner noted, both of which put Honda a bit behind its competitors.
“We’re really good at a couple of things that seem to be going out of vogue today, so there’s no doubt that we have work to start moving quickly in the zero-emission direction,” Gardner said.
