Honda, like every automaker, is wrestling with the ever-changing electric vehicle landscape and it’s taking a hit thanks to US policy reversals under the Trump administration. The Japanese giant’s ambitious EV rollout, once expected to flood markets starting 2026 with a range of seven new models, now looks pushed back by as much as five years.
The catalyst? The Trump administration’s axing of critical EV tax incentives in the US, Honda’s biggest EV market. The $7,500 EV tax credits vanished as of late 2025, slashing the buying appeal for pricey electric models and forcing Honda to pause work on its large seven-seater electric SUV slated for 2027.
During a media session ahead of the Japan Mobility Show 2025, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe opened up about the major challenges his company is currently facing with its electric vehicle strategy. Mibe pointed directly at the policy shifts initiated by former President Trump’s administration particularly the killing of the $7,500 EV tax credit as a key factor pushing back Honda’s EV rollout timeline by possibly five years. This policy reversal threw a wrench into Honda’s plans for affordable EVs in the crucial US market, forcing the automaker to rethink its approach and delay bringing budget-friendly models like the Honda 0 α to American shores. Mibe emphasized that while the vision for carbon neutrality remains intact, the immediate EV push is tempered by political and economic realities, leading Honda to focus more aggressively on hybrids in the near term. His candid remarks laid bare the complex interplay between politics and innovation.
Honda mirrors a broader industry slowdown, scaling back its electrification investment by billions and pivoting instead toward hybrids. The company’s CEO openly admits forecasting EVs to only make up about 20% of sales by 2030 down sharply from earlier projections of 30%. Honda is still moving forward on flagship electric sedans and SUVs, but the timeline’s stretched, the roadmap rejigged.
This setback isn’t a surrender. Rather, it reflects pragmatism amid market uncertainties and policy whiplash. Hybrid tech is getting a renaissance as a flexible middle ground while the EV future recalibrates. For Honda, the electric dream is delayed, not dead. But five years feels like a lifetime in a market moving at breakneck speed.
