Honda CEO Says Trump Admin's Policies Have Pushed Back Its EV Plans By Five Years

• Honda president and CEO Toshihiro Mibe detailed many of the company's current EV struggles.
• Mibe said the current Trump administration policies have delayed Honda's EV plans "maybe five years."
• A sub-$30,000 EV and an electric sports car could be in the works, but right now, Honda is reevaluating its electrification plans.

Honda's electrification plans are shifting and the current U.S. political situation is partly to blame. At the company's headquarters in Japan last week, Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe spoke at length about the automaker's current EV struggles and how it might mean delaying or reevaluating plans for both a sub-$30,000 vehicle as well as an electric sports car in North America.

"With the Trump administration in place, we have the sense that maybe EV growth has been moved back out by maybe five years or so," Mibe said via a translator.

Cheap EVs and sports cars are in flux

Honda would like to offer a small electric vehicle in the U.S. "We will consider coming up with EVs under $30,000," Mibe said, noting that "the timing for doing anything will be difficult."

Honda debuted the new 0 Series Alpha SUV during the Japan Mobility Show last month, giving us a look at what a small, low-cost EV could look like. The Alpha was developed specifically for Asian and Indian markets; the 0 Series models coming to America will be larger.

Similarly, Honda would like to launch an electric sports car; "we have many prototypes already made internally," Mibe said. "[But] given this slowing down environment, it is hard to decide when we would make them available to the market."

EV sales dipped in the U.S. in October following the discontinuation of the $7,500 federal tax credit. Mibe said this is a big hindrance for potentially launching new EVs — especially affordable ones. Mibe said Honda will be watching the U.S. political environment closely, using this week's November 4 election as an indicator for where things might be headed. The company is looking to 2030 as a potential timeline for when the situation could improve.

Hybrids are the solution (for now)

For now, Honda's main focus in the U.S. will be hybrids. The company has already expanded its current two-motor hybrid system to the Accord, Civic and CR-V, but that's only the beginning.

In Japan, Honda showed off two new hybrid powertrains currently in development. One is an updated version of the two-motor system that incorporates a new vehicle chassis and S+ Shift transmission technology — something we had the chance to sample in a camouflaged Civic prototype. A second, larger hybrid system with a V6 engine is also in the works, which will likely be used in SUVs like the Passport, Pilot and Acura MDX.

When the time does come to launch more EVs in the U.S., Mibe said Honda "will want to come up with a full kind of platform product lineup." Here's hoping Honda's plans come to fruition.