Despite prior commitments to move towards hydrogen fuel cells as the alternative fuel of choice for Honda ’s future, Honda is now focusing its short term efforts on the development of pure electric vehicles due to the slow development of hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
In an interview with Reuters Honda ’s President and CEO, Takanobu Ito said, “I don’t doubt for a second that [hydrogen] fuel cell vehicles are the ultimate green car.” Ito added, “But the infrastructure for hydrogen is moving slowly, and there’s a possibility we won’t be able to get sufficient sales volumes (in California), even if we tried.”
Ito was speaking in regards to legislation in California that will force automakers in the near future to begin selling a particular ratio of zero-emission cars. As Ito pointed out, the infrastructure that Honda had intended to utilize for the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles does not exist, and there is no indication that it will be put in place in the near future.
The urgency of Honda’s new commitment to re-focusing on the development of electric vehicles is further highlighted by the lackluster sales of the new Honda Insight gas-electric hybrid, and Toyota ’s continued success with the Prius hybrid. Honda currently has a joint venture with GS Yuasa, a Japanese battery and power specialist company, for developing the batteries in Honda’s hybrid vehicles. Ito stated that Honda could develop lithium-ion batteries for pure electric vehicles with GS Yuasa if necessary.
