Honda has pledged to invest $64 billion to develop seven bespoke electric vehicles, which it plans to launch by 2030 on its way to selling only EVs and fuel-cell vehicles after 2040. However, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus within the company that there is enough demand for EVs, which is reflected in its limited selection of available battery-powered models.

This is true for Japan’s home market but also for North America, where Honda sells two vehicles (the Prologue and the Acura ZDX), both of which are made by General Motors on the Ultium platform. Whenever Honda’s top executives come out to speak about selling fully electric vehicles, it always sounds like a mixed message that, in part, reaffirms the brand’s commitment to electrification while also suggesting it’s not yet convinced this is the way.

  • Mac@mander.xyz
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    4 months ago

    This is coming from another manufacturer that decided to stop building the cheap cars because they weren’t profitable?
    Yeah, get fucked.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The average tax on cigarettes due to their “Ill effects” on the populous is 1.93 per pack. The average pack is around 8. Car emissions kill about twice as many people as cigarettes do. Sounds like we should tax cars using gasoline an extra 25%.
      Throw in us not subsidizing the oil and gasoline and poof, the number of electric chargers and cars would sky rocket. The grid would finally get upgrades as were being proposed pre-obama era.

        • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          This should be the cross that sin tax dies on. Either we kill taxes on things deciphered bad for you by government, or we tax everything bad for you as a sin. They won’t accept taxes on gas, oil, non-naturally occuring sugar in foods. Force them to recognize they are impending the freedoms of others or force them to accept they are required to play as well

  • xyguy@startrek.website
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    4 months ago

    All they need to do is bring back the Honda Fit but this time its electric. Or do an electric Odyssey.

    I really think the reason people aren’t getting electric cars is because they are all 20k more than the equivalent mid-size SUV and there are never any for people to test drive on a lot. At least not in my area.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Most drivers don’t want giant SUVs. That market is saturated. Ship a smaller EV with decent range, affordable price, and fast charging — and you will corner that part of the market.

  • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org
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    4 months ago

    In my case, he’s only half right:

    I don’t want any new car at all. They’re all mobile surveillance platforms, snooping on everything their drivers do and reporting to the mothership, who in turn “monetizes” their data and does god know what else with it.

    Well fuck that - be the surveillance machine equipped with an ICE or an electric motor. Big Data-riddled modern cars is the reason why I ride the bus.

    • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Same. I basically want my 2010s car, but with an electric engine (possibly a plug-in hybrid, not fully decided). But, no, modern cars will require me to do things like research how to disconnect the modem so the damn thing isn’t selling my driving data and find one that doesn’t require me to use the touch screen while fucking driving. So instead, I’m just continuing to drive my car and hoping legislation or a manufacturer figures this shit out.

      Give me a basic car, but with an electric engine. That’s what I want.

      • bassad@jlai.lu
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        4 months ago

        Then get a Light Electric Vehicule, you may not go as fast and as far as your car but it might be enough for 90% of daily travels

    • heavyboots@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      Toyota does at least offer you the ability to completely disable data collection. Once their remote start/charge/climate control etc for free ran out, I disabled data collection and deleted the app off my phone.

        • heavyboots@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          No but Toyota has a privacy website where you can opt out of all data collection for the vehicle. They warn you that you lose the ability to track the vehicle if it is stolen too, which sucks, but they won’t let you keep that and opt out of everything else so I just opted out of the entire package.

          • barsquid@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            Dang. I’d never be able to trust logging in to a website in order to opt out of data collection on my own hardware. I hope they are honoring that.

            • heavyboots@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              Given that they won’t even track the car for theft purposes past that, I am fairly certain they are.

              I suppose you could always just try and find the SIM card and remove it too…

  • barsquid@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    We don’t want shitty overpriced cars spying on our every move with touchscreen controls for everything. There’s nothing that forces an EV to do that.

    I will soon have to get a new vehicle and it is looking like I have to buy used to fill those requirements. All newer vehicles, E or ICE, seem like overpriced touchscreen spyware garbage.

  • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I want an EV that isn’t filled with touchscreens, software updates, DLC features, and doesn’t track my movements. I guess that isn’t demanding enough.

  • fubarx@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    A basic vehicle with room for four, no fancy electronics and doodads, zero cloud/app nonsense, 4-600 mile range, under $30K. Essentially, a Camry without range anxiety.

    Make it happen and you’ll own the automotive world for the next decade.

      • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        That’s like 80% of the issue. I don’t want my car to brick itself because the manufacturer pushes a poorly made software update.

        • Cort@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I think it would be nice if the updates were optional. I never thought I’d want to update the os on my car, until ford released an update that added Android Auto to my car when it wasn’t a feature originally.

  • Montagge@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    I’d love an EV, but it needs to be under $5k, 150+ mile range minimum, and not have a battery on its last leg.

    • Obi@sopuli.xyz
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      4 months ago

      The main thing is old school manufacturers insist on having 12 million different tiers and options. I’m close to caving in and getting a new car for the first time because my last (recent) second hand one has failed me and can’t handle a hill if I’m carrying a bit of stuff/people (it’s a 1.0 ecoboost engine). I would then definitely go electric but it’s annoyingly hard to beat Tesla especially if you want the bells and whistles, which I would if I’m gonna drop 40k€+ on a new car I’d plan on keeping a long time. None compete with a model Y if you go for a full option trim.

  • heavyboots@lemmy.ml
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    4 months ago

    Mostly I want a 400 mile range EV under $50k. Had to settle for a PHEV RAV4 Prime for the moment.

    • ch00f@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      If you can charge at home, I think you should reconsider that 400 mile requirement. I have 310 mile range and rarely use more than like 20% of the battery.

      • SacralPlexus@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        It partially depends on lifestyle. I also have a 310 mile range and find that it’s really challenging to plan remote hiking / camping trips due to lack of infrastructure.

        • ch00f@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          For sure. I just like to bring it up whenever somebody talks about needing a 400 mile range. More often than not, it’s not even their only vehicle. They just want a 1:1 replacement of their ICE range with no consideration of how home charging changes everything.

          • OminousOrange@lemmy.ca
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            4 months ago

            Not even just home charging. There are often options to plug in at most destinations, even if it is just 120V. Which if you’re spending a day or two is perfectly fine.

            Folks often don’t consider just how long their car sits parked.

            • unconfirmedsourcesDOTgov@lemmy.sdf.org
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              4 months ago

              Eh, 120V recharges ~5mi in an hour on my car, whereas 240V gives ~21mi/hr.

              Practically speaking, if I drive 200 miles in a day, I can recharge at 240V in under 10 hours, so overnight is generally enough. Charging at 120V would take ~40 hours. If I’m on a trip 200 miles from home, 120V charging is simply untenable and the 120V charge is just a stop gap to get me to a public fast charger.

              • OminousOrange@lemmy.ca
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                4 months ago

                For sure, a level 2 is much faster. My point was more if you go to say a cottage for the weekend, you’re still able to plug in there and would likely be close to full in the 2-3 days you’re parked there.

                In my Ioniq 5, I’d be pretty much full with level 2 (240V) overnight, but the level 1 (120V) would only get around 20%. But, the slow charging isn’t too much of a concern if I’m staying somewhere for a couple days.

                All I’m saying is that it’s possible to fuel your car nearly any time it’s parked.

                • unconfirmedsourcesDOTgov@lemmy.sdf.org
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                  4 months ago

                  It sounds like we’re on exactly the same page here and we simply have different usage expectations. We definitely agree on the value of being able to fuel the car anytime it is parked. One of the best things about EVs!

                  I tend to drive frequently to different attractions while on vacation, while it sounds like you might be the type of person who likes to get away to a cabin and try to avoid hustle and bustle for a few days. In your scenario the level 1 charging has plenty of time to do the job, whereas I’d have range anxiety the whole time because I’m usually on the go. 😅

        • QuarterSwede@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Hence why we went with a PHEV. We’re on EV most of the time. For the rare times a year we’re traveling the thing has a 500 mile range. I’m tired before I need to fill up. We fill the vehicle 4x a year on average. Freaking love it.

      • heavyboots@lemmy.ml
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        4 months ago

        Yeah, that’s kind of why I got the RAV4 Prime in the end although I would love to replace it with a full EV eventually. I have fairly specific requirements because my folks live in the mountain about 300 miles away round trip and I need to be able to day trip it in an emergency (and 400 miles range ≠ 400 miles freeway range).

  • DarkThoughts@fedia.io
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    4 months ago

    (the Prologue and the Acura ZDX)

    Fat, ugly, and likely completely overpriced for what people are looking for.