Honda | Media Newsroom

Based on its vision of "Blue Skies for our Children," Honda is working to help advance technologies that can address society's environmental and energy concerns through a comprehensive 'portfolio' approach that involves both advanced powertrain and energy technologies for the near and longer term. This portfolio approach encompasses more fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicles, including the expanded deployment of affordable hybrids and the development of viable alternatives to petroleum, including natural gas, battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles, as well as advanced energy production and distribution technologies such as solar cells, co-generation systems, and more efficient means of producing renewable biofuels.

Improving Fuel Efficiency

Honda has been a consistent leader in fuel-efficiency, introducing new technologies and topping the U.S. EPA's automobile fuel-economy rankings for 22 of the past 36 years.

• Honda is committed to further advancements in internal combustion engine fuel efficiency, with a focus on the broad application of technologies such as VTEC™ and Variable Cylinder Management™ (VCM™), and the expanded application of Honda hybrid technology.
  • Second-generation Variable Cylinder Management™ (VCM™) technology - with three-, four- and six-cylinder operation - is being used in the Accord V6 Sedan and Coupe, Crosstour, Pilot SUV and Odyssey minivan.
  • Honda's three hybrid models in the U.S. utilize an interactive Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist™), which uses both real-time feedback and coaching mechanisms to help enhance customers' fuel-efficient driving capabilities.
• Honda has steadily advanced and expanded the use of its Integrated Motor Assist™ (IMA™) hybrid technology, first introduced in the original Honda Insight in 1999.
  • Today, Honda has three distinct hybrid models - the Civic Hybrid, the first Honda hybrid to utilize lithium-ion battery technology; the Insight, the most affordable hybrid automobile in America; and the sporty CR-Z hybrid coupe.
  • Acura will introduce its first hybrid model in the Spring of 2012, the 2013 Acura ILX Hybrid, which will also be the first hybrid model produced at a Honda factory in America - the Greensburg, Indiana plant of Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC.
  • Honda will introduce a new Accord plug-in hybrid vehicle late in 2012. The new Accord will be the first to utilize Honda's new two-motor hybrid system.
• In October 2011, Honda debuted a new lineup of advanced gasoline engines using new 'Earth Dreams' powertrain technology, which will serve as the foundational technology to support Honda's goal to achieve top-class fuel economy in every segment in which it competes over the next three years.
  • 'Earth Dreams' technology - being applied to a wide range of gasoline engines including 660cc, 1.5-liter, 1.8-liter, 2.0-literm 2.4-liter 4-cylinder, and 3.5-liter V-6 - will see its first U.S. deployment in the all-new 2013 Accord (with 2.4 liter 4-cylinder), which is anticipated to achieve top-class fuel economy.
• Further, the company is working to substantially reduce vehicle running resistance through reductions in vehicle weight, lower rolling resistance, advances in vehicle aerodynamics, and reduced engine and driveline friction.
  • In terms of vehicle lightweighting, Honda has been a leader in the use of high-strength steel that can reduce vehicle weight while also allowing engineers to meet other critical performance targets, such as vehicle safety. All new Honda and Acura vehicles have body structures using upwards of 50% high-strength steel by weight, among the highest in the industry.
  • Extensive efforts to reduce engine friction include the use of low-viscosity oils, precision machining of components such as cylinder sleeves, and the use of advanced materials such as molybdenum, which is being applied to cylinder walls in the engines of numerous models.

Electric Vehicle Technology

Honda has also been at the lead of developing new electromotive technologies, including the deployment of the first electric vehicle to use advanced nickel metal hydride batteries, the Honda EV Plus, and the first application of lithium-ion batteries for motive power, in the FCX Clarity fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). Honda continues to advance its electric drivetrain technologies across multiple platforms including its fuel cell electric and gas-electric hybrid vehicles and its soon-to-be-deployed battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

• Today, the company is taking important steps toward the 2012 retail market launch of the new Fit EV battery electric vehicle and Accord plug-in hybrid vehicle, which together with the FCX Clarity are part of Honda's Electric Mobility Network—a comprehensive vision for reducing CO2 emissions.
• The Honda Fit EV electric commuter vehicle will be introduced in the U.S. in Summer 2012. In January 2012, the company delivered the Fit EV to Stanford University, Google and the City of Torrance, California, as part of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program.
• A new Accord plug-in hybrid model utilizing Honda's new dual-motor hybrid system will be introduced in Winter 2012.
• Honda has paced the industry in the development and deployment of the fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) as well as the refueling infrastructure that will be required to take it to the mass market.
  • Honda has been leasing its fuel-cell electric vehicles to fleet and retail customers in California since 2002, in the world's first large-scale retail initiative for FCEVs.
  • Honda introduced the world's first production FCEV and first FCEV to be certified by the U.S. EPA and CARB for commercial use- the Honda FCX - in October 2002.
  • The Honda FCX Clarity, the successor to the FCX, is the world's first purpose-built FCEV and the first to be manufactured on a dedicated production line.
  • Honda R&D is advancing technology for the use of renewable energy in the production of hydrogen (see Solar Cell).

Natural Gas-Powered Vehicles

Honda has sought to establish a pathway from gasoline to gaseous fuel alternatives with the Civic Natural Gas vehicle (formerly the Civic GX), the only natural gas-powered passenger car for retail sale from a major automaker in North America.

• The Civic Natural Gas reduces tank-to-wheel CO2 emissions by 25 percent (versus a comparable gasoline-powered compact car) and is certified as an Inherently Low Emissions Vehicle (ILEV).
• Honda has steadily expanded its U.S. retail sales network for the Civic Natural Gas to Honda dealers in California, New York, Utah and Oklahoma.
• With the introduction of the 2012 Civic Natural Gas, Honda is further expanding retail sales, from 139 dealers in 33 states to nearly 200 dealers in 36 states.
• In California, the Civic Natural Gas, along with the FCX Clarity, is eligible for single-occupant access to HOV lanes through January 2015.

Advanced Cleaner Energy Research

Honda's efforts have gone beyond developing new vehicle technologies to include research and development of new sources of cleaner power to provide the energy required for future mobility.

• Solar Cell - Honda-developed photovoltaic solar cells significantly reduce the energy and CO2 emissions in the manufacturing phase¹. Honda subsidiary Soltec, Ltd. began mass production of Honda solar cells at its new Kumamoto factory in October 2008. Honda is utilizing the cells in many of its own facilities in Japan and has started to deploy them at facilities in the U.S.
• An array at Honda R&D Americas Los Angeles headquarters uses solar power to extract hydrogen from water for refueling the FCX Clarity in a virtually carbon-free energy cycle.
• An 800-cell array was recently completed at the headquarters of Honda Performance Development, Honda's U.S. race engineering enterprise in Santa Clarita, Calif.
• FFVs - Honda has developed a flexible-fuel system that enables engines to operate on either 100 percent ethanol or a wide range of ethanol-gasoline fuel mixtures. In late 2006, Honda began sales of a flex-fuel Fit and Civic sedan in Brazil, where the energy-efficient production of bio-ethanol from plant cellulose such as sugar cane has gained in popularity.
• Bio-fuel - To address the need for more efficient means of producing bio-ethanol in other regions of the world, Honda R&D and the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) are researching new technology to produce ethanol from soft-biomass, a renewable resource of plant-derived material. The company has set up an experimental production facility at its Wako, Japan R&D campus to further study the market potential of this technology.

¹compared to conventional crystal silicon solar cells.