Honda NSX EV on the way?
Remember the mad Pikes Peak effort from last year? Honda is keen to bring the tech into a road car...
To think we've only just got this NSX
The 4-Motor Acura EV Concept proved as quick as it was awkwardly named, taking third overall on the legendary Race to the Clouds. How quick? 0-124mph in 6.2 seconds quick, albeit with a relatively modest top speed of 155mph. Still, enough to be a long way down the autobahn before the Porsche 918 Spyder you left in your mirrors could do anything about catching up.
Now the engineers behind the project have raised the tantalising prospect of the drivetrain reaching production - potentially in the next-generation NSX, due around 2023, perfectly timed to act as a halo model for Honda's electric car range; expect those cars to roll out from 2018 and grow substantially in coming years.
More interesting than a Jazz Hybrid at least
The answer, of course, is in fitting more batteries, but with the car already weighing 1,500kg, and the inevitable bloating when a bespoke race car is turned into a production vehicle, that seems unlikely. And while more batteries means more power, it also means more heat. While it's acceptable to cook car and driver in the heat of competition, customers may not take so kindly to it. Better, say the engineers, to bide time and watch as the energy density of batteries improves.
Bring on 2023!
All that raises the prospect of how we would categorise the next-gen NSX. Like a Tesla in Ludicrous mode, or the radical Nio EP9 sports car, it'll have the straight line performance to whistle past supercars in its wake. Throw in the fact that the NSX name demands a level of dynamism too, and we might just have a full-blown Honda hypercar on our hands. It seems anyone who thought electrification would be the end of fun-to-drive cars may have to think again.
Words: Jim Holder
Trade-offs.
But, as Elon Musk tells us, battery tech is improving. Look what he's done with the Powerwall 2.0 in terms of power density, and the future is interesting indeed. I must admit to laughing a little that a tiny car company like Tesla is worth somewhere around the entire value of GM, and yet sells only a fraction of the volume. It must be that investors like what they see in the future as well.
I really would love to see this EV path taken further, and would hope a lot more resource gets applied, but then it makes sense to allow the battery side of it to make gains, so that the overall improvement just naturally gets built into the car. Problem is, you cant wait forever, and need to make the leap at SOME point.
Come on Honda!
Oh please, by the time this is actually released the Supercars it may have whistled past today will have progressed far beyond the NSX's perormance. The NSX is always a decade behind , hidden behind "but it doesnt need power, you're missing the point" excuses.
Trade-offs.
But, as Elon Musk tells us, battery tech is improving. Look what he's done with the Powerwall 2.0 in terms of power density, and the future is interesting indeed. I must admit to laughing a little that a tiny car company like Tesla is worth somewhere around the entire value of GM, and yet sells only a fraction of the volume. It must be that investors like what they see in the future as well.
I really would love to see this EV path taken further, and would hope a lot more resource gets applied, but then it makes sense to allow the battery side of it to make gains, so that the overall improvement just naturally gets built into the car. Problem is, you cant wait forever, and need to make the leap at SOME point.
Come on Honda!
Have seen the one new shape NSX in the country. Would love to know how many have actually been sold (not just registered). There are a few in the classifieds for sale for £200k! Dreamers.
A usable, long range, quick charging version of a Polo, or a Golf, or a Panda, or a Jazz however... I would LOVE one. They all have crap engines anyway, and are merely transport. Put in a next-to-zero maintenance drivetrain and get on with it.
Leave the fast exciting stuff to celebrate all that was good about motoring for it's final few years.
A usable, long range, quick charging version of a Polo, or a Golf, or a Panda, or a Jazz however... I would LOVE one. They all have crap engines anyway, and are merely transport. Put in a next-to-zero maintenance drivetrain and get on with it.
Leave the fast exciting stuff to celebrate all that was good about motoring for it's final few years.
Fast? I've always cared about that as the sensation of high acceleration and speed never, ever gets old for me. I know I'm not alone in that.
Soulless rubbish? Whatever. I can't wait to see what the worlds brightest and best minds in the automobile field come up with next!
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