General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. will expand their tie-up to jointly develop a series of affordable electric vehicles, aiming to start sales in North America in 2027. |
The vehicles, which will include a compact
crossover, are expected to begin going on sale in North America in 2027.
Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of
global product development, said in a statement on Tuesday that the plan is to
have an electric vehicle that is priced lower than the upcoming Chevrolet
Equinox EV. GM plans to roll out an electric Equinox small SUV next year with a
starting price of around $30,000.
The automakers will work together on
battery chemistry, vehicle engineering and manufacturing in order to drive down
costs as they prepare to build what the companies expect will be millions of
EVs for sale worldwide starting in 2027.
An EV priced below $30,000 with a range above 300 miles per charge would
be appealing to buyers globally, said Ivan Drury, a senior manager at
Edmunds.com. “That is where so many consider both internal combustion engine
and electric vehicles,” Drury said. “Right now, when you look at what's for
sale, there's nothing transacting in that area that checks the box of EVs that
go the distance."
Drury said Honda has been building vehicles
in the US for many years, so it shouldn't be a big adjustment to work with GM.
Honda currently needs GM's battery
technology, so this deal allows it to keep working with the Detroit automaker
to learn, and also to share development costs. “GM can also share some costs to
help fund this expensive transition” to electric vehicles, said Morningstar
analyst David Whiston.
Last year the companies announced that GM
would build one Honda SUV and one Acura SUV using its Ultium-branded electric
vehicle architecture and battery system. The companies said at the time that
the Honda SUV would be named the Prologue, and that both SUVs would have
bodies, interiors and driving characteristics designed by Honda. The Prologue
will go on sale in early 2024, with the Acura following soon.
Honda also said in June that it plans to
make its own electric vehicles later this decade.
GM and Honda have successfully partnered
over the years. In 2013 the companies started working together on the
co-development of a next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage
technologies.
In 2018 Honda and GM announced that they'd team up to develop batteries for electric vehicles, mostly for the North American market.
0 comments:
Post a Comment