Honda Will Build An Electric Car Factory In Canada With Its Own-made Battery

Honda Urban EV Concept. (Doc. Honda Global)

JAKARTA - Japan's automotive manufacturer, Honda, is considering a location to build an electric vehicle (EV) factory in Canada that will use its own homemade battery cells.

According to a report from Nikkei Asia, Sunday, January 7, Honda will invest $14 billion in the upcoming EV plant in Canada. If realized, this would be the company's biggest investment.

In this plan, Honda is also considering including near the Honda plant in Ontario. For information, in June 2023, Honda and LG Energy Solution (LGES) conducted groundbreaking for a new EV plant in Jeffersonville, Ohio. The plant is expected to absorb a total of 2,527 workers, and Honda hopes the plant is completed by the end of 2024. The plant is also expected to help this automotive company gain access to EV tax credit in the US under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) rules requiring vehicles to be built locally.

Please note, Ontario itself is also another major automotive manufacturer site such as Ford, Toyota, General Motors, to Stellantis.

Honda plans for this new facility to be operational by 2028, and the company plans to decide on its specific location by the end of this year.

Canada has implemented plans to ban sales of new inner combustion vehicle (ICE) by 2035, known as Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, following in the footsteps of the European Union and several US states such as California, Maryland, and New Jersey.

Honda and General Motors (GM) have also planned cooperation to develop an affordable EV and compete with market leader Tesla. However, in October, the two announced the cancellation of the plan in a joint statement.

Interestingly, Honda is also targeting other markets with electric motorcycles, and the company plans to launch 10 or more units of full electric motorcycles by 2025 with sales of up to 3.5 million units per year by 2030.