Honda Plays A Slow Hand When it Comes to Electric Vehicles

In the world of electric vehicle manufacturers, Honda has made promises for some of the most efficient and long lasting designs of all the companies currently reaching for electric vehicle goals. However, despite the promise of an excellent electric vehicle line that is soon to come, Honda is far behind many of the other manufacturers that have seen release either in this year or are planning releases for the new year that is just around the corner. With the company failing to hit the market at the same time as the other electric vehicle manufacturers many think that Honda is making a critical mistake that will leave them incapable of gaining any real foothold in the market in the years to come. Honda, on the other hand, sees this as the chance to survey their competition and tweak their own cars until they are the ones standing on top.

Currently, Honda plans to spend the time they've allotted to watch their competitors to test their previously announced electric vehicle models like the Fit and the plug-in hybrid Inspire. The testing period is expected to last approximately two years and to involve a total of ten electric vehicles and ten plug-in hybrids. The groups will be split between the Saitama and Kumamoto prefectures in Japan in order to properly gauge how each group of vehicles run in certain conditions. The Saitama prefecture, for example, is a part of the overall Tokyo suburbs and would likely allow Honda to test suburban and urban driving conditions best while the Kumamoto area is home to one of Honda's larger plants that can act as a home base for the testing process. Throughout the two year process Honda is hoping to develop technologies that will allow electric vehicles to run longer on a single charge with the potential help of solar charged batteries.

While Honda works towards seeing if they can use solar cell batteries to power their electric vehicles they are also looking at building solar powered charging stations throughout Japan. Honda is hoping to find a way to spread conveniently placed solar powered charging stations in order to allow customers who cannot easily charge their cars at home or who are on a trip to juice up their vehicles with ease. Honda has said that along with the construction of their charging stations that they would like to include a system on board their vehicles that will indicate to the driver how much charge is remaining on their battery while also displaying a map to the nearest charging station.

Whether or not Honda's gamble will pay out in the end remains to be seen. With testing currently planned for Japan and possible testing taking place in the United States sometime in the future, they are certainly giving themselves plenty of time to grow and improve. Considering the current quality of Honda automobiles, many are positive that despite the delay Honda will be able to make a strong showing with their future models that will solidify their place on the market.

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