Honda forms partnership to secure supply of battery metals

TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co has formed a partnership with trading company Hanwa Co to secure stable supply of metals used in batteries for electrified vehicles, the Japanese automaker said on Tuesday.

Honda will be able to obtain essential metals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium through the partnership in the medium to long term, it said in a statement.

Procurement of those elements will be among many challenges for automakers worldwide as stricter environmental regulations accelerate production and sales of cleaner, electrified cars.

Honda said it had picked Hanwa for its strength in resource procurement.

This year Honda laid out a target to roll out 30 electrified vehicle (EV) models globally and produce more than 2 million EVs a year by 2030. It aims at selling only fully electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles by 2040.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Tom Hogue and Bradley Perrett)