EVs? Honda Throws A Fit

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Honda had been the first automaker that had the Insight to sell a hybrid in the U.S. But what about pure battery-powered ones? After a lot of hesitation, Honda will throw an all-electric Fit on the U.S. market, says Bloomberg. The plug-in will arrive in 2012, which might as well be pronounced “year of the EV.”

The car will be standard EV fare: Lithium-ion-powered, range about 100 miles between charges – on a good day. A price has not been announced. Expected volume? It “will be small” said Honda President Takanobu Ito at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Like the colleagues at Toyota, Honda doesn’t view the EV as a runaway hit. Amazingly, also like Toyota, Honda sees hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars such as its Clarity sedan as the “ultimate” solution.

Karl Brauer, senior analyst for industry researcher Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California, already has indentified the target group for the electric Fit: The car should “work well for fleets with predetermined routes like mail trucks and delivery trucks, especially because of the reconfigurable interior.”

More and more, there is a consensus building that the biggest small market for electric vehicles should be in 9-5 jobs at governments and companies that use the cars on carefully mapped out routes that do not stray too far form the charger back at the dock. That’s not what Musk and Fisker had in mind.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
6 of 24 comments
  • APaGttH APaGttH on Nov 18, 2010

    Well they better do a far better implementation on the Fit EV than they did on the Insight. And the Crosstour. And the CR-Z. And the entire Acura line up...

  • Ash78 Ash78 on Nov 18, 2010

    @imag Glad you mentioned the traffic light timing issue...I think that would be the single biggest non-car related thing we could fix to improve our ecological impact in cars. No infrastructure changes, no car changes, just some effort to keep the flow moving. That's part of the reason I've always pushed hard to get flex time at my jobs, since it creates easily half the running time in my car each day. Extrapolate that across all the 9-to-5 people in the country who don't have flex time. Your wife is definitely a good candidate for an electric (at first glance). In fact, I usually argue in favor of cars like the Volt, which theoretically strikes gold in having a limitless range on the current refueling infrastructure. The big question--and this is not just mine, but everyone considering cars like these--is whether the non-monetary (enviro) benefits can close the gap with the more obvious cost reductions...and be compelling enough to overcome the cost of entry. I didn't mean to come across as purely financially-minded, but I have a longstanding pet peeve when people look at something like mpg/mileage and think "it'll be so much cheaper than my current car!" while ignoring almost every other cost. Nothing will stop an individual's eco-efforts quicker than being surprised (an angered) at extra costs or drawbacks they didn't consider. In short, and IMHO, what we need are more incremental, sustainable/repeatable, and easily adoptable solutions...and those rarely make the news because they're just not as interesting.

  • Old Guy Old Guy on Nov 18, 2010

    It's hard to understand why taxi fleets aren't all hybridized already. They hardly ever go on long freeway rides, and the constant stop-and-go should regenerate plenty of power for electric or electric-assisted operation. Besides availability of suitable-sized vehicles, is there some other reason?

    • Bytor Bytor on Nov 18, 2010

      Prejudiced idiots that think only full frame RWD cars make good Taxis? I have read reports from Taxi companies use the Prius. They save greater than 50% of fuel costs and more than 50% of maintenance costs as well. They are routinely going 400 000kms on the original batteries as well.

  • Air Boss Air Boss on Nov 19, 2010

    Unfortunately, at NYC and LI 22 cent kwH prices, plug-in makes no economic sense.

    • Tree Trunk Tree Trunk on Nov 19, 2010

      Don't know about the Fit but the Leaf is expected to get 4 miles per KWH or 5.5cent a mile at your electric rate. If you currently have a reasonably efficient car with 30 mpg that would be about 10 cent a mile at 3$ a gallon. Right now the savings would be 50% in fuel, if your current ride is less efficient or if gas goes up the savings will be greater.

Next