Honda plans for an electric car, a plug-in hybrid by 2013

A news report says that Honda is soon planning to roll out an all-electric car and a plug-in hybrid by the year  2013. The company is already producing the standard hybrid versions of its Civic and few more models. According to Nikkei business daily , the company can also build the hybrids overseas, in US, for the first time.

Takanobu Ito, President Honda motors, was expected to make an announcement about the plans somewhere during the day at a press conference in a suburb of Tokyo. The announcement would be significant for Honda as the company has been doubtful in the past about plug-in hybrids.   

President Takeo Fukui in 2007 had said that the plug-in hybrids provide a few environmental benefits and he also said that that the company was not ready to market one, till the last year. The new plug-in hybrid of Honda will cover a minimum distance of 60 kilometres, that is, 37.2 miles on a litre of petrol. This way it will leave behind the Toyota’s Prius hybrid which covers 38 KM per litre.

Toyota too has got plans to roll out its plug-in hybrid in 2012, that would be based on the Prius model. The new plug-in hybrid will run at a speed of 57 kilometres per litre. Honda, is planning to first release its electric car in United States. Also, the company would manufacture the Insight and two other hybrids in United States.

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