As part of the Honda EV Hub in Ohio, Honda is working hard to prepare its Marysville and East Liberty plants for producing EVs. However, the facilities will be able to make pure gas, hybrid, and electric cars, not just EVs, on the same assembly line. Based on the Acura Performance EV Concept, Honda’s first electric car (EV) on a freshly built platform will be constructed in Ohio commencing in late 2025. Honda is planning to add more electric vehicles to its lineup because it thinks it can adapt to a changing industry. Other automakers jumped right into electric vehicles (EVs) but then pulled back when their self-imposed dates for electrification came up. Honda, on the other hand, is taking a more measured approach. At a press event on September 6, Honda talked about its plans for the Honda EV Hub, which is being built in Ohio right now. Honda will keep its options open by keeping the same factories that make gasoline-powered and hybrid cars. This is true even though the bigger factories will be the basis for the company’s planned line of electric cars that will be built on a new, specialized platform. Honda says it will be able to make hybrid, electric, and gas-powered cars on the same assembly line. This includes the East Liberty Auto Plant and the Marysville Auto Plant, both of which are important for increasing EV output. Right now, some of the company’s best-selling cars are made at both plants. The Honda CR-V, Acura RDX, and Acura MDX are made in East Liberty, while the Honda Accord, Acura Integra, and Acura TLX are made in Marysville. Honda will keep making its popular fuel and hybrid cars to stay competitive. The company is also putting a lot of money into next-generation electric cars (EVs), even though it knows that its current cars are still in high demand. Invoice Pricing reported that Mike Fischer, chief engineer of the Honda EV Hub, said that “Marysville and East Liberty will keep making what they’re already making. As we move to BEV, decisions will be made based on how that shift goes.” Honda’s adaptable setup allows it to maintain daily production while undergoing the transformation. “At the end of the day, the demand for our vehicles is high,” Fischer explained. “Many companies are shutting down facilities for conversion or building new ones, but our flexibility gives us a distinct advantage.” Honda also notes that the success of its current lineup will help fund the investment needed to develop its dedicated EV platform. Honda showed off two ideas at CES in January 2024 under the name Zero Series. These were the first cars to use the new base. Honda also showed a radical-looking saloon design that looks a lot like an electric car that will come out in 2026, as well as a sleek van they called the Space-Hub. Last month, the Acura Performance EV Concept made its appearance at Monterey Car Week. It will, however, be the basis for Honda’s first battery-powered car on its new dedicated EV platform. Acura has said that the electric SUV will start to be made in Marysville in late 2025. Rethinking the Process of Manufacturing Cars With the retooling of the Anna Engine Plant, the East Liberty and Marysville plants, and other sites, Honda is also rethinking how it makes cars, with a focus on ways that are more efficient and better for the environment. Honda says that new layouts are being put in place to make plant workers’ jobs easier by reducing the amount of walking they have to do. The company also wants to make the building process faster by attaching electric motors to chassis in the same way that engines are. Honda also aims to use more recycled materials and install energy-efficient gear. The automaker withheld information about the new, more recyclable aluminum material that it claims to have developed. Additionally, Honda intends to recycle 98% of the scrap material generated during manufacture. The new facilities are influencing other developments as well. Because the cases for Honda’s next-generation platform’s batteries are larger than anything the company has ever die-cast, it is launching a new process dubbed megacasting and installing six 6000-ton high-pressure die-casting machines at the Anna Engine Plant to make these massive items. Before these components are fitted to the cars moving down the main assembly line, workers at the Marysville factory will combine battery modules built at Honda’s new Ohio battery facility—a joint venture with LG—with cases from the Anna plant in a new sub-assembly line. The Honda EV Hub will work with its North American manufacturing network to “establish expertise and experience for EV production,” Honda says. The automaker has a longer time frame than many others because it plans to make only electric cars by 2040. With the changes made to the Marysville and East Liberty plants, Honda will be able to start moving toward that goal while still being flexible enough to keep making its famous gas-powered cars as long as people want them.
