Could we see this current Civic Type R morph into a 4WD hybrid?
So why is Honda pulling out of F1 at the end of 2021? In a long-winded statement last month, the manufacturer said that it was withdrawing from racing to concentrate efforts on carbon neutrality, and focus development on future energy technologies including fuel cell and battery electric vehicles.
Honda’s CEO, Takahiro Hashigo, confirmed that statement by adding that the company, “had to drastically change course to allow it to focus R&D expenditure on power unit and future energy technology,” and that exiting F1 was a major step towards the inevitable move to electrification.
It goes without saying that the electrification he speaks of here refers to a lineup that will include more hybrids, plug-in hybrids, EVs and fuel-cell cars. But a critical part of Honda’s electrification jigsaw puzzle is its ever-strengthening relationship with General Motors, as witnessed in the brand’s announcement in April this year that the firm and GM are collaborating to develop a common EV platform that will underpin at least two Hondas by 2024 and “several GM cars” as well.
According to one source close to Honda, the firm’s co-development with GM will give birth to electric mid-sized sedans similar to the Accord and SUVs like the CR-V. The beefy 60kWh batteries destined to be allocated to these new North Americans models will generate class-topping performance and range of between 250 to 300 miles.
One source also says that GM and Honda are using their combined talents to create a new high performance model that points to an electric NSX-style supercar. Said to be targeting Teslas and the new Porsche Taycan, a new Honda EV supercar would employ 4WD and generate upwards of 600hp.
Another important part of Honda’s move towards electrification was the debut of its “e:HEV” two motor hybrid system at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Together with this technology reveal, Honda announced that it would electrify every model sold in Europe by 2025.
One car that embodies the firm’s commitment to electrify every model in its showroom is the iconic Civic Type R, which according to Best Car, Japan’s biggest selling car magazine, will employ a rear-mounted electric motor, thus turning the previously front-driven Type R into a four-wheel-drive gasoline hybrid sports car for the first time. That’s in addition to the fully electric, rear-driven compact ‘Honda e’ city commuter just launched in Japan and Europe, as well as the 20 electrified models it plans to roll out in the Chinese market by 2025, a menu that will include at least three battery electric SUVs.
As we have seen, Honda’s global plans for significant expansion into wide-reaching electrification mean that it will need every R&D dollar or yen it can muster. So it was only a matter of time before those tens of millions of dollars being poured into F1 hybrid power unit development needed to be reallocated to compelling real world concerns like the electrified powertrains that will drive the brand into the future, and not around the race track.
