Honda says to spend $64 billion on R&D as it revs up electric ambitions

Japan's Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to spend 8 trillion yen ($64 billion) on research and development over the next 10 years as it aims to roll out more than 30 electric vehicle models globally by 2030.

The targets, laid out at a company presentation on Tuesday, mark a push by the automaker to ramp up in the fast-growing market for electric vehicles, where Japanese car makers have risked falling behind new entrants such as Tesla Inc, as well as traditional European and U.S. rivals.

Honda also said it plans to produce some 2 million electric vehicles a year by 2030. The bulk of the investment would be in electrification and software technologies, Honda said.

It said it would spend some 43 billion yen on a demonstration line for the production of solid-state batteries, with the aim of starting that in Spring 2024