Two major Japanese automakers are backing away from investment in battery-electric vehicles to refocus car production on hybrid models as consumer demand switches to more traditional powertrains.

Mitsubishi announces that it is backing out of a €200 million ($225 million) investment in Renault’s BEV specialist business unit, Ampere, as it shifts away from a technology that consumers see as too expensive and inconvenient in terms of inadequate public charging infrastructure in many nations including those in Europe.

However, it says it will continue to develop new cars based on Renault models, Reuters reports. “The company remains committed to exploring potential avenues for continued collaboration, including the potential OEM vehicles provided by Renault and Ampere,” Mitsubishi says in a statement.

Mitsubishi’s decision follows Nissan’s withdrawal of its investment in Ampere but for different reasons, such as its major cost saving restructure in a bid to achieve profitability.

Meanwhile, Honda also announces that it is scaling back on BEV investments to concentrate on the burgeoning consumer demand for hybrid-powered vehicles.

CEO Toshihiro Mibe says the automaker has cut its planned investment in electrification and software through to the 2030 business year from 10 trillion yen ($69 billion) to 7 trillion yen ($48.4 billion).

Japan's second-biggest automaker also drops a target for BEV sales to account for 30% of its sales by the 2030 financial year, in line with predictions by Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda’s predictions made more than a year ago.

“It's really hard to read the market but at the moment we see EVs accounting for about a fifth by then,” CEO Mibe tells a press conference.