Japanese auto giant Honda will reportedly share its new EV platform designs with American auto giant General Motors, and start selling EVs in the North American market made with over 50% of the same parts as GM cars.
According to Nikkei Asia, the two companies have come to an agreement to share Honda’s e:Architecture EV platform – the basic structure upon which a vehicle’s body and key components are then built.
Honda announced earlier this year that it will only sell electric-powered vehicles in the US from 2040, and that it would begin introducing more all-electric models to the US market from late-2024.
The US market will also be the first to see Honda’s upcoming e:Architecture EV platform, which is expected to be the basis for new midsize EVs, before they are then rolled out to other markets.
This new agreement with GM will mean that GM will be able to use the same EV platform to sell its own EVs, giving the company access now to multiple EV platforms.
While something of a surprise to see two big-name carmakers essentially combine their electric firepower, in early 2020, GM and Honda agreed to jointly develop two all-new electric vehicles for Honda based on GM’s own EV platform powered by its proprietary Ultium batteries.
Honda and GM have also already worked together on an autonomous GM Cruise as well as hydrogen fuel cells.
A similar partnership involving Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi has resulted in the CMF-EV platform, designed by the three company-alliance and already in use, such as in the Nissan Ariya and the upcoming Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric SUV.