Honda will also produce plug-in hybrids
Fuel cells aren't Honda's only electric plansHonda has seen the light, the hybrid light. Not so long ago, Honda believed that cheap hybrids, such as the Insight hybrid, were a simple bridge to fuel cell vehicles, such as the Honda Clarity. Moreover, Honda wasn't too sure that plug-ins of any kind made environmental or fiscal sense.
Today, however, Honda believes hybrid cars are now becoming a "mainstream" technology. Thus, Honda will be exploring other forms of hybrid technology, including plug-in hybrids according to Honda's Chief R&D Engineer, Kenji Nakano.
Labels: Honda, Hybrid Vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:02 AM
5 Comments:
i always knew honda would come around.
what's funny is how much ridicule they took for saying they weren't sure, yet i'll bet they offer a plug-in not long after GM, despite years of GM hype around the Volt.
not only that, i predict Honda will outsell GM, in terms of total plug-in sales, by 2015.
and all that without hyping their first mass produced plug-in for four years before actually selling it.
LOL!
Ooh, that is an interesting challenge. After all their efforts and their multi-year headstart, will or will not GM dominate the PHEV market?
I think it is safe to assume GM won't be able to beat the Prius, but if they can't even beat other PHEVs through 2015 that would be a disaster.
My bet is they own the PHEV market through 2020, IF the US forms a battery manufacturing consortium. If the US doesn't invest in a homegrown battery industry, I can see GM losing the race by Gen 3 of the Volt.
Very interesting point, anon.
Did GM really have a hard start?
How do we know that Honda hasn't been developing plug-in hybrids this entire time as well, they just weren't publicly announcing the effort because they weren't sure if or when it would make sense. According to Obama's task force, the Volt won't be profitable until at least the third generation.
Thus, I can see Honda hitting this market faster than many would expect. Still, I can't see Honda outselling GM by 2015.
That, however, doesn't mean that I believe GM will dominate PHEV sales through 2020. That would actually shock me.
I'd put my bet on plug-in Prius hybrids as the top seller through 2015 and 2020. I also have a feeling that at some point in time, Ford is going to become a major player as well. In fact, I'd wager more on Ford than Honda.
Nonetheless, I have no doubt GM will be a major player.
GM will simply purchase an interest in a CHINESE lithium hybrid car manufacturing plant and it will then immediately ship those super hybrids over here under a classy GM name badge,,,,mmm let me see they could call one a GM BEJONG or a GM MINI CHOI ..or something snappy like that...it would fill in the '5 year gap' that it will take them to ever compete in hybrid technology locally in USA(thats after bankruptcy next month). Problem solved :)..then in 2015, they start actually making a hybrid car that a) anyone want to purchase and b) whose drive out price is under 35k......where the 'common man' can easily afford one :) haha
GM is already building BAS hybrids with its Chinese partners in China. So, that isn't that far off, but building hybrids in China for the US market won't help UAW workers or any other part of the US manufacturing sector, so i'm not sure how politically viable such a plan would be.
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