This just in from Tokyo: Honda plans to roll out a plug-in hybrid and a full EV within three years.
Honda honcho Takanobu Ito is expected to announce the company's plans during a press conference Tuesday, Japan's business daily Nikkei reports, according to Reuters. There are no details beyond Honda's claim the plug-in will go 60 kilometers on a liter of gas, which is 141 mpg by our math. (Please let us know if we've screwed that up.)
The announcement shows Honda is hell-bent on going toe-to-toe with Toyota in the hybrid, plug-in and battery electric arena.
Honda's released the Insight and CR-Z hybrids to compete against Toyota's gas-electric lineup, and any plug-in it might be working on is almost surely a response to the plug-in Prius we'll see in 2012. Ito has made it a mission to bring down the cost of hybrids, and the Honda Fit hybrid we keep hearing about could be the cheapest hybrid yet.
The electric is more interesting because Honda has so far bet the farm on hydrogen. Yes, Honda's got experience with EVs -- the EV Plus (pictured) was the first from a major manufacturer that didn't use lead-acid batteries -- and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are electric. But Honda's kept quiet about any battery electrics it might be working on.
Although the EV surely has been in development for awhile, you have to wonder if Tuesday's announcement is a response to Toyota's announcement on Friday that it is working with Tesla to bring back the RAV4 EV...
Cutaway diagram of the 1997 EV Plus: Honda
