Honda Motor partners with China’s largest battery maker

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. will partner with Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL), China’s largest battery maker based in Fujian province, to develop an electric vehicle which is seen by the Japanese automaker as key to its global strategy.

The project will develop batteries and related technologies to be used mainly in Honda’s new electric car, which will be introduced in China and other countries by the first half of 2020.

The two companies will develop the car based on Honda’s Fit mini-vehicle. The objective of the project is to create an affordable electric car priced at slightly more than JPY 2 million (USD 18,391) equipped with a small battery, with a relatively short range of 300 kilometers on a single charge.

Honda’s goal is to sell more than 100,000 cars per year, making it the company’s top-selling electric vehicle. Honda sold nearly 430,000 vehicles worldwide in April, the latest data available. Honda’s target is to raise the combined share of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to about 65% of total vehicle sales by 2030.

Honda said it plans to work with CATL in other areas as well, including electric vehicle performance testing, production technology and battery specifications. The Japanese automaker hopes to work with the Chinese company on future electric cars.