Honda Motor Co announced on Wednesday that it will begin offering micro-sized commercial electric vans in spring 2024 as part of its ongoing drive to electrify its vehicle lines. Japanese automakers are looking to small commercial trucks as one way to popularise battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the country, capitalising on the country’s unusual car size amid pressure to reduce the country’s carbon footprint.
Honda’s electric vehicle is expected to have a cruising range of 200km (125 miles) and a price of roughly 1 million yen ($7,270).
In Japan, gasoline-electric hybrid models remain significantly more popular, and BEVs accounted for only 1% of passenger car sales last year. Nonetheless, automakers feel that tiny commercial vehicles will be critical in popularising BEVs in the country, citing the fact that 40% of automobiles on the road are micro “kei” cars and that businesses are under pressure from investors to minimise their carbon footprint.
“We believe that the fastest way to spread the use of electric vehicles in Japan is to first capture the commercial market, especially in the area of light vehicles, which are the mainstay of the Japanese market,” said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe back in April.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp relaunched its commercial truck, Minicab-MiEV, last month, with a cruising range of 133 km (83 miles) and a price of roughly 2.4 million yen without subsidies. CJPT, a commercial vehicle coalition chaired by Toyota Motor Corp, announced in July that it would collaborate with minivan experts Daihatsu and Suzuki Motor Corp to produce compact electric commercial vans. Honda announced aims in April of producing 2 million electric vehicles per year and 30 electric vehicle variants globally by 2030.
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