Honda and GM to work together on EVs

KUALA LUMPUR: Honda Motor Company and General Motors have announced to work together on next-gen electric vehicles. The upcoming Honda electric vehicle will be designed inside-out by the Japanese automaker, and it will sit on GM’s new global EV platform. Also, it will get GMs newly introduced battery system called Ultium.

What’s unusual is that Honda’s upcoming electric vehicles will be manufactured at GM plants in North America. The sale is expected to begin for the 2024 model year, indicating the launch to happen sometime in 2023 or earlier.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. President Rick Schostek said, “This collaboration will put together the strength of both companies, while combined scale and manufacturing efficiencies will ultimately provide greater value to customers. This expanded partnership will unlock economies of scale to accelerate our electrification roadmap and advance our industry-leading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

It is not the first time that Honda and General Motors have worked together. In the past, they came together for vehicles that crossed over between the two. Most recently, in the year 2018, Honda and GM established a relationship for battery modules and fuel cells for the Cruise Origin.

Besides building EVs together, the two automakers are considering other ventures to work together. As per Rick Schostek, the two companies are in discussions regarding the expansion of their partnership.

According to the announcement, while the Japanese automaker will design the new EVs, the platform engineering inline with the unique driving character is expected of the brand. Interestingly, the new EV models that will be made by Honda and will have GM’s OnStart support integrated with the HondaLink system and hands-free driver-assist technology.

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