Honda’s power pack push is part of the automaker’s roadmap to invest 5 trillion yen ($36.35 billion) over the next 10 years in electrification and software as it rolls out 30 full-electric vehicles globally and builds production capacity for 2 million EVs annually by 2030.
From 2024, American Honda targets annual sales of 70,000 for its upcoming Honda Prologue crossover that it will launch on a platform developed by General Motors. This month, the Acura brand teased its first EV with the Precision EV Concept, saying it will be called the ZDX.
The ZDX, likewise built through the GM partnership, is also expected in 2024.
Honda has said it will introduce its own EVs for the 2026 model year and start making them in North America, sometime between the latter half of 2025 and early 2026.
“Honda is working toward our target to realize carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities the company is involved in by 2050,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said. “Honda is committed to the local procurement of EV batteries which is a critical component of EVs.”
The Honda-LG joint venture is scheduled to be established in 2022, the companies said.
LG Energy Solution, which aims to go carbon neutral by 2050, has battery partnerships with several automakers, including General Motors, Stellantis and Hyundai Motor Group.
Honda’s announcement comes shortly after GM said it and LG Energy Solution were considering a site in Indiana for a fourth U.S. battery cell manufacturing plant for their battery-making joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC.
Production at Ultium’s first U.S cell plant in Warren, Ohio, was set to begin this month. That $2.3 billion plant was announced in 2019.
