Honda began its electrification journey in the 1980s

Honda Malaysia will soon introduce its first fully electric model – the e:N1 – in Malaysia. Those who are familiar with Honda will know that besides the e:N1 (which is on sale in Thailand), Honda also has other EV models which it sells in Japan, Europe and America.

30 EV models during this decade
With the second half of this decade expected to see increased use of EVs, Honda said (in 2022) that it would launch 30 EV models globally with a total production volume of more than 2 million units annually by 2030. These will be different types of models to suit market characteristics of different regions, taking into account that electrification is taking place at different paces.

Although Honda’s EV models have only been more obvious in the past decade or so, the automaker was exploring electric drivetrains as far back as the 1980s. While the founder of Honda, Sochiro Honda, loved the internal combustion engine, he also understood the need to be open to other forms of propulsion as fossil fuels (petrol and diesel) would not last forever.

He had set up Honda R&D as a separate company – not just a division – so that the engineers could focus on their work without distractions due to financial considerations (ie everything must have a ‘business case’). Honda-san himself resented such limitations and was happiest when left to just develop engines. That is perhaps one reason why Honda has been highly innovative in its engineering, and this freedom also allowed the exploration of EV technologies.

Over many meetings, the engineers discussed the types of research that they should conduct for the coming 21st century, which they saw as the age of ‘clean energy’. At the same time, they also decided that as part of the journey towards electrification, they would also look into enhancing the combustion engine with supplementary power from electric motors.

This led to hybrid electric technology, a development which would become increasingly important for Honda and by the end of the 1990s, it was able to launch the Insight – one of the world’s first mass-produced cars with a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrain. Today, that technology has been further advanced and is known as e:HEV.

No experience in EVs
With no previous experience with electric powerplants, the Honda engineers organised a small team of four and began basic research in April 1988. By October 1990, Honda R&D proposed to top management to move to full-scale development of EVs. One factor supporting this direction was the growing possibility of more stringent emission control regulations, especially in a major market like California.

In fact, the month after the meeting, the US government introduced the ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) regulation which would take effect in 1998. Besides the challenge of zero emissions, 2% of vehicles sold by each company had to be ZEVs, starting in 1998.

A more determined effort
This pushed Honda to put in a bigger effort to develop EVs and some 100 employees were brought in to work on the project for a fully electric production model. The first prototype to be test-manufactured as a significant project was based on the Civic 3-door model. In a race against time, the prototype was manufactured using a commercially available motor and battery obtained from the market. For most team members, it was their first attempt at building an EV and they knew there would be trial and error. In July 1991, the EV made its first run without any problem.

Over the next few years, many changes were made to the drivetrain, especially the battery, ‘to make a good electric vehicle, with no compromises’. The company’s top management had given a clear order: the finest EV in the world; that it express a clean, quiet, smooth ride that is of another dimension; and that it be advanced’.

Honda gave glimpses of its EV development, eg with the EV-X concept at the 1993 Tokyo Motorshow and the Clean Urban Vehicle (CUV-4) which was a converted Civic hatchback. The CUV-4 was used for real-world testing and to collect data and 10 units were used in California which covered a total of 130,000 kms.

Only 325 units produced
The production model was designated the EV-Plus and production began in early 1996 with the first unit leaving the factory in April 1997. Only 325 units were produced over 3 years and Honda probably felt it was just too early as interest in EVs was not great. Instead, the company focussed on hybrid technology which it felt could offer quicker environmental benefits as it was more lower cost technology. More people could buy hybrid models which still gave a reduction on carbon dioxide emissions and also use less fuel.

What was the EV Plus like?
The design of the EV Plus was something like the original City hatchback and its length of 4050 mm and 1750 mm would make it almost similar in size to today’s WR-V. However, while the WR-V weighs 1,415 kgs, the EV Plus was 1,630 kgs because of the battery pack which alone weighed 486 kgs.

The battery pack had a capacity of 28.7 kWh and when using a 240V power supply, a 0% to 80% recharge was said to take 2 hours. With a supply of 5kW, it could be fully charged in about 7 hours. The small motor generated 49 kW (66 ps)/275 Nm, giving a 0 – 50 km/h time of around 5 seconds and a top speed of 130 km/h. As for the range, it could go up to 160 kms with careful driving but the US EPA rated its range as 130 kms.

The EV Plus was officially priced at US$53,999 but Honda chose not to sell them outright and offered them on lease at $455 a month over 3 years. It was noted that the battery pack would cost $20,000 then and it needed replacement after 3 years, so the leasing program was more sensible. Almost all the EV Plus units were leased in California and 20 units were used in Japan while 5 units went to Europe.

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