Honda CEO Bets $40 Billion to Reach Full Electrification

Japanese automakers, as the world knows, have some sort of allergy from electric vehicles. According to a research report released by climate think tank InfluenceMap, Japanese carmakers are least prepared for a zero-emissions vehicle transition compared with their global competitors.

Leading Japanese auto giant Toyota has been most vocal against the transition towards electric vehicles. Its often criticized for spreading misinformation & propaganda about EVs, lobbying governments, and manipulating policies to favor its hybrid tech in place of EVs. Honda, which is Japan’s second-largest company, has historically not been much better than Toyota in this respect, but the company does seem to be waking up and saying some of the right things under its new CEO Toshihiro Mibe.

Toshihiro Mibe 2
Mibe is known as a person with new thinking, letting go of the old recipes and is willing to embrace future in a better way than his other Japanese counterparts. When he took over as Honda’s Chief Executive Officer last year, he did so with a bang, promising to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and phase out gasoline-powered car sales by 2040, becoming Japan’s first automaker to say so.