By Will Burgess

Tokyo, Japan — Honda has announced a carbon neutrality roadmap for its powersports division.

At a press briefing Monday, Honda discussed a plan for both its products and corporate activities to become carbon neutral by 2050.

“As the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, Honda will continue to lead the industry in this ‘era of carbon neutrality’ by continuing to offer the ‘joy of riding’ with its electric motorcycles and by offering products with new value by leveraging the high level of compatibility of software technology and electrified models,” said Kohei Takeuchi, Director and Executive Vice President and Yoshishige Nomura, Managing Officer, in a joint statement.

Honda plans to introduce ten or more EV powersports models globally by 2025 and will balance its combustion engine production to continue to meet global demands. They aim to increase annual sales of electric models to 1 million units within the next five years, and 3.5 million units, or equivalent to 15% of total unit sales, by 2030.

The electrification process will primarily concentrate on the motorcycle lineup, targeting both commuter bikes, as well as their “fun models”, according to the press statement. The company is set to also release several EV motorcycles aimed at children.

To complement this initiative, Honda also plans to enhance the “charging infrastructure and standardization of battery specifications,” meaning use of more solid-state batteries that will work across their product line and those of their competitors. What’s more, these can be swappable at home or on the road for a fully charged battery at select exchange sites to be established.

In April, ENEOS Holdings Inc., a major Japanese energy producer, and the four major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki) jointly established Gachaco, Inc., a firm with a focus on constructing standardized swappable batteries for electric motorcycles as well as developing and infrastructure system for this service. Gachaco plans to begin its motorcycle battery sharing service in Japan this fall.

Honda expects to release more information on their electric vehicle prototypes as the year unfolds.

Will Burgess is a journalist with Adrenaline Powersports Mag