It’s the Frankfurt Motor Show and everyone is unveiling new electric car concepts. After VW’s new all-electric SUV, Mercedes’s new electric EQA hot hatch concept, and BMW’s four-door electric “i Vision Dynamics” concept, now Honda is unveiling its own electric concept. expand full story

Honda announced today that the plug-in hybrid version of their three-drivetrains-in-one Clarity sedan has been rated at a “class-leading” 47 miles by the EPA from its 17kWh battery.  This is the highest all-electric range among “midsize plug-in hybrids” and is comparable to the range of the Chevy Volt, which has 53 miles but is considered a compact sedan (the Clarity is ~10 inches longer).  It also got a combined MPGe rating of 110 and a gasoline-only combined MPG rating of 42.

Pricing and availability have not yet been nailed down for the vehicle, but we can expect news on that front soon as the car is expected to be available worldwide for purchase in the 2018 model year, with a price probably in the range of $35,000.  This as opposed to the other cars in the Clarity platform, which are available now but only in California and they can’t be purchased, only leased.

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Honda, like most other major automakers in Japan and Korea, is still very much invested in fuel cell hydrogen powertrains, which has resulted in little development in battery-powered vehicles.

While the company is apparently not ready to give up on fuel cell, they announced plans to “strengthen the development” of battery vehicles and that they will unveil a new electric vehicle this autumn. expand full story

In a new article based on comments made by Steve Center, vice president of environmental business development at American Honda Motor, Automotive News reports that Honda’s EV version of their Clarity vehicle platform will focus more on size and price than long range. They expect that Honda will release the car with about an ~80 mile range and an expected pricetag in the area of $35,000.

While Honda would like to have released with a larger battery, the size constraints of the Clarity platform and price constraints of Honda’s brand identity led them to decide on a smaller battery than many other future EVs which have recently been announced by other automakers.

Honda’s previous EV efforts have been the “EV Plus” of the late ’90s and the Fit EV. Both were very limited production, and the Fit EV is only available in some states and only via lease. The Clarity EV will be their first serious, larger production BEV effort which can be purchased by consumers instead of only leased.

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We find that automakers who have historically been betting on hydrogen fuel cells over battery-powered vehicles, like Honda, are very focused on the speed of charging since it’s currently the only advantage fuel cells have over batteries.

While charge rates are obviously important, it’s not actually the biggest barrier to EV adoption since most people charge overnight. Nonetheless, Honda wants to give “unlimited range” to electric vehicles with a new dynamic charging technology at high speeds. expand full story

Honda is among the few major automakers still entrenched in fuel cell hydrogen over battery-powered vehicles as an alternative fuel.

The Japanese automaker has shown signs of hedging its bet lately and there’s no better way to do it than by investing in electric motors since they are used both with batteries and fuel cells. The company announced today a new joint venture with Hitachi to produce electric vehicle motors. expand full story

Just last week, Google announced that it was breaking its self-driving car project out into its own company, called Waymo. The news was announced during a small press event, with Waymo being described as a “self-driving tech company with mission to make it safe for people and things to get around.”

Now, Bloomberg notes that Honda is in talk to partner with Waymo for its self-driving technology…

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I think we are witnessing the start of a new (but long overdue) trend this year. The few established automakers still pushing fuel cell hydrogen vehicles appear to be warming up to battery-powered electric vehicles instead. Honda, Toyota and Hyundai, arguably the automakers most stuck on hydrogen, all announced new electric vehicle programs in the past few weeks. expand full story

Good news coming from Detroit this morning. Honda came to its senses and officially confirmed that the Clarity, which until now was only a fuel cell car, will be offered with two new powertrains, all-electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV), as soon as next year.

The two new vehicles will be appropriately named: Clarity Electric and Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. The automaker appears to be hedging its bet on hydrogen with some battery-powered vehicles.  expand full story

Honda is set to join the few other manufacturers ready to unveil new electric vehicles at the Tokyo Motor Show, which start October 29. Nissan and Mitsubishi already announced their intentions to debut new EV models and now Honda is ready to introduce a new plug-in hybrid according the a report from AutoNews.

Honda’s electric offering has been seriously lacking with its most important contribution to the EV market being an Accord plug-in with 13 miles of range on all-electric, and although the company seems to still prefer hydrogen as an alternative zero emission fuel, the company is showing continued investment in electric drivetrains. expand full story