"Honda is planning to invest approximately 10 trillion yen in resources... through 2030, when the period of full-fledged popularization of EVs is expected to start," a statement said. The company had previously allocated five trillion yen to EV tech by 2030.
Honda, which has been relatively late to enter the electric vehicle market, first had to ensure it could reliably procure batteries and achieve cost reductions and performance improvements for them before focusing on software-defined vehicles, Mibe said.
"As for strengthening software development, we realized the amount we had settled on two years ago was simply not enough, so we significantly increased that portion," Mibe said, following a presentation that mostly focused on hardware improvements.
Last month, Honda unveiled plans to invest $11 billion in new EV and battery production plants alongside its existing facilities in Ontario, Canada, as it gears up for expansion in the North American market.