Honda thinks the future is electric, and is hooking up with electronics giant Hitachi to create a joint venture to produce electric motors for future battery-powered vehicles, according to a Bloomberg report.
This isn't the first example of Honda's bullishness on electrified vehicles: last month, it announced a plan to add two new hybrid models to its Canadian lineup by 2018. There will also be a fuel-cell electric model for the US, and another recently inked collaboration deal will see the Japanese company build fuel cells with General Motors.
Indeed, conditions seem perfect for collaboration, with Toyota and Suzuki having just revealed plans to work together on autonomous car tech.
Honda says the Hitachi joint venture will eliminate the "huge capital investment" costs involved in tooling up for electric motor production on its own, and the two manufacturers' combined production capacity will allow them to sell motors to other car makers if demand arises. Hitachi has factories in Japan, the US and China, and the joint venture will consider all three for its electric motor production.
