Honda announced a $1 billion investment into its EV Hub, a project that aims to retool three factories in Ohio. According to the Japanese automaker, the investment will modernize manufacturing at the Anna Engine Plant, the Marysville Auto Plant, and the East Liberty Auto Plant.
New EV Models
Honda said its EV Hub would allow it to make electric vehicle, hybrid-electric, and internal combustion engine models on shared production lines. The company expects the EV Hub to start manufacturing electric vehicles later this year, including the new Acura RSX EV and models inspired by the 0 Saloon and 0 SUV prototypes.
Facility Upgrades
Changes to the Ohio facilities include dismantling old assembly lines at the Marysville site in favor of new EV lines. Honda will also repurpose space from a painting line for an area where workers will assemble battery packs.
The East Liberty location will see a paint department expansion, a new quality department building, improvements to assembly infrastructure, a battery pack mount mezzanine, and weld changepoints.
Additions to the Anna factory include six newly installed 6,000-ton high-pressure die-cast machines for the production of two sizes of battery cases. Containers equipped with hundreds of cameras will inspect the quality of the cases before the company sends them to the East Liberty and Marysville plants.
Path to Zero-Emission Vehicles
The investment supports Honda’s goal of selling exclusively zero-emission vehicles by 2040.
Image Source: Shutterstock / Colin Temple
