Honda has announced that it will sell two electric sports utility vehicles in the US in the 2024 model year and plans to introduce hybrid gas-electric versions of its top-selling models. It is the second Japanese carmaker to recently announce a future EV in the United States; last month, Toyota said it was planning its first electric car by the end of 2021.
Dave Gardner, the sales manager of Honda of America, said last week that one of the EVs is an Acura, and the other a Honda brand, according to the Associated Press. He said more details will come later in 2021.
Japanese automakers – and Toyota in particular – were previously the leaders in hybrid vehicles, but have lagged behind American companies in the electric vehicle market in recent years. But with California banning the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2035, and the Biden government taking the government vehicle fully electrically, along with other plans to reduce emissions, carmakers are cutting out their EV work.
Honda plans to make its vehicles in partnership with General Motors, Gardner said during the announcement last week. Honda has dominated passenger car sales in the U.S. lately, making many vehicles with internal combustion engines, says Gardner, which puts Honda a little behind the competition.
“We’re really good at a few things that seem to be going out of fashion today, so there’s no doubt we have work to do to get started quickly in the zero-emission direction,” Gardner said.