The automaker announced today that Honda is working on a new mid-to-large electric SUV for the US market. The new vehicle, which is scheduled for release in 2025, will be built atop the automaker’s new Honda e Architecture EV platform. Honda had previously announced that cars on its own platform would be coming in 2026, so it looks like the automaker is a year ahead of schedule.
The launch of Honda’s new SUV will follow after the automaker’s upcoming Prologue and Acura ZDX SUVs, which are slated for release in 2024. Honda’s introduction will be a passport-sized midsize SUV, slightly larger than the compact CR-V. Honda could use a larger electric SUV with three-row seating, which has become a hot part with the upcoming Kia EV9 family sedan and the new King of the Mountain: the Rivian R1S.
Both the Prologue and ZDX in development with GM are developed and run on the US Ultium EV platform. But now, Honda’s got an all-new SUV, along with plans to expand its partnership with General Motors and build several “affordable” Ultium-based electric vehicles for sale in “2027 and beyond.”
The upcoming 2025 SUV, with its new Honda architecture, will feature a new native vehicle operating system, and an over-the-air (OTA) upgradeable platform called Electrical and Electronic Engineering, or E&E Architecture for short. E&E will “facilitate in-vehicle software and UX/digital services connectivity” — which “will be an increasing part” of Honda’s business going forward, according to an email sent to the edge Today by American Honda Motor Company spokesman Chris Martin.
Electric automakers like Tesla and Rivian also support OTA updates that change more than their infotainment system, and they rely on in-house software to build a complete EV experience for customers. Honda will need to match these competitors to make the new SUV both attractive and practical. It’ll also need to compete with GM’s UX — which won’t have Apple’s CarPlay to hide behind in the future.
As for the GM-Honda partnership, it will also extend to manufacturing strategies, as the automakers will work together to “increase competitiveness in areas of core electrical components.” Using the Ultium platform means that Honda will use GM’s current case-style Ultium batteries (as opposed to the cylindrical cell) for its announced electric vehicles. Meanwhile, GM is building a US$3 billion electric vehicle battery plant in cooperation with Samsung SDI, after four other domestic battery plants that GM owns are currently in the construction phase.
But Honda doesn’t just rely on Ultium batteries; The automaker is working with LG Energy Solution to start a new joint venture to produce batteries before the end of the year. And for the future, it is exploring its own solid-state battery technology, along with co-development of semi-solid-state ones with SES. Honda plans to have a demonstration line of solid-state batteries next year, and plans to introduce them in new electric vehicles coming in the “second half of 2020,” according to press materials.
Honda also announced today that it will retool three Honda plants in Ohio to electrify production lines and become the center for electric vehicle production in North America. The automaker plans to build 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2023, and will only build electric and fuel cell vehicles globally by 2040.