General Motors and Honda might seem like an unlikely pairing, but partnerships between Japanese and American automakers are not uncommon. After all, the two brands paired up in making the Saturn VUE once upon a time. That’s right, that old American SUV had a Honda V6 engine in it. But now, the duo is back at it once again to produce two electric vehicles by the year 2024.

Powered by GM, sold by Honda

The production duties for the two electric vehicles will be split up between the two manufacturers. Honda will be in charge of the interior and exterior design while General Motors will provide the platform for them. The electric vehicles will use GM’s all-new modular platform and Ultium battery system, which were announced last month. The cars will be manufactured in General Motor’s plants in North America and the finished products will be sold in Honda stores in the United State and Canada.

“This collaboration will put together the strength of both companies, while combined scale and manufacturing efficiencies will ultimately provide greater value to customers,” said Rick Schostek, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “This expanded partnership will unlock economies of scale to accelerate our electrification roadmap and advance our industry-leading efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The partnership between Honda and GM is nothing new as the two manufacturers have been working together on projects like the Cruise Origin, which is an all-electric, self-driving vehicle that was unveiled earlier this year, as well as fuel cell development.

GM’s Ultium batteries

General Motors’ new Ultium batteries are unique in that they are able to be stacked vertically or horizontally in the battery pack, allowing for more versatility when it comes to vehicle design. The energy options will range from 50 to 200 kWh, which will greatly increase the performance of the vehicle that the batteries power. This means that a vehicle could potentially achieve up to 400 miles on a single charge and go 0-60 mph in about 3 seconds.

The Ultium battery packs are designed for Level 2 (and faster) charging and most of the vehicles that they will be used in will have a 400-volt pack. Upcoming projects like the Cruise Origin vehicle, Cadillac Lyriq, and future work trucks will use the Ultium battery packs.

“Our team accepted the challenge to transform product development at GM and position our company for an all-electric future,” said Mary Barra, GM chairman, and CEO. “What we have done is build a multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that rival our full-size truck business with much less complexity and even more flexibility.”

It’s a good move for both manufacturers

We think this is a great joint venture for both manufacturers as it will allow GM to focus on battery production and be able to spend more on the future EV projects that it’s planning. While Honda can spend time and money taking care of the interior and exterior duties for the electric vehicles. Talk about the effective delegation of duties! It’s definitely a win-win situation and we’re excited to see what’s to come in the future.