The cost of attempting to grab the lion’s share of the this market won’t be cheap.
The race to compete in the electric vehicle market is heating up, as major automaker Honda announced a slew of new products to take on an increasingly popular sector.
With gas prices soaring to new highs and inflation hitting more than 8%, consumers are looking for ways to save money at the pump.
Many have turned to buying electric vehicles, or attempting to do so — the market for even used EVs has seen an avalanche of demand for a limited supply.
The market is so competitive right now for electric vehicles that even used Teslas are selling at their original sales price, as more people look for ways to dodge an increasingly overheated economy.
There are also older models from major automakers that are available on popular car dealership sites like Carvana. TheStreet covered that trend here, and the while there are some choices, many of them aren’t in the same league as a Tesla or even a new Ford EV.
The biggest vehicle producers in the world are keeping a close eye on those trends.
While electric vehicles seemed a limited part of the market only a few years ago, interest in them has soared 70% since January 2022. That’s pushed prices up 25% from this time a year ago, making the EV business more lucrative than ever.
That’s exactly what Honda (HMC) – Get Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Report is now counting on.
Honda Rolls Out Massive EV Roadmap
The company said April 11 that it will now launch 30 new EV models and get them to consumers via a supercharged production process.
It said it aims to start producing over two million electric vehicles every year.
Among those will be a mini car and two types of SUV, and will focus on the lighter, longer range solid-state batteries. Those are an evolution of the standard lithium battery used in most EVs — and are much faster to charger, which makes them more consumer friendly.
The cost of attempting to grab the lion’s share of the EV market won’t be cheap: Honda said it is plowing $40 billion into the effort.
Hybrids Hit the Bricks
The company is also entering the race for electric vehicle domination after long hyping hybrids as its answer to eco-friendly car making.
That’s been an approach that has lagged and almost disappeared as more and better technology has evolved.
It’s also one that’s been completely eschewed by EV purists, like Elon Musk’s Tesla TSLA, which has been full-on about its completely electric, status symbol cars.
It is now launching a Cybertruck, which has become a beloved and much-coveted icon among EV fans and Twitter alike.
Other automakers like General Motors (GM) – Get General Motors Company Report and Ford (F) – Get Ford Motor Company Report have been making EVs for close to a decade, dabbling in hybrids and fully electric models as they tried out what might sell and what was a non-starter.
Hyundai (HYMLF) and Volkswagen (VWAGY) – Get Volkswagen AG Report have also tried their hand at the market, finding some successes in electric models, but none on the scale that Honda is now attempting.
Whether or not there is a market for such a variety of EVs in a market with 8.5% inflation is a question that still remains to be answered.
