Honda is one step closer to launching its first electric sports car, but the Japanese marque is refusing to give it the iconic NSX name just yet.
Speaking to media including US publication Road & Track at Monterey Car Week, Shinji Aoyama, global executive vice president of Honda, said the electric vehicle (EV) would launch within four years and be in the spirit of the NSX.
“We are going to introduce the sports model in 2027 or 2028,” Mr Aoyama said.
“We may not call it NSX. It’s kind of an NSX type of vehicle.”
It’s the latest development in the potential third-generation revival of the NSX, which launched in 1990 as a V6-powered supercar rival, and was brought back in 2016 as a hybrid.
The 2908th and final second-gen NSX rolled off the production line in the US – where it was badged as an Acura, Honda’s North American luxury division – in late 2022, and rumours had already begun circulating that its successor would be electric.
In 2021, Acura general manager Jon Ikeda told US outlet The Drive there will be a third-generation NSX and it will likely be electric.
“The first-gen was gas. Second-gen was a hybrid. There’s gonna be another one,” said Mr Ikeda.
In 2022, he doubled down on his earlier comments, saying the next NSX is “going to be electric”.
UK magazine Autocar was told by Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe earlier this year “at the R&D centre, we have a sports car”, adding the company is “doing a good analysis” of the current electric sports car market.
According to Mr Aoyama, the electric sports car will run on the company’s 0 Series EV architecture, serving as the flagship model in the range.
So far, the only 0 Series-based concepts Honda has shown off have been the low-slung wedge-shaped Saloon and the Space-hub people mover, though the platform is understood to be capable of supporting a broad range of models.
Autocar’s January report added the NSX would be powered by compact ‘e-axle’ drive units which combine the electric motors, inverters and gearbox, while also using “significantly slimmer” batteries than in Honda’s current EV lineup.
Acura previewed the Performance Electric Vision Design Study last year, which could be a teaser of what to expect for a next-generation NSX.
Unfortunately, Honda has previously said it has “no plans” to bring the 0 Series to Australia, casting doubt on whether we’d see an NSX successor Down Under.
MORE: Everything Honda NSX
