Honda Motor Co. will join Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. in the race to launch electric vehicles in the United States between 2010 and 2015, sources said.

Honda is planning to begin full-fledged development of electric vehicles because the United States — Japan's biggest car market — is expected to eventually tighten environmental regulations, the sources said. Honda will also consider marketing electric vehicles in Japan, they added.

At its group's technological development base in Tochigi Prefecture, Honda has been designing electric vehicles ranging in size from subcompacts to small cars. It is also working to present a prototype at the Tokyo Motor Show this fall, the sources said.