In 10 to 20 years, Honda wants its business to offer more than automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment.
As part of its “2030 Vision,” the company from Tokyo is looking to the sky and to robots, and sees these advancements being offered by the 2030s and '40s.
The first is air taxis. These would build on HondaJet, which was founded in 2006 and features business jets.
Bloomberg reports that Honda hopes to commence flight tests on its air taxis in 2023. It will use a lithium battery and a gas-turbine generator which would assist in increasing its range.
If all goes according to plan, Honda sees this certified by 2030. And if electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) reaches a fully autonomous stage by 2040, Honda estimates an annual market of $269 billion.
Venturing a little further and higher than the air taxi, Honda wants to create a rocket capable of launching small satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Going even further, Honda sees its collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency producing a renewable energy system on the moon. Ideally, it would assist humans exploring the moon by finding frozen water. According to Honda, the system could take the hydrogen and oxygen from the water and use the elements for living quarters and to fuel rockets.
As for robots, back on Earth, Honda is planning avatar robots. These robots, acting as remote surrogates, could be controlled by a paramedic to attend to an injured person. The robots will have multi-fingered hands and will be powered by artificial intelligence.
Honda announced technology demonstrations for the avatar robots will start by March 2024, and it plans for it to see “practical use” in the 2030s.