Honda officials head into the Japan Mobility Show 2023 next month with a chance to send some hearts aflutter — those of the now discontinued NSX sports car.
The company’s bringing three concept cars to the show and while two of them follow what most would consider “mobility” trends: smaller and battery-electric, one stands out: the Specialty Sports Concept.
“The concept model of an electric sports car which will enable the driver to experience the pure joy of driving (driving pleasure) and transcend the constraints of time, even in the era of electrification for carbon neutrality and the popularization of automated driving technology,” the company said in a release about the vehicle.
Don’t call it a comeback — yet
Officials allowed that the NSX, which was already cancelled and revived once, could find a future as an all-electric model. The most recent iteration was a hybrid supercar, which returned in 2016 before finishing its run with a limited-edition Type S model putting out 600 horsepower and 492 pound-feet of torque.
The regular model came in at 573 hp and 476 lb-ft of torque. However, Honda’s CEO Toshihiro Mibe did say last year, according to Automotive News, the company planned to produce two all-electric sports cars in the mid-2020s: one a “specialty” vehicle, the other a “flagship model.”
The company even released a few drawings last month, each showing a low-slung sports car, similar to the NSX.
The prevailing thought is that the Acura Integra Type S will be the top performer for the moment with the new battery-electric NSX arriving on the scene in 2026 as the company makes its conversion to an all-electric lineup.
Classic mobility look
While the potential next-gen NSX garnered some attention, the company revealed what some of its other concepts will look like at the prominent show in late October, starting with the Sustaina-C Concept and its two-wheeled cousin, the Pocket Concept.
The concept models of electric automobile and motorcycle models des
igned to enable people to transcend the constraints of limited resources.
These models are made of acrylic resin that is recycled and reused and being developed to demonstrate the concept of transcending the constraints of the limited availability of resources through “resource circulation” and becoming able to achieve both environmental sustainability and the joy and freedom of mobility long into the future.
Additionally, the Honda CI-MEV will hit the stage. The two-seat, four-wheel electric vehicle which features Honda’s original Cooperative Intelligence (CI) and automated driving technologies to offer easily-accessible last-mile mobility for any users.
Honda says it’s working to “augment the living radius for people, especially for those who are in situations that tend to limit mobility, such as when there is no public transportation or when people experience difficulty in walking a long distance.”
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