Honda commits to total electrification in Europe by 2025

ABU DHABI: The talk of the town at this year’s Geneva Motor Show is all about electric power and making it mainstream. Honda took to the stage and announced its electrification plans and how it aims to accelerate them. The company has announced its intentions to make 100% of its European fleet electrified by 2025.

Speaking at the conference, Honda’s Senior Vice President (for Honda Motor Europe) Tom Gardner said “…since we made that first pledge in March 2017, the shift towards electrification has gathered pace considerably. Environmental challenges continue to drive demand for cleaner mobility. Technology marches on unrelenting and people are starting to shift their view of the car itself.”

Setting the foundation for the electrification process is the Honda e Prototype, unveiled for the very first time at Geneva. This will be the first production battery vehicle for the European market and will be positioned as an urban commuter with a range of 200km. The production version of the e Prototype will be revealed later this year, and customers can already register on the Honda website for updates. Another key factor in the electrification process is the use of full hybrid technology as seen on the 2019 CR-V hybrid.

Another key talking point at the conference was the development of Honda’s energy management business for Europe. This builds on the Power Manager bi-directional charging concept shown at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show. With the help of EVTEC, Honda has been working on further developing its bi-directional Power Manager technology (compatible with battery-electric vehicles like the e Prototype) which will be offered commercially in the next few years. To help accelerate the entire process, Honda has partnered with two companies. The first is Moixa, a specialist in ‘resource aggregator’ technology assisting the customers to share and control the capacity of their EV battery. The second company is Ubitricity, which is a supplier of charging solutions. Well, the next steps for Honda include feasibility studies of their technologies in London, UK, and Germany. More developments will be announced later in the year.