2012 Honda Civic Lx on 2040-cars

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Honda: 2/3rds of our vehicles will be plug-in or hydrogen by 2030

Honda has a new and expanded vision for its plug-in electric vehicles, including more plug-in lawn mowers and construction machines. While things like the Miimo are cool, we'll admit that we're more into the heavy emphasis that Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo just put on pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles. In fact, Hachigo is so confident in these electric options that he said that Honda expects fully two-thirds of its vehicles will fit into one of those three categories by 2030. "We will make a plug-in hybrid type available for our major models" - Takahiro Hachigo Speaking at an annual speech in Japan, Hachigo talked about an electric version of the popular Honda Cub motorcycle, the EV-CUB. This electric two-wheeler could come to Japan in about two year and then to various countries in Southeast Asia. As for four-wheelers, the way that Hachigo sees electrification working is to first emphasize plug-in hybrids as the core of the brand's electrification efforts. Specifically, he said that, "we will make a plug-in hybrid type available for our major models and increase the number of models sequentially." The end result, he said, is that, "we will strive to make two-thirds of our overall unit sales from plug-in hybrid/hybrid vehicles and zero-emissions vehicles such as, FCVs and battery EVs by around 2030." The company's next hydrogen vehicle is the Clarity, which goes on sale in Japan in March. It's next-gen EV and PHEV should arrive in or around 2018. You can watch the speech in the video above. The electrification roadmap starts at around minute 32. The only other traditional automaker that is willing to put a big number on its upcoming electric vehicle sales is Audi, which said at the LA Auto Show last year that between 20 and 25 percent of its new vehicles sold will have a plug by 2025. If Audi wants to catch Honda's aggressive claims, it'll need to work hard in the five years after 2025. Related Video:

Honda to import Euro market Civic hatch to America

If you look at the Civic sedan Honda offers in America and look longingly at the hatchback version it sells in Europe, we've got good news. The latest word has it that the Japanese automaker will start offering the Euro-spec hatch in North America. The reason, however, may surprise you. According to Nikkei Asian Review, Honda wants to start selling the Civic hatchback in America less because it thinks that's the model Americans want, and more because it has excess capacity at its plant in the UK. Bringing it to the US would also give Honda an entry against the Volkswagen Golf and other competitors. Honda's plant in Swindon, England, is its sole assembly location in Europe, where the company's market share has dropped to a reported one percent. That doesn't mean Honda is giving up on the European market and its strong currencies, but with models like the HR-V to be manufactured in Mexico and the new Fit/Jazz to be imported from Japan, the Swindon plant doesn't have enough vehicles to produce to make use of its annual capacity of 250,000 vehicles. Producing 30,000-40,000 Civic hatchbacks each year for North America would help pick up some of the slack, but not all of it. It would also only represent a small fraction of the number of Civic sedans Honda moves here. Last year Honda sold over 325,000 Civics in America and over 336,000 the year before, making the Civic its second- or third-most popular model here after the Accord and closely positioned with the CR-V crossover. The reported number of Civic hatchbacks it would sell here wouldn't even keep up with the smaller Fit, but would far overshadow the CR-Z hybrid hatchback. The bigger question that performance enthusiasts will be asking is: What does this mean for the prospects of getting the new Type R hot hatch over here? Revealed in production form at the Geneva show earlier this month, the new Civic Type R is based on the European hatchback in question. Prior to the emergence of this report, the official line was that we wouldn't get the new performance model because its bodystyle isn't offered here altogether, and that our version would more likely be based on the sedan. If the five-door model makes its way here, though, we can't help but wonder if the Type R might not follow close behind. Reached for comment, Honda's US office didn't have anything official to add, but we'll be watching this development closely to see how it plays out. Related Video:

Recharge Wrap-up: First VW e-Golf in US up for auction, meet Project Ain't Fuelin'

Volkswagen is auctioning the first e-Golf in the US to raise money for Global Green USA. The auction is live now, and bidding goes until 3:30 pm Eastern on October 29. Global Green USA will use the proceeds to help find solutions to climate change, and the winner will get to enjoy emissions-free driving before the car e-Golf goes on sale in November. If you don't live in or near California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington DC, you might want to sit this one out, as the car will only be available to pick up at dealers in those initial launch states. Go bid now, or learn more in the press release below. Berlin, Germany will use Solaris electric buses for a complete bus line in 2015. The downtown line will run 3.8 miles between Zoologischer Garten Station and Sudkreuz. The transport operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) will use four of the Solaris e-buses for the test, each about 39 feet long. The buses use a 200-kilowatt inductive charging system at the ends of the line to recharge in just a few minutes. The government-funded test runs through 2016, but BVG pans to use the electric buses beyond that timeline. Read more at Green Car Congress. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is worried that the Obama administration will use ethanol requirements to influence a Senate race in Iowa. In the midst of a close race against Republican Joni Ernst, Representative Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate, is urging Obama to reject a cut in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The November election approaches, meanwhile the EPA continues to delay issuing an ethanol requirement for the year, with or without its proposed 16-percent reduction. Rejecting the cut could help get farmers and ethanol producers on the side of Braley. "We are very concerned that the signals we are seeing from the administration is that the political calculations are outweighing sound fuels policy," says API's Bob Greco. Read more at Businessweek. Project Ain't Fuelin' aims to fix up old cars to return them to original fuel economy, and then surpass it. Episode 3 of Valvoline's Under The Hood video series features Daniel Gray of MPGomatic, who is doing just that to a 1999 Honda Civic HX Coupe. He aims to get 50 mpg out of the old Civic by tuning it up, tinkering with the aerodynamics, switching to more efficient tires and other modifications.