Honda Sidles Up To Nissan, Promises New Prelude Hybrid Next Year

Join daily news updates from CleanTechnica on e mail. Or follow us on Google News!

Readers at all times ask whether or not legacy automakers are going to outlive the transition to electrical vehicles. There are many the explanation why individuals ought to be involved. Stellantis is struggling in Europe and within the US, and Nissan has been issuing warnings about its profitability for a number of months. Volkswagen Group is feuding with its labor unions over the attainable closure of three factories in Germany. Numerous questions have been raised in regards to the viability of Honda, which appears to don’t have any clear path ahead. It entered right into a partnership association with Normal Motors to construct its new battery electrical Prologue SUV and new Acura electrical fashions on the GM Ultium platform. However nearly as quickly as manufacturing started, it backed away from that association and mentioned it might construct its new electrical vehicles at present factories within the US. Prologue gross sales are booming, nevertheless it appears unlikely any future Honda-badged electrical vehicles will depend on the Ultium platform.

Based on CNBC, Nikkeia serious Japanese monetary newspaper, reported on December 17, 2024, that Nissan and Honda reportedly plan to enter into negotiations for a merger to raised compete within the rapidly changing global automotive industry. They’re mentioned to be contemplating working underneath a holding firm and can signal a memorandum of understanding quickly. They’re additionally contemplating including Mitsubishi to the brand new monetary construction. Nissan is the biggest shareholder in Mitsubishi, with 24 % of the inventory.

The mixed Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi enterprise would make the triumvirate one of many largest automotive firms on the earth, with annual gross sales of round 8 million autos. Toyota has annual gross sales of 11.2 million autos whereas Volkswagen Group reported gross sales of 9.2 million autos final yr. In related statements, Honda and Nissan neither confirmed nor denied the report. “The reported content was not released by our company,” Honda mentioned. “As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths. We will inform our stakeholders of any updates at an appropriate time.”

The merger report follows reviews earlier this yr in regards to the two Japanese automakers coming into right into a strategic partnership to share automotive elements and software program. Such a tie-up could be the biggest automotive business merger since Fiat Chrysler joined with France-based PSA Groupe to type Stellantis in January 2021. Automotive consultants and different consultants have not too long ago been calling for a rise in mergers and acquisitions to share prices and higher compete in opposition to quickly increasing Chinese language automakers in addition to Tesla.

Honda Prelude Hybrid Coming Subsequent 12 months

In a press releaseHonda mentioned this week it’s going to introduce a brand new Prelude sports activities coupe late in 2025. The announcement is critical for 2 causes. First, the brand new automotive — that is the sixth iteration of the Prelude because it was launched in 1978 — expands the Honda vary of passenger vehicles bought within the US past the entry degree Civic, the mid-level Accord, and the CR-V. There have been 5 generations of the Prelude earlier than it went out of manufacturing in 2001, and it was the primary Honda mannequin to function four-wheel steering and torque vectoring. A part of the explanation Honda stopped constructing the Prelude was the demand for 2-door coupes in America had shrunk significantly through the years as minivans and sedans took over {the marketplace}. As soon as each producer supplied a sports activities coupe in its lineup, however at this time 2-door vehicles are scarcer than snowflakes on the Fourth of July.

The opposite cause the information this week is vital is that the brand new Prelude will probably be a hybrid that makes use of the 2 electrical motor system used for different hybrid fashions within the Honda lineup. Readers may assume which means an electrical motor on the entrance and the rear of the automotive, however that’s not the case. Based on The Vergeeach motors are adjoining to the interior combustion engine. “One electric motor acts as a generator, creating electricity for the battery and propulsion,” Honda spokesperson Chris Naughton mentioned, “and the other is a traction motor that propels the vehicle and captures regen when slowing.”

Like Toyota, Honda is specializing in hybrid powertrains as a pathway to promoting solely battery electrical autos by 2040. Hybrid powertrains now account for nearly half of all Accord and CR-V gross sales. A hybrid model of the Civic has been launched and the corporate expects it’s going to account for half of Civic gross sales within the close to future. “The return of the Honda Prelude as a hybrid-electric sports model demonstrates our continued commitment to offer a variety of exhilarating products to meet the needs of our customers,” mentioned Jessika Laudermilk, assistant vice chairman of Honda Auto Gross sales. “The first three products in the Honda lineup in the 1970s were Civic, Accord and Prelude, and soon all three will be back together again in our passenger car lineup as hybrids.”

Introducing Honda S+ Shift

In a separate press releaseHonda extols the virtues of its new S+ Shift expertise. “The fashionable new Prelude will mark the debut of Honda S+ Shift, an modern new drive mode that additional advances Linear Shift Management to ship most ranges of driver engagement, in step with the heritage of the Prelude line. The newly developed Honda S+ Shift is a brand new operate designed to pursue the ‘joy of driving’ that additional accentuates the sense of oneness between the driving force and the car, whereas totally leveraging the traits of the e:HEV system.

“Without compromising high environmental performance unique to HEV models, the Honda S+ Shift precisely controls the engine RPM during acceleration and deceleration to realize direct drive response and sharp gear shifting. Moreover, the powerful engine sound synchronizes with the Active Sound Control system, enhancing engine sound quality by offering the engine sound in sync with engine RPM through the speaker system and the highly responsive meter display. In this way the Honda S+ Shift will stimulate all of the driver’s senses and provide exhilarating driving at the will of the driver, further synchronizing the driver and the vehicle.” In different phrases, it’s to driving what Wii is to enjoying precise sports activities.

Honda lists the important thing options of Honda S+ Shift as follows:

By linking two high-power motors with the ASC system, the Honda S+ Shift achieves dynamic engine RPM modifications and a pointy upshift feeling, offering suggestions that resonates with the entire driver’s senses, amplifying the sense of oneness between the driving force and the car.
The Honda S+ Shift additional advances the Linear Shift Management utilized to present e:HEV fashions, enabling gear shifts (upshift and downshift) in line with the driving situations and environments in any respect velocity ranges. Whereas turning, the Honda S+ Shift system rapidly responds to driver steering enter and prompts shift maintain, enabling the car to hint the specified driving line on the will of the driving force.
By sustaining the optimum engine RPM for the actual driving situations, the ability generated by the engine throughout re-acceleration will probably be totally utilized as driving drive. This drastically improves the preliminary response time of the motor when the driving force depresses the accelerator pedal and allows overwhelmingly excessive response that’s immediately linked to driver enter.
Though e:HEV doesn’t have a mechanical transmission mechanism, when the Honda S+ Shift is activated, the driving force can shift gears with a paddle shifter, in order that the driving force can get pleasure from driving really feel as if the car encompasses a transmission system. With fast gearshift responses achieved by means of the coordination of the engine and high-power motor, Honda S+ Shift operate will attempt to supply the enjoyment of driving based mostly on direct response to driver enter.

To the group of crack journalists at CleanTechnicaS+ Shift seems like imitation cheese meals fairly than precise cheese or utilizing Wii as a substitute of enjoying an actual sport. Coloration us skeptical about whether or not it is a true advance in automotive expertise or a solution to a query nobody is asking.

The Takeaway

We don’t imply to be unkind, however we hope this next-generation Prelude is best than the CR-Z from some years in the past, which supplied a hybrid powertrain with an precise 5-speed transmission. The automotive featured swoopy styling however didn’t have the efficiency to match. The CR-Z barely had sufficient energy to tug the pores and skin off custard and went out or manufacturing nearly as quickly because it was launched. Honda has additionally had a lower than stellar relationship with hybrid expertise prior to now. The unique Civic Hybrid truly bought worse gasoline economic system than its non-hybrid cousins and suffered from quite a few reliability points. Supposedly a solution to the Toyota Prius, it was rapidly withdrawn from the Honda lineup. The promising Honda Readability plug-in hybrid suffered an analogous destiny — though, readers who personal one report they’re proud of their vehicles.

Honda has stumbled a number of instances on its technique to the electrical automotive future. The Honda e was a superb engineering train however wildly overpriced. The corporate has simply launched the Prologue battery electrical SUV and it’s enjoying strong sales in the US, currently only trailing three Teslas and the Ford Mustang Mach-E. That leads us to ponder, if Honda is able to making a aggressive electrical automotive, why soar into the wayback machine to convey us one other hybrid and why do it with a physique fashion that nearly nobody is asking for? Typically it appears Honda is lurching from pillar to submit on its technique to the EV revolution. If it is aware of how one can construct compelling electrical vehicles, why not simply get on with it?