Honda to spend $65b on electric vehicles, software through fiscal 2030

Japan's Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it will double its investment in electric vehicle technology from its previous plan to around 10 trillion yen (about 65 billion U.S. dollars) for the 10 years through fiscal 2030, reported Xinhua.

Honda expects to spend about 6 trillion yen in building a next-generation factory system and manufacturing new cars, 2 trillion yen for software research and development, as well as 2 trillion yen for battery production, according to the company.

The Japanese automaker also said it will launch seven models of its new EV series "Honda 0" globally by 2030. For China, for which it has a separate strategy, it plans to roll out 10 EV models by 2027.

Honda is the first Japanese carmaker to set a target of phasing out its gasoline-powered models completely. It seeks to increase the ratio of electric and fuel-cell vehicles to 100 percent of its overall new car sales in 2040.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said during a news conference that the EV industry is still nascent but that "in the long run the EV shift will continue to proceed steadily."