American carmaker, General Motors (GM) and Japan’s Honda have agreed to jointly develop two all-new electric vehicles for Honda, based on GM’s highly flexible EV platform powered by proprietary Ultium batteries.

Under the partnership, the exteriors and interiors of the new EVs will be exclusively designed by Honda, and the platform will be engineered to support Honda’s driving character. The production of these Honda electric vehicles will combine the development expertise of both companies, and will be manufactured at GM plants in North America, with sales expected to begin in the 2024 model year in Honda’s United States and Canadian markets.

The partners have an ongoing relationship around electrification, which includes work on fuel cells and the Cruise Origin, an electric, self-driving and shared vehicle, which was revealed in San Francisco earlier this year. Honda also joined GM’s battery module development efforts in 2018.

Rick Schostek, executive vice-president, American Honda Motor Co said: "This collaboration will put together the strength of both companies, while combined scale and manufacturing efficiencies will ultimately provide greater value to customers. This expanded partnership will unlock economies of scale to accelerate our electrification roadmap and advance our industry-leading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are in discussions with one another regarding the possibility of further extending our partnership.".

According to Doug Parks, executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, General Motors: "This agreement builds on our proven relationship with Honda, and further validates the technical advancements and capabilities of our Ultium batteries and our all-new EV platform. Importantly, it is another step on our journey to an all-electric future and delivering a profitable EV business through increased scale and capacity utilisation. We have a terrific history of working closely with Honda, and this new collaboration builds on our relationship and like-minded objectives."

As part of the agreement to jointly develop electric vehicles, Honda will incorporate GM’s OnStar safety and security services into the two EVs, seamlessly integrating them with HondaLink. Additionally, Honda plans to make GM’s hands-free advanced driver-assist technology available.