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MagyarAfter the electric Acura, Honda expands its GM tie-up to budget EVs rivaling Tesla's vaporware US$25,000 car
Elon Musk recently advised that his company isn't working on the long-teased affordable US$25,000 Tesla, as it has more urgent models in the pipeline to develop, like the Cybertruck, or the Roadster 2. Honda, however, announced today that it is expanding its electric car partnership with General Motors to release precisely such affordable EV models that will be based on GM's Ultium platform and battery technology. Previously, Honda's electric vehicle tie-up with GM was limited to two models - a Honda Prologue and the first electric Acura - slated for a 2024 US release in comparatively limited quantities.
The Ultium-based budget Honda EVs, however, will be co-produced in the millions, and will include current popular categories like compact crossovers. GM will aim for a sub-$30,000 price point of the new electric Hondas, but they are only scheduled for release in 2027, giving Tesla ample time to catch up and introduce its own budget EV rival by then. According to Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors:
GM and Honda will share our best technology, design and manufacturing strategies to deliver affordable and desirable EVs on a global scale, including our key markets in North America, South America and China.
Honda's President Toshihiro Mibe was no less ambitious in his comments that the two companies "will build on our successful technology collaboration to help achieve a dramatic expansion in the sales of electric vehicles." According to Rick Schostek, the American Honda VP of corporate operations, Honda isn't giving up on the plan to develop its own electric vehicle platform, too.
Being comparatively late to the electrification game, however, Honda has apparently decided that building on the existing EV partnership with General Motors will help it remain relevant in the meantime. As to how does Honda plan to distinguish its electric vehicles from those of GM, it remains to be seen when the first electric Acura or the Prologue appear, layering Honda's distinct exterior and interior design over GM's platform.
