The move from these engines to an electric world can be scary for a company like Honda, but they recently announced their EV plans.

Honda isn’t just a car company. In fact, for a long time, it was a company better known for motorcycles, lawnmowers, marine engines, generators, and even chainsaws. The Honda engines are legendary in the world. Most people reading this have either owned or know someone who has owned a Honda engine that wasn’t part of a car or SUV.

Honda Brings Sony into the Mix

Would you drive a car with the Sony name on it? How about if Honda built that car? You’d certainly want to drive the car if it had the Honda name but might question why Sony has anything to do with it other than the sound system. These two companies created a partnership to build electric vehicles and begin to offer them by 2025. We know tech companies have difficulty entering the automotive world; there is a solution and a future formula now. Let’s take a look at what this partnership will mean.

A Honda and GM Venture for the Future

Honda and GM will partner together not only for the current EV models offered but also for a lower-cost, higher-volume lineup of models starting in 2027. Those vehicles will use the next generation of Ultium battery cells in smaller vehicles. These models could be smaller than the Chevrolet Equinox EV, which we will see sometime next year. How many new models will use the next generation of Ultium batteries is unknown right now, but there should be various models from both brand names.

What are the Plans?

The Honda executive team must have taken the advice of “go big or go home” because they are going big. It’s already 2022, and even though they have one EV being sold worldwide, Honda intends to launch 30 new electric vehicles by 2030. Some of these models will arrive in the United States, while others will remain in other markets without ever coming to America. Regardless, we will see many new and exciting electric vehicles coming from this brand over the next several years, giving Honda a new foothold in the future of the automotive world.

How Much Volume Can we Expect from Honda?

As Honda announces these new EV plans, we must remember how they entered this part of the market at other times. The EV compliance car of the Fit EV was only produced in 1400 units, and the Clarity Electric was pulled from the market after its 89-mile driving range proved to be too small to be competitive. While those models were abject failures, Honda expects to offer a collective volume of EV models totaling of more than 2 million units by 2030. This will represent at least 40 percent of the global sales for the brand.

Will Honda Make Their Batteries?

Even though Honda will initially rely on GM to provide the battery technology needed in North America, they intend to make their batteries in other parts of the world. Honda is exploring a joint-venture cell production that doesn’t involve GM. This pilot program is expected to take place in Japan and could be for a low-volume package of solid-state battery cells to get things started. The production target for this program is spring 2024. If successful, this is the first movement toward Honda having its battery package to offer consumers a small number of EV models in Japan.

Sony Made its Intentions Clear

Sony has had many clear signals that it wants to build cars, but the tech giant lacks the production capacity to handle making something as significant as a car on a global scale. Thankfully, Honda can handle that side of things. We wouldn’t take Sony seriously if they hadn’t brought the Vision-S 01 sedan and Vision-S 02 SUV to a recent show for us to see them. These two vehicles are quick enough to convince many automakers that Sony wants in, and Honda is the right partner for the tech giant to work within this venture.

Not Cars Built by Sony

Throughout the process of showcasing a pair of electric vehicles wearing the Sony name, the brand told us they had no intention of building cars at all. They needed a partnership with an automaker to get the job done. Sony and Honda are partnering to create a new company called “New Company” for now. The agreement allows the tech giant to develop the tech and the car company to build the cars; what a novel idea. Amazingly, other automakers haven’t tried to partner with tech companies to allow each partner to do what they do best.

The New Company Doesn’t Own Anything.

The New Company is simply the cooperative of this joint venture, allowing Honda and Sony to build new battery-electric vehicles and develop mobility services. These two join forces Under the New Company to plan, design, develop, and sell EVs, but Honda maintains full ownership of the manufacturing facilities. This makes perfect sense with the current facilities owned by the carmaker. Sony will bring a new mobility service platform to the arrangement to be the car’s foundation and some Sony-branded infotainment packages.

Two Ventures for Serious Success

Will Honda succeed with both a partnership with Sony and one with GM? Does the “New Company” create a problem with the GM partnership? Putting these three companies together and their various levels of EV expertise, we should see some serious success from the Honda brands and the EVs offered. A few of these models will wear the Acura name, while others could be badged as both Honda and Sony models. Eventually, the GM partnership will dissolve, but not until Honda figures out how to make batteries for the electric vehicles offered in the future.

Which Honda EVs Will Arrive First?

You might think Honda is behind the rest of the world with the electric models coming from this brand, but the fact is, it’s about to explode with new electric models. Honda electric vehicles launched in Japan will be the first to reach the market and use the development from the Honda and Sony partnership under the “New Company” branding. We’ll see some kei class or minicars offered early because they will be the first to make it to the market. Some miniature SUV models should follow these. China will also see ten new EV models by 2027 built at a dedicated plant in the area.

Get ready; Honda will deliver more EVs than almost all other companies.