The world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer is going electric. On Monday, Honda announced it would introduce “10 or more” electric motorcycles by 2025. The majority of those won’t be available in North America, with the automaker set to focus most of its attention on Asian and European markets. Don’t expect many performance models either. Honda shared a slide showing the silhouettes of 11 potential electric models, and all but four look like mopeds.
The good news is that the remaining full-sized models are the ones that are likely to make their way stateside. Honda is developing a new “FUN” platform and plans to introduce three “large-size” EV models in Japan, the US and Europe between 2024 and 2025. It’s also working on a kids-sized bike based on the same powertrain and solid-state battery technology to power all of the models it plans to introduce before the second half of the decade.
At the same time, the company said it would continue to produce internal combustion engine models, but pledged to make them more environmentally friendly by introducing more “flex-fuel” motorcycles that can use E20 and E100 ethanol-based fuels in 2023 and 2025. However, those models won’t be available in the US.
Honda plans to make its motorcycle business carbon neutral by 2040 and for electric models to account for about 15 percent of its motorcycle sales by 2030. All of that amounts to an electrification strategy that doesn’t seem particularly urgent but is in line with other automakers like Ford and GM.