Honda, finally, is going to rock down to electric avenue
Honda has always poo-pooed the industry-wide move to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, stubbornly sticking to the idea that fuel-cell vehicles were the future. For example, it has been highly critical of GM’s Volt concept. Takeo Fukui, the company’s president, said in 2008 that he saw “no value in developing plug-in hybrid vehicles.” As recently as this May, the company’s head of research and development, Tomohiko Kawanabe, said it was questionable whether consumers will accept electric vehicles and the “annoyance” of limited driving range and the need to charge the vehicles. “We lack confidence (in the business),” he said. “We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them.”
Two months later, the company is changing its tune. It announced today that it will begin selling two new plug-in electric vehicles in the United States in 2012, making it one of the last major automakers to join the electric vehicle party. One will be a small all-electric commuter vehicle, while the other will be a plug-in hybrid capable of travelling longer distances. Why the company suddenly changed its position is unclear, but being a loyal Honda driver I’m glad it came to its senses.
Tags: electric vehicle, Honda, plug-in hybrid
Tyler Hamilton is a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Why the company suddenly changed its position is unclear.
The president of the company has changed.
July 21st, 2010 at 8:45 am
It is especially strange considering that car companies can’t likely change that quickly. You can’t just come out with a car in 2012 unless you’ve been working on it for some time.
Maybe it was a tentative posture?
I’m guessing most companies have things on the go to hedge their bets, though… and some never see the light of day.
July 21st, 2010 at 10:29 am
[...] Honda, finally, is going to rock down to electric avenue Honda has always poo-pooed the industry-wide move to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, stubbornly sticking to the idea that fuel-cell vehicles were the future. For example, it has been highly cri….. [...]
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Very cool.
…And good point, Nick G.
Kawanabe’s statement is annoying though. ““We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them.” –My response:
Then make a product that works better. Sheesh.