OK, looks like the big time electric cars wars are on for real. Not just Tesla, and not just the Volt or Prius (which are hybrids anyway), but recent news of the Nissan Leaf threw fuel on the fire, and now come word that Honda will be making their own EV that will hit the streets by 2015.
Word out of Japan is that Honda plans to roll out an all-electric automobile in America by 2015. Honda, a company that essentially defined fuel efficiency combined with practicality by the early 80s will move to battery power in order to meet upcoming zero-emission regulations.
According to The Nikkei Business Daily out of Japan (and via LeftLaneNews), Honda has started development on an all-electric car that will make it to the U.S. market by 2015. Which means, if development cycles and such hold, spy shots should be seen by 2011, and official renderings, teasers and such should hit the interwebs by 2013.
Honda did not confirm that launch date, but they did say that a battery-powered vehicle for the U.S. market is in the works. Other than that, not much concrete news is available, although the Honda’s EV is expected to be minicar sized and have a range of at least 100 miles. Don’t forget that Honda has a hybrid version of its Fit small car rolling out in late 2010, so that could be related to this upcoming electric car.
And LeftLaneNews speculates on a hypothesis thusly: “An electrified version of the Fit would make a natural competitor to Nissan’s upcoming Versa hatchback-based Leaf EV.”
They right on both counts. The Fit does have a lot of internal volume that could be a strength for stuff like batteries and controllers and such. On top of that, the Fit is about the same size as the Versa-based Leaf.
If this does go according to rumors, then expect to see a whole slew of EVs produced by major manufacturers on the roads by mid-decade.
Source: LeftLaneNews
Photo from Flickr user SOCIALisBETTER
Lots of expectation from Honda. Electric vehicles are very popular and creates less pollution. Honda’s EV must be looking great and having nice features. Will surely buy this car as it arrives in the market.