Yahoo Autos Honda Will Build Gas, Hybrid, and EV Cars on the Same Production Line
Honda is busy preparing its factories in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio, for EV production as part of its Ohio-based Honda EV Hub.
But the factories won't be restricted to building EVs and will have the ability to build pure gas, hybrid, and electric-powered vehicles all on the same assembly line.
The first EV on a new dedicated Honda-developed platform will be based on the Acura Performance EV Concept and will be built in Ohio starting in late 2025.
Honda is gearing up to expand its electric-vehicle lineup but asserts that it will stay flexible in a volatile market. Whereas other manufacturers dove headlong into the EV deep end before pulling back as their self-imposed deadlines for electrification loom ever nearer, Honda is taking a more measured approach.
At a media briefing on September 6, Honda clarified its plans for the Honda EV Hub currently being readied in Ohio. While the upgraded facilities will lead the charge for Honda's upcoming series of EVs built on a new dedicated platform, Honda will stay adaptable by retaining the ability to produce gasoline-powered and hybrid vehicles in the same plants.
Both the Marysville Auto Plant and the East Liberty Auto Plant will be crucial for ramping up EV production, but Honda says it will also be able to build internal-combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles all on the same manufacturing line. Both plants currently assemble some of the automaker's bestsellers: Marysville is responsible for the Honda Accord, Acura Integra, and Acura TLX while East Liberty churns out the Honda CR-V, Acura RDX, and Acura MDX.
Honda knows this current crop of vehicles is still in high demand, so the automaker will maintain production of its popular gasoline and hybrid vehicles to remain competitive while still investing heavily in its next-generation EVs. "Marysville and East Liberty will be producing what they have and as we transition into BEV, based on how that transitions, then decisions will be made," Mike Fischer, chief engineer of the Honda EV Hub, told Car and Driver.
The adaptable setup is also letting Honda maintain production every day while undergoing the transformation. "At the end of the day, the demand for the vehicles we have is high," explained Fischer. "A lot of companies are shutting facilities down to convert them, or they're building new facilities, but the flexibility gives us a distinct advantage." Honda also notes that the success of its current lineup will help fund the investment required for the development of its own dedicated EV platform.
Honda announced the new platform in January 2024 at CES when it unveiled a pair of concepts under the Zero Series moniker. Along with a sleek van called the Space-Hub, Honda showed off a radical-looking Saloon concept that directly previews an electric sedan coming in 2026. The first battery-powered car on Honda's new dedicated EV platform, however, will be based on the Acura Performance EV Concept unveiled last month during Monterey Car Week. Acura confirmed that the electric crossover will begin production at the Marysville plant in late 2025.
Rethinking the Car-Building Process
The retooling of the Marysville and East Liberty plants, along with the Anna Engine Plant, is also allowing Honda to rethink how it builds cars, with a focus on efficiency and environmentally friendly processes. Honda says it is introducing new layouts to minimize the amount of walking required for its factory workers. The company is also aiming to reduce complexity on the assembly line; for example, the same process for mounting the engines into chassis will be used to mount electric motors.
Honda also plans on installing more energy-efficient equipment and will increase the use of recycled materials. The automaker claims it has developed a new aluminum material that is more recyclable, but declined to go into specifics. Honda also aims to reuse 98 percent of the scrap material generated during production.
The new facilities are leading to other innovations too. The cases that will house the batteries for its next-generation platform are larger than anything Honda has die-cast before, so the automaker is introducing a new process called megacasting to create these massive pieces and will be installing six 6000-ton high-pressure die-casting machines at the Anna Engine Plant. At the Marysville factory, workers will combine the battery modules built at Honda's new Ohio battery facility—a joint venture with LG—with the cases from the Anna plant in a new sub-assembly line, before these units are affixed to the vehicles rolling down the main assembly line.
Honda says the Honda EV Hub will "establish the expertise and experience for EV production," which will spread across Honda's North American manufacturing network. The automaker's goal for a fully electric lineup is further out than many automakers, with a target of producing exclusively EVs by 2040, and the updates to the Marysville and East Liberty plants will let Honda begin its transition toward that goal while staying versatile and still building its popular gas-powered models as long as there is still demand.
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