Honda Prelude’s electrical successor rumored for 2028

A rumor out of Japan says that Honda is planning an electrical coupe. The automotive is reportedly scheduled for a 2028 introduction, and is one among a number of EV fashions the corporate is planning for the following a number of years. The crop would allegedly embrace a number of crossovers, in addition to an NSX-type electrical flagship.

Again in April, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe outlined an “EV roadmap” promising 30 electrical fashions by 2030. Not all of them could be offered in North America. Starting from business kei autos to supercars, Honda hopes to provide round 2 million EVs yearly by the top of the last decade.

Buried in that plan was this little nugget: “We’re presently exploring the worldwide introduction of two sports activities fashions, specialty and flagship fashions,” Mibe stated.

In Japan, “specialty automotive” is a time period that may embrace fashionable coupes just like the Toyota Celica or Mazda MX-6. This led Japan’s Greatest Automobile to interpret the automotive as a Prelude successor when reporting on the 2028 introduction. Moreover, the journal says that the flagship EV will make the most of solid-state batteries, that are lighter and extra energy-dense than present EV battery know-how. They’re calling this automotive the NSX and predicts it is going to go head-to-head in opposition to the next-generation R36 Nissan GT-R.

Honda, for its half, is saying solid-state batteries will start to look in Honda EVs beginning within the latter half of the 2020s. The corporate can be engaged on two in-house EV platforms, one for compacts and one for big autos. 

The Honda Prelude was launched to the U.S. market in 1979, evolving by means of 5 generations earlier than its discontinuation on the finish of the 2001 mannequin yr. It remained a beloved sport coupe throughout that point and continued to advance into, by its ultimate iteration, one of many finest-handling and best-balanced front-wheel-drive automobiles ever constructed.

Mibe has stated that the electrical sports activities automobiles “will inherit the ‘pleasure of driving’ and embody Honda’s inalterable sports activities mindset and distinctive traits.” In that case, we might welcome an EV that may reproduce the Prelude’s preternatural connection to the highway.