- Honda reveals progress in building an EV hub in Ohio, converting its plants to produce components for EVs and assemble them starting in late 2025.
- The automaker plans to start producing battery-electric models alongside internal combustion vehicles in Marysville, Ohio, following the debut of Ultium-based EVs that use GM’s platform.
- The EV hub plans include a battery production plant, part of a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, that is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
The Honda Prologue has kicked off the automaker’s latest EV lineup, after some smaller-scale experiments that included the Honda Clarity EV last decade. (Don’t worry if you don’t remember that one—it was sold in tiny numbers in just a handful of US states). The Prologue, on the other hand, is a mass-market effort, albeit based on GM’s platform. And it’s already on sale this year.
But in the near future, Honda will produce EVs in Marysville, Ohio. And it sounds like it will happen sooner than initially anticipated, by the end of 2025.
Honda says that retooling is underway for assembly of the Intelligent Power Unit (IPU), which includes the battery and forms part of a vehicle’s platform. Honda already plans for its associates at the Marysville Auto Plant (MAP) to begin training for IPU assembly and EV production later this year.
Honda is reworking MAP to allow it to produce EVs and internal combustion models at the same time. The automaker recently tore out most of its second production line as part of consolidating the two lines, with the additional space planned to be used for staging and parts delivery, as well as for greater ease of movement.
“The establishment of our EV Hub is not simply an investment in retooling and equipment, we are investing in the Honda associates who will be taking on new responsibilities to lead us into the electrified future,” said Bob Nelson, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
A new workspace has also been created where some 300 associates will sub-assemble the IPU. Eventually, this facility will supply IPUs for both MAP and the East Liberty Auto Plant (ELP).
The biggest construction effort of the planned hub is a new joint venture EV battery plant, formed along with LG Energy Solution, that will be located near Jeffersonville, Ohio.
Construction began a year ago, and the last structural steel beam was put in place just a few weeks ago, at the end of February. Honda is currently hiring associates for the plant, with the facility expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
A fourth plant that will be part of the EV hub is the Honda Anna Engine Plant (AEP), which will produce the IPU case that will serve as the main frame structure of EVs, while also housing the battery module. In the past, AEP has produced engines, transmissions, and other drivetrain parts.
The EVs that will be built in Ohio will be based on the automaker’s own e:Architecture platform, rather than GM’s Ultium platform.
But just which EV models is the Ohio hub likely to start producing first for the US?
In the recent past Honda had hinted that a mid- to large-size crossover or SUV, likely with three rows of seats, positioned above the Prologue will be one of the first models to be introduced on this platform. This will allow Honda to differentiate it from the Prologue as well as its Acura ZDX twin, both of which are two-row models.
An Accord-sized sedan-style EV also seems likely, as it has been Honda’s bread-and-butter model and has been produced in Ohio for some time. Such a model was recently previewed by the Saloon concept at CES, though it remains to be seen just how futuristic it will actually look in production form.
Together with a large electric crossover or SUV, this will allow Honda to offer a varied-enough lineup that should meet actual consumer demand in the second half of the decade.
What electric model will Honda need the most in 2026 and later in the decade, after the debut of the Prologue? Let us know what you think.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
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