Honda bets on the success of Hybrid Vehicles instead of Electric Vehicles

Honda is betting more on the success of  Hybrid Vehicles than on Electric Vehicles.It seems that the Japanese auto giant thinks that Hybrid Vehicles will get more traction in the market and is set to manufacture and sell upto 5  hybrid vehicles in the USA by 2013 .While it is also developing an Electric Vehicle,it looks like Honda has a Hybrid Vehicles Focused Strategy.Note Hybrid Vehicles makes more economic sense than an Electric Vehicle giving more savings in both oil and carbon emissions per dollar compared to the more glamorous Electric Vehicles.

What are  Hybrid Vehciles and Economics

Hybrid Vehicles use both Electricity and Oil as Energy for moving vehicles around.The hybrid vehicle has a battery which assists a gasoline based motor.Electric Vehicles on the other hand use only batteries in powering the automobiles.Hybrid Vehicles are much cheaper than Electric Ones and have a much smaller battery size.You can read about the economics of Hybrids vs Electric Vehicles here.

Honda lagging other Automajors ups its Hybrid Game

World’s major auto manufacturers have been in a sort of frenzy with the advent of EV’s announcing new JVs and partnerships almost daily.Honda has been lagging behind its Japanese peers Toyota and Nissan which have made huge investments in this space.Toyota with its Prius hybrid is the market leader in the Hybrid segment while Nissan with its new Leaf model hopes to garner a huge marketshare in the EV category.Toyota has also tied up with media wonder Tesla in producing a RAV4 Electric Vehicle.Honda has not been very enthusiastic about Electric Vehicles with its management of the opinion that it will take Battery Technology another 10-20 years for it to become economically feasible.However governments around the world have been very enthusiastic about promoting Electric Vehicles.China has already announced huge subsidies for EVs while USA is also promoting EV manufacturing through loan guarantees and research grants.Honda is now being forced by the competition and the hype to up its game.

Honda to roll out plug-in hybrid car in 2013: report – Reuters

Honda is also considering building hybrids in the United States, the paper said.Honda will release its electric car in the United States first, the daily reported.The company is considering manufacturing the Honda Insight and two other hybrids in the U.S. markets and plans to expand its lineup of hybrids to five or so by 2013, the Nikkei said.Honda President Takanobu Ito will announce the company’s hybrid and alternative vehicle plans at a news conference on Tuesday, the paper reported.