Honda solid state future? By Ben Purvis
The move towards electrification from the major Japanese manufacturers has been slow so far, but Honda is promising a rapid acceleration of its battery-powered programme with a target of making 15% of its bikes electric by 2030.
At the moment, Honda has just a handful of electric models, like the PCX electric scooter and the business-targeted Gyro-e that's offered in Japan. But that will have to change fast if the 15% target is to be hit. Honda is expected to manufacture more than 17 million bikes this year, so if production volumes remain consistent until 2030, it means the company will need to make more than 2.5 million electric bikes that year.
The 15% target was announced in Honda's 2022 Sustainability Report, which also confirmed plans to electrify 30% of Honda's car range by 2030, along with 36% of its power products. In what Honda refers to as 'major markets', the electric mix will be higher still, accounting for 40% of car sales by 2030 and 80% by 2035, and while the plan for motorcycles hasn't been broken down to such detail, it will need to follow a similar pattern.
"millions of electric Hondas every year by 2030"
Honda has also been pumping development money into the science of solid-state batteries, which could be a game-changer for electric motorcycles. Existing lithium batteries use a liquid or gel electrolyte to separate the cathode and anode, but a solid-state battery uses a solid separator instead. That allows the cathode and anode to be much closer together, making for more compact, lightweight and power-dense cells.
Solid state batteries are also capable of dealing with more heat, allowing faster recharging than existing technology, and since they aren't filled with a flammable liquid electrolyte, they can be safer in the event of an accident. Honda's plan is to create a pilot production line for solid state batteries in 2024, at a cost of 43m yen, and to move to mass production of the technology in the second half of the decade.
