Can't force customers to shift from ICE to EVs, says Honda CEO

While EV adoption is "steadily increasing", its main downturn is a weak EV infrastructure.

Speaking in an interview, Kazuhiro Takizawa, President & CEO of Honda America, stated that carmakers can't force customers to adopt EVs, until the right ecosystem is first present. The company CEO said that while EV adoption is "steadily increasing", its main downturn is a weak EV infrastructure.

Takizawa stated, "You can’t force the customer to change their mind, really, and to some degree [you can incentivise] them, but we just can’t force the people living in, say, the midwest, with no charging stations." He further mentioned, "Even with incentives, they will not change from ICE to BEV. I believe it will be very difficult to force people to go for it. We need to prepare the ecosystem gradually and let them migrate little by little."

Having said that, the CEO did state, "It’s changing. We’re closely monitoring the number of [new] charging guns per electric vehicle, so it’s not a very rapid growth, but gradually and steadily it is increasing."

Aoyama, one of the brand's top men for electrification & strategy, also stated, "The slowing down of the EV market is not unexpected because the more EVs are running on the road, the more rapid the change of the entire ecosystem for EVs. It’s not a question of ICE or EVs but of the change of ecosystem as penetration of EVs increases. The [already established] ICE ecosystem starts with petroleum mining, refining, gas stations, and ICE cars. Meanwhile, EVs have totally different ecosystems, so it’s a question of an entire societal change and societal issues, so it may take time to change."

He further added, "Battery EVs are the most effective to reach carbon neutrality, so we will keep our long-term view and we expect that this ecosystem will change step by step."

Source: TheDrive