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Transportation Power

Honda's New US Factory Will Mass-Produce EVs - But Can Also Build Gas-Powered Cars (greencarreports.com) 85

Posted by EditorDavid from the hybrid-factories dept.
Honda calls it their "second founding," as the company "continues to target 100% electric vehicle sales by 2040, and to have 'zero environmental impact' by 2050," writes Green Car Reports. "It's previously projected 40% EV sales in North America by 2030... "

Half of the Honda Accords sold in America are already electric, — but Honda "has admitted that it's hard to predict the trajectory of where the mix will be on the way to fully electric." So... To reconcile all this, it's prepared by committing to a new template for making both EVs and gasoline models, all on the same production line. This sea change in how it makes vehicles could keep its oldest U.S. assembly plant, its Marysville, Ohio, facility that opened in 1982, humming at capacity, no matter what the market presents. As Honda confirmed last April, Marysville will truly get the automaker to the point of EV mass production in North America, with a big asterisk. It has the capability to make hundreds of EVs per day, or many hundreds of gasoline models — depending on demand.

Marysville is one of four facilities set to make up what Honda is calling its Ohio EV Hub — including the Anna Engine Plant and East Liberty Auto Plant, all within 50 miles of each other, and a joint-venture battery plant between Honda and LG Energy solution in nearby Jeffersonville, Ohio. Battery plant aside, Honda says it encompasses more than a $1 billion investment in the three facilities, in redesigning the manufacturing process around being able to make ICE, hybrid, and EV models all on the same production line.

The investment in the Ohio facilities marks the global debut of changes in the way it builds vehicles, with expertise set to be shared across North America. And, according to Honda, it's aiming to set a global standard for Honda EV production.
The article explains that Honda "created a series of sub-assembly lines that could handle all the differences in the way an EV is assembled versus the way a gasoline or hybrid vehicle is assembled."

And CNBC reports that Honda's Ohio project includes "several new manufacturing processes and techniques to lower emissions and waste, including using a special form of structural aluminum for the EV battery packs that can be recycled and reused." Bob Schwyn, senior vice president of Honda Development and Manufacturing of America, describes it as part of Honda's "strategies to recapture our products at end-of-life and then recycle or reuse 100% of the materials, especially finite materials for EV batteries, to essentially make new Hondas out of old Hondas."
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Honda's New US Factory Will Mass-Produce EVs - But Can Also Build Gas-Powered Cars More

Honda's New US Factory Will Mass-Produce EVs - But Can Also Build Gas-Powered Cars

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  • New US Factory???? (Score:5, Informative)

    by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 ) on Sunday February 02, 2025 @01:40PM (#65136675)

    The way that I read it, they are investing/retooling an existing factory. One that has been running since 1982.

    Does a 43 year old factory really count as a new one?

    • Presumably this factory won't be very busy now that the US declared a large scale trade war against the automotive industry because they found a few kilos of fentanyl coming from Canada.

      • Re: New US Factory???? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Sunday February 02, 2025 @02:08PM (#65136713)

        Not a good time to be investing in anything requiring cross-border trade unless you can afford to bribe Trump to keep it open.

        Our politicians didn't figure it out last time, but I'm hoping this kick in the nuts was finally enough to drive home that Canada cannot be overwhelmingly dependent on trade with the US. As long as we are, we can expect attempts to exploit our disadvantage until we're ground into dust.

        There can be no friendly relationships with a country going fascist.

        • I think at least 20% of Trump supporters heard Trump say: "Lower food costs", and "Lower gas prices", they tuned out the "fascist" thing. Now that Trump is going all in on the "fascist" thing, and doesn't care about costs of anything, maybe his support will slip away???

          • I think at least 20% of Trump supporters heard Trump say: "Lower food costs", and "Lower gas prices", they tuned out the "fascist" thing. Now that Trump is going all in on the "fascist" thing, and doesn't care about costs of anything, maybe his support will slip away???

            Not likely, Trump has triggered their "faith" gene with his "I'm a Christian" BS. The problem with faith is there is no way to argue with them, faith=I'm right and everyone else is wrong. They will follow him to the death, the problem is we will be dragged along for the ride. At this point, I just hope he will actually leave office when it's time and not declare himself Emperor.

            • It may follow that when Trump/MAGA eventually lose their hold on the U.S. citizenry, that "faith" is questioned by many of those same citizens who voted for them. Not just with respect to politics and political parties, but to faith-based religions as well.

          • His support won’t dip in the slightest. It’s a cult.

          • Mostly fixed food supply.

            40M fewer mouths to feed.

            Diesel should fall in half with more supply and fewer regulations.

            How do you think prices will be affected?

            All the former Federal employees can get any jobs that were held by illegal aliens.

            One wrinkle will be the arrests of all the managers who hired illegals like Tyson and Boar's Head - that's a 10-yr Federal crime.

            • This brings up a "common sense" question, how long can Trump piss on average people? How long will they think they are being rained on? Trump has proven he has no common sense when he said it is "common sense" that DEI caused the airplane crash near Reagan International Airport? Only old white men were in the "loop", which one of those white men were incompetent?

              • This brings up a "common sense" question, how long can Trump piss on average people? How long will they think they are being rained on? Trump has proven he has no common sense when he said it is "common sense" that DEI caused the airplane crash near Reagan International Airport? Only old white men were in the "loop", which one of those white men were incompetent?

                I think one implication was that the workforce is LOW and was understaffed that night because, rather than hire what may have been qualified X cat

          • Agreed. When people are one paycheck away from homelessness or starvation, they're ripe for manipulation if you can convince them that you'll solve those issues when elected, even if your promises are too good to be true. They'll tune everything else out, assuming that they were paying attention in the first place.

        • Indeed I'm not sure how it's going to be good for America having no friends in the world, but I guess they will have to figure that out for themselves.

          • We're past the "fuck around" stage and now firmly in the "found out" stage.

            The Wall Street Journal (you know that classic woke liberal rag) even says this trade war is the dumbest thing in history. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/do... [wsj.com]

            • You clearly never left the states. Other countries been doing this forever. They call it VAT

              • You clearly never left the states. Other countries been doing this forever. They call it VAT

                Last time Trump was in office we re-negotiated the Canada/US/Mexico trade agreement. That is how these things are normally done. The lesson for everyone now is that Trump's signature - his word and consequently the word of the US government - is worth nothing. It's kind of sad really.

                • Itâ(TM)s clearly a strategy to negotiate trade deals. Just an odd way to enter that conversation. There is a huge supply chain in MX. all heavy items are manufactured there or parts of heavy items. Cars, HVAC, appliances etc and all their parts. Heads will roll if 25% sticks.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by skam240 ( 789197 )

                What are you talking about? VAT is just sales tax applied on the sales tag rather than at the register. It applies to their own domestically produced product as much as imported product.

                Trump's stupid trade war has nothing to do with VATs in other countries.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

                  What are you talking about? VAT is just sales tax applied on the sales tag rather than at the register. It applies to their own domestically produced product as much as imported product.

                  Wrong. VAT is a type of tax, similar to sales tax. The key difference is not point of collection, it's value. A sales tax is charged on every sale - so the raw materials get charged the tax to the processor, the processor makes them into refined materials and charges sales tax to the manufacturer, the manufacturer charges sa

                  • Re: (Score:2)

                    by skam240 ( 789197 )

                    Yes, there are mechanical differences.

                    No, these differences are not important in the context of this conversation where the above tried to claim VAT taxes were the same as tariffs.

          • Indeed I'm not sure how it's going to be good for America having no friends in the world, but I guess they will have to figure that out for themselves.

            I don't know that the US or any other country has "friends" in the world....they have competitors, and some relationships where cooperation on some subjects is greater than with other countries...but not what I'd call "friends".

            The world is a competition much like life is in general and each country competes for resources and for getting an advantage for i

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by skam240 ( 789197 )

              The world is an interconnected place and we aren't such a strong country that walking around with such a "fuck you" additude toward every other country in the world as you layout above won't bite us in the ass eventually.

              Even between "friends" as you put it....things can get off balance as one "friend" pushes for an advantage....and the other "friend" needs to stand up and push back.

              Sure and when such times happen you talk about it first. Just like with friends between people you don't go straight to swinging punches the moment you notice a problem in the relationship. That's just a great way to end up with no friends.

            • I don't know that the US or any other country has "friends" in the world....they have competitors, and some relationships where cooperation on some subjects is greater than with other countries...but not what I'd call "friends".

              Friends was indeed not the exactly right word. I considered allies as well but that was not quite right either. I assume people know what I mean - cooperating nations with shared values and respect for each other. For an example of a country with not many friends, consider Russia. Trump seems eager to make America more like them. Rest assured the civilized world will oblige.

        • Our politicians didn't figure it out last time, but I'm hoping this kick in the nuts was finally enough to drive home that Canada cannot be overwhelmingly dependent on trade with the US.

          I agree, we went through this 8 years ago and should have been spending all the time since diversifying our markets. That we did not has part of me saying oh well, that's what happens when you don't learn from experience.

          That said, our government also makes it very hard to develop new resource exports to anywhere at all. Hopefully our next government is not as intent in keeping us so dependent on one market.

      • It's in Ohio.

        It will have a 25% pricing advantage over Canadian manufacturing.

        That should make it VERY busy.

      • As a reminder, "foreign" cars built on U.S. soil by U.S. workers are exempt from any tariff - that's why Honda, like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo and others built factories in the U.S.

        When "domestic" cars are built outside the U.S., say in Canada or Mexico, they are typically built in so-called Free Trade Zones, meaning they can cross the border tax-free, as if they were built on U.S. soil. The same is true, for example, with Foxcon assembling electronics in Mexico and numerous other special cases.

        It's funny how so

    • New manufacturing line. The physical building is 40+ years old but all the guts are practically new

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

      If you rip out the old and push in new then it's basically a new factory with the same old shell.

      As it is right now the future is charging hybrid cars with a combination of batteries and combustion engines.

    • Retool (Score:2)

      by JBMcB ( 73720 )

      I have family members that stand up car factories for a living. There are a variety of ways they retool them.

      First is building an entirely new factory from scratch.
      Then, there's scraping an existing factory and completely retooling the whole thing. This can take almost as long and is almost as expensive as building a completely new factory from scratch.
      There's reconfiguring an existing factory, moving work cells around, maybe adding a new footprint.
      Then there's a standard retool for a year model changeover,

  • Hybrid EV (Score:3, Informative)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Sunday February 02, 2025 @02:24PM (#65136733)

    >"Half of the Honda Accords sold in America are already electric"

    No/misleading. Half might be hybrids, but none of those are EV's.

    My ICE car has a battery, and several electric motors (starter, fan, throttle control, etc). That doesn't make it an "electric vehicle", either.

    • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

      by MacMann ( 7518492 )

      My ICE car has a battery, and several electric motors (starter, fan, throttle control, etc). That doesn't make it an "electric vehicle", either.

      I'm seeing a new term gaining traction, "electrified vehicle". What makes a vehicle "electrified"? My best guess is the loss of the serpentine belt to drive coolant pumps, air conditioning, and so on. Instead there's a gear driven combination starter/alternator (or motor/generator as the nomenclature differs by who is referenced) that provides power to a larger battery than in the typical ICEV, often with higher voltage such as 48 VDC or 96 VDC, which is then used to run all the other motors as well as t

      • >"I'm seeing a new term gaining traction, "electrified vehicle".:

        I believe it is just a marking ploy/stunt for companies like Honda/Acura and Nissan/Infiniti and Toyota/Lexus others that do not have an EV and are trying to look like they are participating in a market segment they have clearly been ignoring. And it is very frustrating for those of us who like Japanese vehicles and want an EV... ( Even worse for us especially wanting a Japanese EV sport sedan-not a truck or SUV; Infiniti just dropped the

        • I believe it is just a marking ploy/stunt for companies like Honda/Acura and Nissan/Infiniti and Toyota/Lexus others that do not have an EV and are trying to look like they are participating in a market segment they have clearly been ignoring.

          I believe you define the market too narrowly if you believe they've been ignoring the market. The market is "green" or "fuel efficient". Maybe the market also includes performance and luxury vehicles as an electrified vehicle will have less noise, smoother ride, and other comforts from moving to electrified components.

          I wouldn't. Because it still contains an ICE. Meaning all that extra crap that takes up space, weight, money, and maintenance- cooling system, starter, pollution controls, gas tank, lubrication system, muffler, spark plugs, filters (fuel, air, oil), etc, etc. It makes the vehicle far more complex. And, thus, MORE things to fail and maintain. Plus, the battery is usually very small.

          I know someone reading has a more precise statistic close at hand but the average daily commute is something like 50 miles round trip. In that case there's a lot of "extra crap that takes u

          • >"Think of a Tesla that has half or third of the battery size, a car with about 100 miles of range so that without the weight of the large battery slowing it down it's a weekend rocket and a weekday commuter car but with a much lower upfront cost than a car with 300 miles of range."

            Actually, that is exactly what I would be looking for. I don't commute (I live extremely close to work), nor go on long trips. I would much rather have half the range and a hell of a lot less price and weight. For me, a 150

            • I have a Honda Insight that's considered a hybrid but I can't plug it in. I wish I had a larger battery to plug in, even if it only got 40-50 miles. That would be sufficient for a daily commute and I could charge at my work. My friend does this with his plug-in Prius. I think something like 80% of his commute is covered by electric only mode. It's awesome.

              The cool thing about a PHEV is you can use the small battery for local commuting around but the gas tank for those occasional 200 mile trips that may come

              • >"Best of both worlds if you ask me"

                Or worst of both worlds if you ask others :)

                As long as we have adequate choices, it is all good. The problem is that we haven't had adequate choices yet.

                • It could very well be the worst of both but so far, for me, knock on wood, it's been a positive and affordable experience. I'm getting bored with it but my pocketbook sure does love having a paid off car and my savings account loves it as well.

                  Adequate choices is definitely important and in the EV realm and even the hybrid realm, we've not had enough choice. More EVs from traditional car companies will be nice.

        • Why are you singling out Nissan? They've had an (admittedly kind of bad) EV on the American market.for years. The Leaf.

          • >"Why are you singling out Nissan? They've had an (admittedly kind of bad) EV on the American market.for years. The Leaf."

            Oh, that is true. My bad. I tend to forget about that because it hasn't been a car most people would consider- too small and wimpy/low-end. Has gotten better over the years, but not exactly a mainstream offering.

    • No/misleading. Half might be hybrids, but none of those are EV's.

      If the vehicle has one or more electric motors that can propel the vehicle, then it is classified as an electric vehicle. It might be misleading as a marketing categorization, but it makes sense from a technical one.

  • Probably make racist comments about the Japanese, too, dog-whistle his cult into violence against Japanese people, all because he's such a throwback he can't see the need for EVs.
    All you so-called 'republicans' who voted for Trump are to blame for all the hate, misery, violence, and destruction that's to come, because you voted for a convicted felon, rapist, pedophile, and traitor. So don't blame the rest of us, we voted for Harris. All this could have been avoided.
    Oh and by the way, the hate, misery, vio

  • Don't expect great gas mileage, but the wings will surely compensate for it

  • I don't understand the hate internal combustion engines get. I understand the hate for fossil fuels but it's not required that ICEVs run on fossil fuels.

    In the Midwest USA we grow a lot of corn. That abundance and proximity to corn makes ethanol fuel popular. E85 fuel might not be at every filling station but it's at all the large ones, at least that's what I've seen. I suspect that we'd have 100% ethanol fuel available if the weather didn't get so cold. Apparently at about 10F alcohol doesn't burn, or

    • Ethanol kinda sucks, but synth fuels could have a future if energy production increases to the point where we can't effectively transport/use it all.

    • Biomass doesn't scale because it will exhaust the world soil and water very fast, current biomass power plants already chew through forests at a terrifying rate. Flue gasses as a CO2 source will disappear. CO2 from the air is the ONLY option for CO2 at scale in the future ... and it's an incredibly expensive option.

      It makes far more sense to switch to EREV's. Then needing some expensive synthetic fuel occasionally is less of a problem, even biomass fuel is an option because you need so much less of it. PHEV

    • George Olah invented catalysts decades ago that can take CO2 from the air and make methanol with solar power. Less efficient if you need to hydrolize seawater to get the hydrogen but still doable without freshwater even.

      Powerful interests keep these off the market. Solar electric is fine for fixed but methanol is fantastic for mobile applications.

      The dopes can't process these fine distinctions. Glad you're not among them!

      The patents will expire fairly soon so here's hoping!

      • George Olah invented catalysts decades ago that can take CO2 from the air and make methanol with solar power. Less efficient if you need to hydrolize seawater to get the hydrogen but still doable without freshwater even.

        Powerful interests keep these off the market.

        The US Navy has had a process for turning seawater and electricity into jet fuel for 15 years and they've been begging for more funding from Congress since. They got some funds for limited sea trials about 5 years ago, I don't recall hearing of any progress since. The goal is to use this technology on nuclear powered ships to produce jet fuel while at sea, avoiding the need to bring them fuel by tanker ships. Of course this technology can be used on land to produce fuel for transport, heating, cooking, o

    • In the Midwest USA we grow a lot of corn. That abundance and proximity to corn makes ethanol fuel popular. E85 fuel might not be at every filling station but it's at all the large ones, at least that's what I've seen. I suspect that we'd have 100% ethanol fuel available if the weather didn't get so cold. Apparently at about 10F alcohol doesn't burn, or at least not well. To mitigate this we have E85, which while still labeled as E85 it contains only 70% ethanol in the winter months to add a larger margin against difficulty in starting up in cold weather.

      It just so happens that I went to Jr. High and High School in Nebraska, even detasseled corn for a couple summers. I like to joke that I had a job neutering corn.
      As such, well, I got the education.
      Okay, the reason we have E85 rather than E100 is more than just temperature. Heck, HEET and other gasoline additives to prevent freeze-ups are mostly alcohol.
      Ethanol doesn't freeze until -173F (-114C). Gasoline can start freezing at a "mere" -70F. Adding some alcohol can help keep everything liquid and flowing

    • In the Midwest USA we grow a lot of corn. That abundance and proximity to corn makes ethanol fuel popular.

      Ethanol fuel is incredibly energy intensive to produce and contributes to soil and water degradation. And when edible crops have to fight for space with fuel crops, prices tend to go up.

    • Burning corn ethanol is effectively burning fossil fuels, just less efficiently and with more steps in between.

      Modern corn agriculture is effectively a way to turn ammonia (from fossil fuels) into starch with a little help from solar energy (the corn).

      If the process of growing the corn enabled some form of amplification, so that X liters of ammonia could be turned into Y liters of fuel, and Y was a big enough number to that it was worth the soil erosion, land consumption, and all the other energy used in th

      • I don't know if people are thinking I'm supportive of ethanol fuel and trying to convince me I'm wrong, or they read that I'm not supportive and piling on. Whatever the case it seems I need to make it clear that I believe ethanol fuel is burning food, is an abuse of alcohol that should be drank than burned, is not a viable replacement for fossil fuels, and is not likely to ever be a viable replacement for fossil fuels.

        I mentioned it as I expected that if I had not then someone would accuse me of ignorance

  • This is amazing news! A car factory builds cars, but wait for it.....

    The factory can also build cars!

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