AUTONEWS

GM and Honda seal partnership to produce electrified vehicles

General Motors and Honda today announced plans that expand the partnership between the two companies. This new chapter consists of the joint development of an unprecedented family of more affordable electric vehicles. The cars will be based on a new global architecture and will be equipped with even more advanced generation Ultium batteries.

The two companies are working together to enable the production, from 2027, of millions of units of this unprecedented family of electric vehicles, which includes compact SUVs, taking advantage of the technology, design and supply strategies of both. The agreement also provides for the standardization of components and processes to establish an international quality standard, in addition to greater productivity and cost optimization. The compact SUV segment is now the largest in the world, with annual sales of more than 13 million units.

GM and Honda will also assess opportunities to jointly develop new generations of batteries to continue lowering electrification costs, increasing performance and driving the sustainability of future vehicles.

GM is already working to accelerate the adoption of new technologies such as solid-state batteries and lithium-ion-silicon batteries, along with production schedules that can be quickly applied to improve and upgrade battery cell manufacturing processes. . Honda, meanwhile, is making progress with its solid batteries that the company sees as a core element of future EVs. The technology has been demonstrated in Japan by the company, which is making strides towards mass production.

“GM and Honda will share the best of technology, design and manufacturing to deliver an attractive and affordable range of electric vehicles on a global scale, including our key markets in North America, South America and China. ,” said Mary Barra, president and CEO of General Motors. “This is a critical step towards delivering on our commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in our global products and operations by 2040 and eliminating US automobile emissions by 2035. Working together, we will put people around the world aboard EVs. faster than any company could achieve on its own.”

Honda is committed to achieving carbon neutrality globally by 2050, which requires lowering the cost of electric vehicles to make EV ownership possible for as many consumers as possible,” said Toshihiro Mibe, Honda president and CEO. "Honda and GM will leverage this successful technology collaboration to help achieve significant expansion in the electric vehicle trade."

“The progress we've made with GM since announcing the partnership on developing batteries for EVs in 2018, followed by the joint development of electric vehicles like the Honda Prologue, has demonstrated a win-win relationship that can create new value for our customers. ,” said Shinji Aoyama, senior executive director at Honda. “This new family of more affordable EVs will build on this relationship, leveraging our power to develop and produce high-quality compact vehicles.

“Our partnership with Honda and the continued development of Ultium technology are the cornerstones of this project, utilizing our global scale to enable reductions in the cost bases of this new family of EVs to benefit thousands of consumers,” said Doug Parks, executive vice president. of GM's global product development, procurement and supply chain. “Our plans include a completely new electric car for North America positioned below the upcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV, taking advantage of the 2 million units of production capacity the company plans to have to manufacture EVs by the end of 2025.”

GM and Honda have developed a close working relationship over the years, which includes several recent projects focused on technologies for electric and autonomous vehicles. In 2013, the two companies began joint development of a state-of-the-art fuel cell system and hydrogen storage solutions. In 2018, Honda joined GM's EV battery module development efforts. In 2020, the two companies announced plans to design two electric cars, including the Honda Prologue, to be launched in early 2024, followed by the first Acura-branded SUV. Also, GM and Honda are together at Cruise. Here, the partnership is resulting in Cruise Origin, one of the first fully autonomous cars designed for robot-taxi and delivery service.