Honda aiming for 100% electric vehicles by 2040

Japanese car giant Honda said Friday it would aim to have electric and fuel cell vehicles account for 100 percent of all sales by 2040 to promote climate goals.

The automaker’s newly appointed CEO Toshihiro Mibe described the target as “challenging” but said the firm wanted to “set high goals”.

Honda has said it wants the ratio of electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles sold in major markets to hit 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2035, before hitting 100 percent globally by 2040.

It has unveiled 5 trillion yen ($46 billion) in investments in its R&D to reach the goals.

The announcement comes a day after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Japan would aim to cut emissions 46 percent by 2030, significantly more than previously pledged.

The new target revised a previous goal of cutting emissions 26 percent from 2013 levels by 2030.

The pledge came with international focus on climate change as US President Joe Biden hosts a summit to encourage stronger action on warming and faster moves towards carbon neutrality.