Honda bets big on solid-state batteries in bid to catch up in EV race

Honda Motor Co. Ltd., which was quick out of the gate in the race to electrification with its Insight hybrid sedan more than two decades ago, is now well off the pace. Honda’s Prologue crossover, its first fully electric vehicle (EV), will not be released until 2024.“Until five years ago, our strategy was that our business would be established mainly around hybrid technologies by 2030 – that was what we were anticipating five years back,” Honda’s global chief executive officer, Toshihiro Mibe, told The Globe and Mail at a media roundtable in Tokyo. However, he added, “Our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality; it is not [simply] to manufacture EVs.”To achieve that goal by 2050, the Japanese car maker is eyeing a multi-faceted approach, not just replacing gas-burning engines with batteries, Mibe said. The plan includes sourcing and recycling sustainable materials,…

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