Due to a possible 3.5% growth rate in 2007 (based on increasing sales of the Civic, compact Fit, and CR-V small SUV), Honda Motor Co. is discussing the possibility of producing a plug-in hybrid vehicle in the future. Company president Takeo *** told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show this week that the company expects to increase production of the Civic and CR-V this year to keep up with demand.
Battery technology remains the big stumbling block so far in developing plug-in hybrid technology. Motoatsu Shiraishi, president of Honda Research and Development, said Honda is “studying what kind of conditions would enable a plug-in.” Right now, the issues that they are focusing on include battery capacity and the speed at which the battery can be recharged. Both would need to improve before a plug-in can be brought to market.
The advantage of plug-in hybrids is that they can be recharged from an electrical outlet, and can be run solely on battery power for a certain distance. After the batteries run out, they can be recharged by the onboard internal-combustion engine, which can also power the car when the batteries are low or discharged.
Honda also plans to use super-clean diesel engines in its larger cars as an alternative to hybrid technology (see below).