Question and Answer with Honda CEO Takanobu Ito

Honda's new CEO Takanobu Ito talks to Autocar about the problems with recycled carbonfibre and why he can't sell fuel cell cars.

Do you plan to give us more cars in the future with more platform sharing?
To be honest, we don’t sell a huge variety of cars in Europe. To sell a large variety would undermine our investment efficiency and impact our business. We want to respond to our customers’ needs, so for future cars we will try to offer more varied cars on the same platform and we are revisiting our development in that respect. We will try to reduce the number of platforms, but this will take time.

In Europe Toyota is seen as the green car company, despite Honda’s long history with hybrids. How do you address this?
Our European sales people are largely to blame. We tried to enhance our position with the Civic hybrid but failed. But the CR-Z and Insight will help us enhance awareness that Honda is a green car maker. We also want to introduce the FCX to Europe and have started testing here.

Talking of green technology, what happened to the clean diesels you were working on?
It was too challenging to produce a commercialised clean diesel. We got it to work at a research and development level, but we couldn’t make it work commercially. But we haven’t abandoned clean diesel research, and we’re still working on the technology.

Honda doesn’t believe electric vehicles have much of a future, yet you are working on battery-electric cars. Why?
The performance of batteries is evolving and there are possibilities. But the energy that can be stored is less than an internal combustion engine can produce, and with current battery technology electric vehicles are city commuters. But they could be used as a second car, with an internal combustion-engined car as the first vehicle. We are in the midst of considering what can be done with an electric commuter car.

Honda has, from an early stage, worked on fuel cell vehicles. Battery EVs are heavy, not fun to drive and aren’t reliable, and when it comes to cars lighter is better. FCVs are going in that direction.

So when do you think you’ll be selling fuel cell cars?
We don’t have any plans to sell them as there isn’t a hydrogen infrastructure to support them, and they would be very expensive. Infrastructure is key to the adoption of fuel cell vehicles.

And the cost?
We can do cost reduction and mass production of the technology. It’s simple to produce fuel cells; it’s the chemicals they use that cost money, along with the precious metals. But we can cut the cost of those, too.

What’s happened to the small sub-Jazz car that was mentioned last year?
The recession has caused our business to go through difficult times, and we had to revise our business plan, which has slowed development. Our priority now is to increase sales of the Jazz in Europe. But we haven’t given up on the small car. We’d like to try it in Asia first.

Would you consider a joint venture with another car maker?
I don’t imagine Honda seeking a partner. But if another car maker approached Honda, what would happen? Well, the final products coming out of the factory would have to be Honda products. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a partnership, but I can’t see a need for it now.

Volkswagen is working on recycled carbonfibre for cars. Is that something you’re interested in?
The problem with carbonfibre is that you have to bake it at high temperature and at high pressure, which is not suitable for mass production. It’s difficult to recycle, too; recycled carbonfibre can’t be reused in automobiles. That’s why I don’t think it will be used in mass-produced cars.

Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=245649#

Q&A: Honda Lithium Battery, GS Yuasa Form Battery JV

Here's an interesting look at the behind the scenes of Honda....
Honda Motor Co Ltd and GS Yuasa Corp reached a basic agreement on the establishment of their joint venture for the Li-ion secondary battery business Dec 17, 2008.

"We know that, under the current bleak circumstances, the key to survival is to further accelerate the development of advanced environmental technologies and offer them as attractive products to our customers," said Honda President Takeo Fukui at the press conference.

To diffuse hybrid cars, "the most suited solution" at the moment, it is important to evolve Li-ion secondary batteries, he said. And he explained why Honda is forming a new company with GS Yuasa, describing GS Yuasa as a company that has "high levels of Li-ion secondary battery technologies and expertise in battery materials and many other areas." He also emphasized the fact that GS Yuasa's Li-ion secondary battery is used in Honda's two-legged robot "ASIMO."

Major questions and answers were as follows.

Q: When and on what scale are you planning to manufacture a new Li-ion secondary battery? How much will the initial investment be? From which model are you considering introducing the new battery?

Also, there is a sense that Honda lags behind Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, which have already established joint ventures, with Toyota establishing "Panasonic EV Energy Co Ltd" with Panasonic Corp and Nissan setting up "Automotive Energy Supply Corp" with NEC Corp. Will this be a handicap for Honda?

Fukui: Honda is planning to provide half the joint venture's capital of ¥15 billion (approx US$168 million). It's difficult to specify when and from which vehicle we are starting to use the new battery now, as our "Insight" (to be released in spring 2009) will employ a nickel-hydride secondary battery. However, we will strive to do that as soon as possible and I believe we will never fall behind our rivals.

Q: Since when have you been considering establishing the new company? Honda has been purchasing components from various companies so far. Are you going to change that strategy? Also, are you planning to apply the battery to fuel cell vehicles and other green cars?

Fukui: Honda has been discussing diverse plans over the past few years. Our relationship with GS Yuasa involved Li-ion secondary batteries several years ago. Our latest "ASIMO" uses GS Yuasa's Li-ion secondary battery as well. To go back even further, we developed normal batteries for motorcycles together. Our relationship has a long history.

I think we started discussing specific things about the joint venture about a year ago. We happened to make the announcement at this timing, but we were not expecting an economic turmoil like this. We would have announced the plan at about the same time even if it had not been for the economic fluctuation, I believe.

As for future prospects, we are first aiming to develop a battery exclusively targeted at Honda's "IMA (Integrated Motor Assist)" hybrid system in a short period of time. After that, we will discuss and determine the next steps with GS Yuasa.

By the way, Honda will continue to purchase nickel-hydride secondary batteries from Sanyo Electric Co Ltd and Panasonic.

Basically, the new company will aim to become the world's top manufacturer in terms of product competitiveness, of course. But Honda will remain to be a purchaser. We must make purchasing decisions by properly evaluating products in terms of Q (quality), C (cost) and D (delivery). It will be the best if Honda decides to employ all the components (Li-ion secondary batteries) that the new company produces as a result of this evaluation.

Q: Honda has insisted on waiting to partner with a certain company until it gets a better perspective for the future, based on the belief that it had better procure batteries, whose technologies are still immature, from multiple manufacturers. So, now you have a technological prospect?

Fukui: Generally speaking, batteries still have considerable room for growth. And I suppose it is possible that various new concept batteries will be proposed in the future. We are also holding high hopes for them. Nevertheless, lithium batteries are the most realistic solution at this point. And we judged the fastest way to meet our goal is that battery and automobile manufacturers join hands to develop them.

Q: GS Yuasa already established its joint venture "Lithium Energy Japan" with Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Mitsubishi Corp. How will you separate the development between that company and the joint venture you are forming with Honda?

GS Yuasa's President Makoto Yoda: The new joint venture with Honda will start as a company to research, develop, manufacture and sell Li-ion secondary batteries for use in hybrid cars. Meanwhile, Lithium Energy Japan develops Li-ion secondary batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Those products are clearly different from each other.

We will, of course, strictly separate our teams for development, production and preparation for volume production on the side of GS Yuasa. However, on a medium-term basis, I believe we can expect synergy in various ways.

Q: How do you think about the strategy of partnering with multiple automakers? And you said GS Yuasa will strictly separate Li-ion secondary batteries for EVs and those for hybrids. But what are the difference between them?

Yoda: Regardless of whether they are for EVs or hybrids, Li-ion secondary batteries are not the type of products that a battery manufacturer develops by itself and proposes to automakers saying, "Here you are." They are like "special order items." We tailor them in accordance with drive mode, specifications and many other conditions. In other words, they are products that we must discuss and develop with automakers from the design phase.

Therefore, it's natural for us to establish a new company that makes Li-ion secondary batteries for hybrids with Honda. Of course, we might find a different approach in the future. But under the current circumstances, we are sure developing Li-ion secondary batteries with Honda and Mitsubishi is the most natural approach for us.

As for the difference between Li-ion secondary batteries for EVs and those for hybrids, the former requires a large capacity because EVs have no power source other than batteries. The latter, on the other hand, does not need a large capacity because hybrids are powered by engines too.

However, batteries for hybrids charge and discharge extremely frequently: They output power when the car is accelerating and regenerate power when the car is decelerating. Therefore, batteries for hybrids can have small capacity but must be efficient in charging and discharging. So, their development processes are quite different.

Q: Honda could have chosen to invest in GS Yuasa. Why did you choose to establish a joint venture?

Fukui: I don't see much point in investing in GS Yuasa. Also, as this joint venture is a battery company, I believe the best approach is that GS Yuasa, a battery manufacturer, holds the majority stake and Honda takes the minority.

Q: Did Panasonic's acquisition of Sanyo have any influence on the establishment of the new company?

Fukui: I found out about Panasonic's TOB (takeover bid) to acquire Sanyo in a newspaper. We had begun discussing our plans long before that. SO, we were not influenced by the news.

Source;
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081219/163085/?P=2