Honda debuts three new electric concepts, but they're all for China

Thursday, 14 October 2021

The e:NS1 seems to be a sporty, electric version of the refreshed HR-V.

Honda has revealed a bunch of edgy new electric concepts currently destined for China only.

Two of the new vehicles are the e:NS1 and e:NP1, both crossovers with slightly different styling. Apparently, the name stems from e:Technology while N comes from ‘New/Next’. Not particularly snappy, but at least the vehicles look interesting.

The e:NS1 features a snazzy yellow and black body, with a blocky front and small boot-mounted wing and roof-mounted spoiler. Meanwhile, the e:NP1 seems to be more of a traditional SUV, with styling close to the recently refreshed HR-V but with electric power.

It’s difficult to tell, but it appears they are different versions of the same vehicle, considering there are images of the e:NS1 in more pedestrian colours and sans wings. Both also have similar front ends. It could be that the NS1 is simply a sportier model.

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Three other electric concepts are earmarked for China, although Honda might give the rest of the world a taste at some point.

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Both the NS1 and NP1 will go on sale in China in 2022. It’s unclear (and also somewhat unlikely) that New Zealand will see either of these, even as a rebranded HR-V, but the other three concepts look very interesting.

Called the e:N SUV Concept, e:N GT Concept and e:N Coupe Concept, they represent three out of ten future EVs destined for China. They all boast notably different styling to the NS1 and NP1, with sharp lines comprising the headlights, illuminated Honda logos, gaping corner intakes and a blocky body style not unlike the Tesla Cybertruck.

Honda has earmarked these for sale in China by 2025, but didn’t offer any further information aside from the fact that they will be produced at the GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda plants. Honda also said it is considering global exports of the future e:N models.

Sadly, there’s no sign of the awesome, adorable Sport EV concept from 2017, although that has been rumoured to be closer to production than the e:N concepts seem to be.

Back in June, Japanese publication Car Sensor said that Honda has running prototypes at its head office. A production version could retain much of the Sport EV Concept’s styling, although the wheels, door handles, mirrors and illuminated grille may be changed before production

The two-seater would use the rear-wheel drive bones from the Honda e in order to save on costs and development time and act as a spiritual successor to the S660, a sporty kei car set to cease production in March 2022. That includes the 113kW/315Nm electric motor and 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery, good for an eight-second 0-100kmh sprint and 220km of range on the e hatchback.

There’s a decent chance Honda will up the output with higher-performance variants as well, considering Honda has already confirmed the e platform can handle more power.