Anyone who dives into the archives sometimes comes across something interesting. For example, Honda’s R&D head Tomohiko Kawanabe came up with a not-so-illogical skeptical outlook for electric driving exactly ten years ago. But has anything changed at Honda despite the huge advance of EVs?
A grab from the news of May 2010 yields a special result. On May 20, 2010, exactly ten years ago yesterday, we headlined: ‘Honda skeptical about electric car’. That did not even cause that much controversy, now it would be different. In the comments we read that people could agree with this and that the problems that Kawanabe pointed out were rightly found. “We don’t have that much confidence in the electric car. The question is whether the buyers will accept the limited range and the long charging time for the batteries. We are indeed developing electric cars, but I cannot say that I who can wholeheartedly recommend, “said the Japanese.
Now, ten years later, Honda has exactly one EV in the showroom here: the E. That testifies to the fact that Honda is still not very enthusiastic about it. According to critics, Honda missed the boat and hooked up too late and not powerful enough to the now growing popularity of EVs. Make no mistake, Honda does have electrification plans. By 2025, all cars of the brand in Europe must be fully or partially electric. However, the emphasis still seems to be on hybrids.
Kawanabe’s statements from ten years ago still seem to be partly underlined within Honda. In fact, CEO Takahiro Hachigo repeated them again at the end of last year. According to him, Honda EVs are still not seen as the solution and ‘no dramatic growth in demand for cars with a battery is expected’. Hachigo sees more in hybrids and improving fuel efficiency. In another ten years, we will look back at how that vision Honda fared.