DETROIT — Honda said Monday it plans to introduce a mainstream hydrogen fuel cell vehicle along with a new plug-in hybrid vehicle and a new battery electric vehicle over the next several years.
The Japanese automaker said it plans to introduce a new fuel cell vehicle in 2016 but did not provide a specific date or the new vehicle or say what it will be named. The company did not provide dates for the two new electric cars or crossovers it plans to introduce.
All three vehicles will have new model names, John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda said Monday in Detroit.
“We are developing an entirely new generation of vehicles starting from the introduction in 2016 of our next-generation fuel cell vehicle,” Mendel said. “This will be followed by an all-new battery electric model and the all-new plug-in hybrid model.”
Despite a limited network in the U.S. of hydrogen fueling stations Mendel said he is confident a substantial market will develop for the vehicles because several other automakers also are also developing new hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
In fact, Mendel said, the Honda’s fuel cell vehicle, “will be a mainstream performer for the Honda brand.”
Honda revealed the FCV Concept, a concept version of the vehicle, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.
Meanwhile, the automaker has terminated production of the compressed natural gas version of its Honda Civic and its the hybrid version of the Civic.
The company also will temporarily discontinue a plug-in version of its Honda Accord and will replace that car with a all-new plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Mendel said the automaker tried for years to create demand for compressed natural gas vehicles but has decided the market will not become mainstream anytime soon.
“We gave it a long run, and have tried and tried and tried,” Mendel said. “But, that market outside of taxi cabs, commercial vehicles … is not experiencing the uptick we expected.”
