Honda and GM have agreed to cooperate in the field of affordable electric vehicles

Honda and General Motors are abandoning plans to work together on affordable electric vehicles, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The plan announced in 2022 was for the two automakers to jointly develop a variety of affordable electric vehicles using GM's next-generation versions of the Ultium battery pack based on a new platform for the global market. The first electric car born as a result of these efforts, including a compact crossover, was supposed to start going on sale in 2027.

The decision to terminate the project was made by each other, the two automakers said in a joint effort, and each car manufacturer "remains committed to accessibility in the electric vehicle market."Honda also confirmed to Reuters that there will be no changes in its plans to sell only electric cars by 2040. The automaker has previously stated that it will launch electric vehicles for North America based on its own architecture in 2026.

This is not the end of the cooperation between Honda and GM. Last week, Honda announced plans to form a joint venture with GM and its cruise autonomous driving division in the first half of 2026 with the aim of launching automatic ride-sharing in Japan in early 2024. A Honda spokesperson told Reuters that California's decision to stop cruising cars on the roads would not affect the partnership.

As part of the alliance announced in 2020, Honda and its luxury brand Acura will release an electric SUV based on GM Ultium equipment, which will be produced by the American automaker. Deliveries of both the 2024Honda Prologue and the 2024Acura ZDX are expected to begin in early 2024, but this schedule may depend on GM's ability to accelerate the slow start of production of ULTIUM electric vehicles

GM was able to produce only a few Ultium electric vehicles in the third quarter and last week launched a full-size electric pickup truck. The company confirmed that it plans to postpone the launch of the project for a year. The automaker has since confirmed further delays of several months affecting both the truck and the Chevrolet Equinox EV, which was originally scheduled for spring 2024 at a base price of 30,000 pounds.