Skip to main content

Honda will use General Motors technology to build two electric cars

Honda and General Motors are setting aside their differences to engineer electric vehicles together. Their announcement adds a bullet point to the growing list of alliances formed to offset the sky-high costs of developing battery technology.

The Japanese company will build two electric models on the Ultium platform its American partner introduced in March 2020. There’s no word yet on what they’ll look like, or what segment of the market they’ll compete in. Anything is possible because the architecture — the chassis, the battery pack, and the motor — is being designed to be as modular as can be. It’s not too far-fetched to assume at least one of the two EVs will be an SUV — the segment is hugely popular right now, and it’s going to get incredibly crowded in the early 2020s.

Regardless of what they look like, and what corner of the industry they compete in, Honda’s upcoming electric models will share more than a powertrain with their General Motors-built counterparts. The firm pledged to integrate GM’s OnStar into its HondaLink suite of connectivity features, and it will offer hands-free semiautonomous technology developed by General Motors. There’s no word on what Detroit gets out of the deal. Honda has a turn-key electric platform in its portfolio that it’s building cars on for the European market, but General Motors left that continent and is not planning to come back. Economies of scale may be enough to justify the partnership.

The partnership won’t spawn badge-engineered models like the Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ. Honda clarified it will style the interior and the exterior of its future electric models in-house to ensure they don’t end up looking like a Chevrolet, and it will tune the platform with its own driving characteristics in mind. Teaming up with General Motors doesn’t necessarily mean the two companies are now best buds, so EVs built on the same bones will compete against each other.

General Motors will manufacture Honda’s two electric models in North America, though it hasn’t said where yet. Sales will begin during the 2024 model year, meaning they’ll likely be unveiled in 2023 at the latest.

Looking ahead, the two firms are open to expanding their collaboration.

“We are in discussions with one another regarding the possibility of further extending our partnership,” affirmed Rick Schostek, the executive vice president of Honda’s American division, in a statement. Honda and General Motors are already co-developing hydrogen fuel cells and driverless vehicles like the Cruise Origin.

Editors' Recommendations

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
GMC poured all of its truck-making expertise into the Sierra EV pickup
A 2024 GMC Sierra EV towing an Airstream trailer.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks are twins, and that will continue to be the case when they go electric.
Chevy unveiled its Silverado EV at CES 2022, and now it’s GMC’s turn. The 2024 GMC Sierra EV borrows some key features from its Chevy sibling, as well GMC’s first electric truck — the Hummer EV. Some of those features were actually pioneered by General Motors two decades ago on non-electric trucks, and are now making a comeback.
You can reserve a Sierra EV now, but deliveries aren’t scheduled to start until early calendar-year 2024. Production starts with a high-end Denali Edition 1 model, with other versions arriving for the 2025 model year.

Design
The Sierra EV updates the design language of the internal-combustion GMC Sierra for the electric age. A big grille is no longer needed for cooling, but it’s still an important styling element that designers didn’t want to break away from, Sharon Gauci, GMC executive director of global design, explained to Digital Trends and other media in an online briefing ahead of the truck’s reveal. The grille shape is now outlined in lights, with an illuminated GMC logo.
Like the Hummer EV and Silverado EV, the Sierra EV uses GM’s Ultium modular battery architecture which, among other things, means the battery pack is an integral part of the structure. So unlike most other trucks — including the rival Ford F-150 Lightning — the Sierra EV doesn’t have a separate frame. The cab and bed are one piece as well, all of which helps increase structural rigidity.
The Sierra EV also borrows the Midgate setup from the Silverado EV. First seen on the Chevy Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT in the early 2000s, it allows the bulkhead and glass behind the cab to be removed, effectively extending the bed. Combined with the fold-out MultiPro tailgate from the internal-combustion Sierra, it can expand the default 5.0-foot, 11-inch bed length to 10 feet, 10 inches. A frunk (GMC calls it the “eTrunk”) provides covered storage space as well.
Because it’s pitched as a premium vehicle, the Sierra EV gets upscale interior materials like open-pore wood trim and stainless steel speaker grilles for its Bose audio system. But the design itself, with a freestanding portrait touchscreen and rectangular instrument cluster, looks suspiciously similar to the Ford Mustang Mach-E cabin. The touchscreen even has the same big volume knob as the Ford. We hope GMC’s lawyers are ready.

Read more
Check out Spectre, Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric car
Rolls-Royce's Spectre, its first all-electric vehicle.

Rolls-Royce Introduces Spectre: The World's First Ultra-Luxury Electric Super Coupé

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has taken the wraps off the Spectre, its first all-electric vehicle.

Read more
2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV aims for affordability with $30,000 base price
Front three quarter view of the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV.

The 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV isn’t the General Motors brand’s first electric model, but it might be the most consequential. Chevy has plenty of EV experience, but with the Equinox EV, which is scheduled to go on sale in fall 2023, it’s prioritizing mass-market appeal.

The third electric vehicle unveiled by Chevy this year, following the Silverado EV and Blazer EV, the Equinox EV aims for greater affordability with a targeted starting price of around $30,000. Its compact crossover SUV form factor is also more suited to American tastes than the current Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV.

Read more