HERE'S WHAT AN EV PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NISSAN AND HONDA COULD MEAN FOR BOTH BRANDS

Affordable EVs might be a lot more fun. Honda and Nissan have to develop a series of affordable electric cars. These two companies, more than most others, have a long history of successfully straddling both sides of the reliable-versus-fun divide.

Both Honda and Nissan seem to have a way of making their more mundane offerings just a little more pleasurable to drive than they need to be. This means that any hypothetical EVs to emerge from this partnership will likely be better than the nearly punitive “econo-boxes” that currently dominate the world of budget cars.

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Honda And Nissan's Collaborative EV Plans

While both Honda and Nissan have relatively scant EV offerings at present, both companies have ambitious electric plans for the near (or near-ish) future. As is often the case when discussing the development of low-cost products, unofficial words from within cite the growing threat of competition from China.

The two companies aren't the only ones dipping their toes into the low-cost electric waters. Ford Motor Company is trying to get into cheap EVs after having allowed the likes of Tesla and Rivian to essentially steal the upscale electric market from its Lincoln brand. (Inaction can be costly.)

Of course, inter-company collaboration and alliances are not new in the auto industry. And naturally, Nissan and Honda representatives wasted no time in using the ever-beloved word “synergy” when announcing upcoming business relationship.

The Focus Will Be On Budget Cars

Nissan and Honda are focusing on budget cars. This is a market segment that gets very little love, either from the automotive press or from the industry. While there are a respectable-sized handful budget-priced EVs out there, the segment’s profit margins are notoriously narrow compared to uptrimmed models.

Additionally, it's hard to get a loving review for a low-cost commuter car. It’s easy to point out low-priced cars probably won't have a “fun” engine or leather interior, but many writers can barely get past that well-worn point. Automotive reviewers tend to exist in a rarefied world of two-seat manual-transmission coupes, where no one has ever needed to strap in a booster seat.

Because of this double whammy of lackluster reviews and (relatively) slim profits, budget cars have unfortunately devolved into one of the dreariest sections of any dealer lot. However, a lot of car buyers do not come to a dealership with a Rivian-grade budget.

The Time Is Right For Budget Cars That Aren't Econo-Boxes

The increasingly joyless monotony of low-priced cars presents a ripe opportunity. The first company to get a low-priced car (electric or otherwise) that is fun to drive could have a runaway bestseller, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the first-generation Dodge Neon. Honda and Nissan are perfectly primed to make this happen. Both companies have long histories of making cars that are both practical and entertaining, two categories that other automakers often treat as mutually exclusive.

Honda can’t decide whether the Civic is supposed to be a sports car or a small-to-midsize transportation module, and the gushing sales figures say that doesn’t matter. Nissan’s long-running Z car series has a long history as a car that, if not exactly suited to transporting one’s family, is at least practical enough to drive every day instead of merely trailering it to track meets.

Additionally, both Nissan and Honda have a long and entertaining history of putting unnecessarily powerful engines into their cars if desired. The abbreviations vary from one company to the next (GT-R, NISMO, TYPE-R, etc), but all of this adds up to an extensive back catalog of fondly remembered vehicles. This repository of past designs could be instrumental in developing affordable EVs that are actually worth driving.

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Honda's Current EV Status

While Honda has put out a few electric vehicles and hybrids, so far they haven’t been one of its primary focuses. Honda has also put a lot of its money into hydrogen cars. The company put out the Clarity Fuel Cell sedan around the same time Toyota introduced the Mirai. Indeed, for many years the Clarity and Mirai had a similar rivalry to their gasoline-fueled analogs, the Accord and Camry. Honda has since replaced its fuel-cell sedan with a hydrogen-powered variant of the CR-V.

Honda's EV Lineup Is Scant (For Now)

While Honda hasn’t completely avoided EVs, it hasn’t exactly plunged into making them either. Its only offerings are an electric variant of the Prologue SUV and the Acura ZDX, both of which were co-developed with GM. These two EVs were supposed to be the beginning of a partnership to develop budget-priced EVs, rather like what Honda claims it will be doing with Nissan. That partnership has been canceled.

Honda And GM Are Going All-In On Hydrogen

Outside of cars but still comfortably within the realm of engines, Honda and General Motors are joint-manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells under the straightforwardly named Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC. Under this new business entity, Honda and GM have opened a factory that produces fuel cel modules (the hydrogen equivalent of crate engines).

Freestanding fuel cell modules may be a bit of a wild leap for GM, but they are a natural move for Honda. Honda puts a lot more corporate heft into its crate engine division than GM does. (Sometimes it seems like Honda is actually an engine manufacturer that happens to make car bodies to install them in.) While hydrogen cars remain an iffy proposition, hydrogen fuel cells could be a natural successor to engines for many non-automotive uses.

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Nissan's Current EV Status

Unlike Honda, Nissan got in on EVs early with the Leaf hatchback. While few people purchased a Leaf in the hope of getting four-wheeled thrills, it helped Nissan establish itself as a competent maker of EVs. While the Leaf has been a sales success in its own right, it has also been an underappreciated boon for Nissan's reputation. Nissan also got it into production early enough to avoid any image of playing an unfortunate game of catch-up with the rest of the automotive world.

Nissan's Current EV: The Ariya SUV

Having made its first big entry into EVs with a sensible commuting hatchback, Nissan is continuing to aim at the widest marketing target with its next EV, the Ariya SUV.

Nissan’s decision to make an average-looking family hauler instead shows that it is striving for mass appeal rather than catering to a small handful of enthusiasts. Like it or not, there's more profit in SUVs than coupes, and Nissan is planning accordingly. Middle-of-the-road vehicles like SUVs may not fare well on track days, but they perform extraordinarily well on the sales floor.

Ambition 2030 Is Nissan's Grand EV Plan

Now that EVs are no longer kooky and weird, it is safe for automakers to publicly go all-in on them. (Of course, EVs have existed for over a century. But until recently, it was almost impossible to sell one.) Nissan announced in 2021 that it would have a robust lineup of electric and electrified vehicles by 2030. Such ambitious plans may have motivated Nissan’s choice to electrify its lineup with Honda instead of going at it alone. Perhaps the most compelling of Nissan's recent electric concepts was not a low-riding sports car but the Surf Out compact truck. Compact trucks have more or less faded out of production as automakers realized that adding an extra two feet of bed length can add a generous helping of profit.

Rather than slowly developing a fleet of EVs to release in 2030, Nissan's plan is divided into phases. The first parts of Nissan's long-term plan involve adding more electrified vehicles into its lineup, and also the latest technology like autonomous driving. The later parts of Ambition 2030 center on EVs with solid-state batteries in them.

As a brief semantic note: like the terms “four-wheel drive” and “all-wheel drive,” the terms “electric vehicle” and “electrified vehicle” are not as interchangeable as they may appear. “Electric vehicle” means the only power source is a battery. “Electrified vehicle” is a catch-all term for hybrids (plug-in or not), hydrogen cars, EVs, and any other form of automobile with an electric motor somewhere in the powertrain.

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Honda Is No Stranger To Partnerships And Collaborations

Honda and Nissan are a perfect match for co-developing extensive lineups of budget-priced EVs. Both companies have a long history of (in)discreetly placing unnecessarily fun powertrains into cars that aren’t supposed to have them, which will certainly help when selling EVs.

When it comes to co-designing vehicles, Honda and Nissan will almost certainly prove to be better bedfellows than Honda and General Motors. Really, no one should have been surprised when that alliance fell through. It’s hard to imagine a successful melding of all-American galumphers and sensible midsize Japanese cars.

Both Honda And Nissan Are Working On Solid-State Batteries

Of course, no discussion of long-term EV plans is complete without mentioning the technology that has tantalized the industry for at least twenty years: solid-state batteries. Both Nissan and Honda have been trying to produce viable SSBs, and both have made some promising breakthroughs. Honda has already reached the point where it is working on manufacturing processes. Nissan has likewise produced a viable prototype battery, and (according to CEO Makoto Uchida) plans to have a pilot plant in operation this year.

Nissan And Honda Are Well-Matched Partners

Honda and Nissan bring complementary things to this EV partnership. Nissan has years of experience with EVs. But more importantly, Nissan has built several model years’ worth of reputation on its EVs. Even those who deride Nissan’s EVs for being mundane have to concede that they are also dependable. With the truck market exploding the same way SUVs did after the minivan suffered a fatal case of “uncoolness,” this could be a valuable resource for Honda to tap.

Honda, of course, manufactures some of the most indestructible vehicles in the auto industry. Toyota may be at the top of most reliability rankings, but Honda is always very close behind. Reliability is especially important in budget cars. Luxury vehicle owners may indulgently allow their imported chariots to go on a mechanic's lift every time the exotic engine has a bad day, but budget car owners often can't afford such things (to say nothing of the inconvenience of being temporarily carless).

It’s true that business partnerships can end at any time. But Honda and Nissan’s EV collaborations will likely produce a series of sensible EVs that offer both cargo space and driving pleasure.