Honda NSX Successor Talk Sparked By All-Electric Supercar Teaser
We’re used to having to wait for a new Honda NSX to come along and Honda is thoughtfully going to give us some time to refill our pockets funds before it launches another. But, news this week suggests that a new Honda NSX, or something like it, is on the way.
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Honda has been putting some flesh on the bones of its plan to electrify its entire range by 2030 and amongst the 30 unnamed EVs on the to do list was something to seize the attention of fast car fans the world over. The Japanese car maker has announced that it is working on two new performance-oriented electric cars, one of which looks to be the spiritual successor to the iconic NSX sports car.
Honda President Toshihiro Mibe revealed the company’s plans for a battery-powered supercar during a presentation outlining Honda’s upcoming plans and projects.
Mibe said: “We are thinking about the launch of two sports models to the global [market] - a speciality and a flagship, models that embody Honda’s universal sporting mindset and distinct characteristics. We will develop those models with a persistent pursuit in order to meet with expectations.”
Honda teased two distinct models during the presentation, one of which sports the classic mid-engined supercar proportions, and the other appears to have the longer nose of a front-engined GT-style coupe, despite the fact that there will be no engines to speak of.
No details of performance figures, battery capacities or even a potential release date for the cars were mentioned but the models under the dust sheets at least suggest Honda isn’t abandoning its performance heritage in the switch to electric. Despite Honda’s promise to release the upcoming sports cars to the “global market”, it is uncertain whether the upcoming NSX will be sold in the UK, with Honda highlighting priority for the Chinese and American markets in its plans.
Solid-state batteries, which provide benefits such as faster recharge speeds in a smaller package, could well appear in the new Honda sports EVs. The Japanese firm announced plans to invest more than £260 million ($341.5 million) into developing this new battery tech, with ambitions to have solid state batteries fitted in their EVs in the second half of the decade.
Honda isn’t the first Japanese manufacturer to promise electrification of its performance range, with Lexus targeting a battery-powered successor to the V10-powered LFA supercar by 2030.
Production of the current generation NSX, which was first announced in 2015, is set to end within the next year, so time is running out for those looking to get their hands on the 570bhp, hybrid-V6 powered supercar - which will surely now be the last ever NSX to feature a combustion engine. Honda was happy to leave a 10-year gap between the original’s demise and the launch of today’s model so any EV version could be some way off yet.
So, what do you think of Honda’s possible plan to electrify the NSX? Will a battery-powered model still have the same appeal to you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Comments
By the time all new cars are battery powered, combustion as we know it, will be illegal!
White goods for the Hipsters.