Honda Motor Co. President, Takeo Fukui, indicated in an interview on April 23rd that the current administration’s incentives are causing the company to refocus their strategy. “We understand the situation, in terms of government and incentives,” he said. ”Naturally, we’re going to have to accommodate that too.”
Honda had originally sought out to be the leader in manufacturing cars based on hydrogen fuel-cell technology. They began leasing the FCX Clarity to drivers in California in 2008, the same year they built a manufacturing plant in Japan to support the operation. The vehicle has a driving range of 280 miles from its hydrogen fuel cells and can reach a top speed of 105 mph. Mr. Fukui still believes that the technology will be very popular in the next decade, as oil prices are expected to top $100 a barrel once again.
In the meantime, Honda and a partner, GS Yuasa Corp., began building a lithium-ion battery plant to supply components for a hybrid automobile, due out at the end of 2010. They may now expand on the production. ”We started working with GS Yuasa with just the hybrid application in mind… We are thinking about extending that application to plug-in hybrids,” the president reported.
He did not let on when a pure plug-in can be expected.
With so many auto manufacturers announcing plug-in vehicles, added to government incentives and infrastructure upgrades, it seems only natural that a major company like Honda would turn its attention to this technology. The costs of battery-cells will likely drop as their supply increases and optimal designs are determined. More importantly, they would be negligent to miss out on surge of consumer interest that may occur once many of these models hit the road. Honda may not have given up on its aspirations to be a global leader in hydrogen fuelled transportation, but their executives are more than willing to hedge their bets until that scenario becomes a reality.
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