AUTONEWS

HONDA AND GENERAL MOTORS TO DEVELOP NEW BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC CARS

In recent times, many auto companies are establishing strategic partnerships to strengthen their short-term position in the field of sustainable and electric mobility, a crucial element for the future of this industry. Honda and General Motors have signed a first-level cooperation to work together to develop new batteries for electric cars.Although separately, both companies have been working hard in the development of several projects related to electric mobility. Both Honda and General Motors want to accelerate their plans and bring to market as soon as possible pure electric vehicles equipped with new generation batteries. Of course, batteries are a key element in any pure electric car.While many manufacturers are now bent on turning to a vendor like LG Chem, many brands are earmarking resources in the development of their own batteries. For example, the BMW Group is betting heavily on solid-state battery technology. The German automotive group expects to have its revolutionary batteries ready in a few years.In the specific case of Honda and GM, in this new collaboration that has been established between the two industry giants, they commit to work on new advanced components for chemical batteries, including cells and modules. They emphasize that the next batteries that will arrive at the market will offer a greater density of energy, will be more compact, light and will have a greater useful life.Honda will benefit from the battery modules developed by General Motors, but the electric cars marketed by both companies will be equipped with the batteries resulting from this relationship. Both Honda and GM are planning to introduce a large number of electric cars in the short term. The most relevant release of Honda is the expected production version of the Honda Urban EV Concept. On the other hand, and after the good result picked up by the Chevrolet Bolt, General Motors set an ambitious roadmap for the coming years.Honda and General Motors have been maintaining strategic collaboration in different fields for some time. In the short term, by the year 2020, they expect to have a new hydrogen fuel cell system ready. Both companies are betting very strongly on hydrogen as a sustainable mobility solution.