Acura will make an “NSX-type” electrical sportscar, anticipating to deliver it to market in 2027 or 2028, says Acura International Government VP Shinji Aoyama.
The Honda NSX sportscar, which was bought within the US because the Acura NSX, made a splash within the 90s and was well-liked for its styling, dealing with, and its use of some new applied sciences like an aluminum monocoque. Its identify stood for “New Sportscar eXperimental,” displaying Honda’s intent to dive into future applied sciences with the mannequin.
Then, Acura introduced the NSX again in 2016, this time with a 500+hp hybrid powertrain. Nonetheless, with no plug-in functionality in any respect, and coming considerably late to market in comparison with earlier plug-in entries just like the Tesla Roadster and Porsche 918, the “New NSX” misplaced a few of its “eXperimental” sheen (Honda stated the identify now meant “New Sports activities eXperience”). That mannequin ended manufacturing in 2022.
But it surely appears like Acura could also be able to deliver its sportscar chops again into the current, with an all-electric “NSX-type” sportscar coming quickly.
Yesterday at Monterey Automotive Week in California, Aoyama advised journalists that an NSX-like automobile will hit the street in ’27-28. He did, nevertheless, cease in need of saying that the automobile can be known as the NSX, simply that it is going to be an analogous model of automobile.
Acura has already proven an NSX-like idea earlier than. On the final iteration of Monterey Automotive Week, it teased an “Electrical Imaginative and prescient” idea with NSX-like appears, although hadn’t stated something on the time about whether or not or when it would come to manufacturing. It was only a “design examine.”
Acura would use Honda’s “0 collection” structure, which is being developed for Honda’s first electrical sedan, meant to hit the street in 2026. The main focus is on holding the structure “skinny and lightweight.” Honda needs to make sure that the battery isn’t too tall, as a result of a thinner battery means extra cabin house (in a sedan), or decrease to the bottom (in a sportscar).
Honda/Acura have launched one BEV to date within the US, within the type of the Prologue/ZDX. Nonetheless, this automobile doesn’t use a Honda platform, and as an alternative is constructed on GM’s Ultium platform. Honda’s different EV within the US is the CR-V e:FCEV, which has an all electrical drivetrain however will be fueled both by way of a plug or by hydrogen, and is barely out there in California.
Electrek’s Take
As a Tesla Roadster proprietor, I’m a fan of EV sportscars. I don’t want the insane efficiency and horsepower of a 1,025hp Rivian Ascend Quad Max or an 8.56s quarter-mile Mannequin S Plaid, what I would like is one thing small and lightweight.
And there simply aren’t many choices for that. A part of the explanation for it is because batteries are heavy, so it’s laborious to make a light-weight EV. However that doesn’t imply it’s inconceivable – my automobile is 2,800lbs, and there’s even an electrical four-seater out there with the identical curb weight. (For reference, the unique NSX was ~3,000lbs, and the brand new NSX was ~3,800lbs)
We don’t know but what kind the “NSX-type” EV will take, whether or not it is going to be a two door or 4 door (the earlier NSX incarnations have had two doorways, and two seats), or another applied sciences it should embody.
However Aoyama’s feedback about holding it “gentle” are heartening. This implies it might are available nearer to the Roadster, or the Caterham Undertaking V, slightly than the 4,000lb, four-door Porsche Taycan. Not that there’s something fallacious with the Taycan’s efficiency, but it surely’s laborious to make a 4 door that handles like a two door.
And whereas Honda is late to the occasion on EVs, it is probably not late to the occasion on EV sportscars. If they will crack the nut of creating a fairly gentle, sporty EV at a considerably accessible worth level (the brand new NSX began at $156k in 2017… so possibly not all that accessible), that could possibly be an enormous assertion for the EV trade on the complete. And we’re excited to listen to extra about it.
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