Honda pledges to go electric-only in Europe by 2025
Honda (HMC) announced at the Geneva International Motor Show today that 100% of its European sales would be electric by 2025, part of its overall electrification strategy. The target is a ramp-up of its 2017 goal of getting to two-thirds of European sales being electric by 2025.
“Environmental challenges continue to drive demand for cleaner mobility,” said Tom Gardner, the senior vice president for Honda Europe. “Technology marches on unrelenting and people are starting to shift their view of the car itself.”
The first of Honda’s electric offerings in Europe will be the e Prototype, which launched its charm offensive at the motor show today. The production-ready super-mini, an evolution of the Urban EV concept shown at Geneva two years ago, will be produced for the EU market only.
With its chunky little body and inquisitive face (based, Honda said, on its headlights shaped like human eyes), it is one of the cutest-looking cars at the show this year. It promises a range of over 200km (124 miles), so it’s best suited to nipping around the city, and will charge up via its roof-mounted charging outlet to 80% in just half an hour.
The Japanese car giant announced in February that it was shutting down its Swindon factory in the UK, saying it would help the company ramp up its switch to electric mobility.
READ MORE: Honda’s call to quit UK makes perfect sense as electric-car age looms