Honda to phase out gas-powered cars by 2040 in N. America

<p>NEW YORK &mdash; Japanese automaker Honda said Friday that it plans to phase out all of its gasoline-powered vehicles in North America by 2040, making it the latest major automaker with a goal of becoming carbon neutral. </p>
<p>The announcement came as leaders of the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-bill-gates-climate-climate-change-5fa46b576accea6da026d8e31b8117e0">major global economies met</a> for President Joe Biden’s climate summit. Biden has an ambitious <a href="https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-technology-business-climate-c5d0dbc162a8901bf8cf62e10333f5df">goal of slashing America’s greenhouse gas emissions</a> in half by 2030.</p>
<p>Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the company expects that 40% of all of its North American vehicle sales will be battery or fuel-cell powered by 2030, and 80% of all vehicles sold will be battery-electric or fuel-cell powered by 2035.</p>
<p>Part of Honda’s plan involves a new electric-vehicle platform the company is calling e:Architecture, but did not provide specifics. These vehicles will roll out in the second half of this decade, the company said. </p>
<p>Most of the Honda’s development will go toward battery-powered electric vehicles, but the company said it will also put resources into developing hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, in collaboration with General Motors. GM has set a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral, including operations, five years after that. </p>
<p>Honda also plans to be selling electric or fuel-cell vehicles entirely in China and Japan by 2040. </p>