'Our time has come'

Honda may be late to the EV party, but a barrage of bold new battery-powered cars is on the way. JAMES ATTWOOD speaks to boss Toshihiro Mibe at its R&D base to find out what's in store

- JAMES ATTWOOD

Is there a more confusing, esoteric car company than Honda? One capable of astonishing ambition and technical innovation, yet also of missing industry trends and producing anonymously uninspiring models.

Here's a firm bold enough to enter Formula 1 just a year after producing its first four-wheeled vehicle, take on Ferrari with the NSX and push hot hatch boundaries with the Civic Type R. It has even built a luxury jet. Yet it also produces distinctly beige fare such as the Jazz and the e:Ny1, was late to diesel engines and SUVs, and squandered early technical leads in hybrid and even electric vehicles.

In the UK and mainland Europe, Honda is far removed from its mid-2000s peak of more than 100,000 annual sales, eclipsed by ambitious rivals and now lacking the EV range required to push volume in the era of the zero-emission vehicle mandate. Honda is not alone among Japanese car firms in being hesitant about EVs, but its line-up lacks the truly market-pleasing combustion models that rivals such as Toyota can fall back on.

Honda's recent EV efforts exemplify its frustratingly uneven approach. The defiantly different E won plaudits for its distinctive design when it was launched in 2020, but the tiny car was doomed by a low range and high price and is already out of production. It was followed by the e:Nyl, a compact SUV that fails to shine in almost any aspect. In the US, Honda's only EV, the Prologue, is built by GM on one of the US firm's platforms as part of a now-canned partnership.

And yet, at a time when numerous rivals with larger EV line-ups are rolling back their ambitious targets, Honda remains committed to selling only battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars by 2040.