Japan’s automakers are known for being a bit behind on electric vehicles (EVs). But Honda is taking a big step forward! They announced a plan to completely stop making gas-powered cars by 2040.
This is a big change for Honda, which has always been known for its engineering expertise. They’re following a similar strategy to Tesla, bringing more of the car-making process in-house. This will give them more control and speed up development.
Other Japanese car companies are taking a wait-and-see approach to EVs. Toyota, for example, is still heavily invested in hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel cells. Nissan seems stuck in its old ways, and Mazda isn’t making many moves at all. Subaru feels a bit behind the times, too.
Even though EV adoption might be slowing down in some places, it’s booming in China. The global market is clearly moving towards electric cars, and Honda is making sure they’re not left in the dust.
In the meantime, they’ll keep selling hybrid cars to make money for this electric future. Honda’s CEO says these high profits will “charge the transition” to EVs. They’ll also unveil a brand new electric car platform in 2026. Honda is hoping to avoid relying on General Motors for help with EVs. This is a smart move, since the electric car market is growing fast.
Tesla has been laying off a lot of employees lately, including their entire Supercharger team! This team was responsible for building and maintaining Tesla’s network of charging stations. This is a surprising move, and Elon Musk is trying to calm people down about it.
Other companies are now looking to take advantage of this situation and build their own fast-charging stations.
A new electric car company called Zeekr just went public on the New York Stock Exchange. This is the second electric car brand from Geely Group, the same company that owns Volvo. Their other electric car brand, Polestar, hasn’t done very well so far. However, Zeekr might be different. They already have several electric cars for sale in China and are expanding to other countries. They’re even outselling Tesla in some parts of China!
