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Honda eyes carbon neutral motorbike biz by 2040s

Courtesy of Honda Motor Co.
An artist’s impression of three electric motorcycle models that Honda plans to introduce to the market by 2025.

Jiji Press

17:44 JST, September 14, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday that it aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its motorcycle business in the 2040s.

To meet the goal, the Japanese automaker plans to release over 10 new electric motorcycle models at home and abroad by 2025.

Currently, Honda’s electric motorcycles are sold mostly in China, and account for less than 0.5% of its global motorcycle sales. In Japan, its electric motorcycles are only used by corporate users including post offices.

Honda aims to raise the proportion of electric models in its overall motorcycle sales to 5% by 2026 and 15% by 2030. It will set specific decarbonization targets beyond 2030 later.

For the time being, Honda will concurrently work to improve the fuel efficiency of gasoline motorcycles and develop models using biofuels

Honda is leading the global motorcycle market, enjoying strong demand in Asian markets including India and Indonesia. The motorcycle business, with high profitability, is a key source of revenue for the automaker.

Honda aims to maintain its competitiveness while promoting a shift to electric motorcycles.

As reducing the cost of batteries for electric motorcycles is a major challenge, the company is planning to utilize solid-state batteries under development for its four-wheeled vehicles.

“We can use four-wheeled vehicle technologies for two-wheeled vehicles,” Honda Executive Vice President Kohei Takeuchi said in a briefing at the firm’s headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.

In April, Honda announced that it aims to produce over 2 million units of four-wheeled electric vehicles by 2030.