Honda is going back to basics with its next-generation hybrid system coming next year, announcing that it would be simply called the Honda Hybrid. The petrol-electric powertrain is make-or-break for the Japanese carmaker, as it is the result of the company’s costly last-minute switch away from EV development and towards “rebuilding its automobile business.”
The new moniker is set to streamline the names of its hybrids, ditching the slightly confusing e:HEV suffix. Hopefully, this means future models can be referred to simply as the Civic Hybrid or the CR-V Hybrid – exactly how actual buyers themselves would call them.
It also signifies the technology is exclusive to Honda, the company added. Based on the current e:HEV two-motor system, the new Honda Hybrid brings several improvements such as a heavily-redesigned 2.0 litre naturally-aspirated and direct-injected four-cylinder engine. The firm claims a 30% efficiency improvement at higher revs, broadening the high-efficiency operating window of the mill by up to 40%.
The electric motors have also been made smaller and more powerful, while the new battery has been made thinner for better packaging. Honda is also adding the Prelude‘s S+ Shift simulated gear changes, as well as a centralised Motion Management Control that uses the powertrain and brakes to stabilise handling.
The Honda Hybrid system will be allied to a new midsized platform that will underpin the next Civic and CR-V, promising to make them lighter, quieter, better to drive and cheaper to make. Honda is planning to launch 15 new Honda Hybrid models by 2030, primarily in North America.
Honda Hybrid is the fifth version of Honda’s petrol-electric powertrain since the pioneering 1999 Insight, after the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), Sport Hybrid Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive (i-DCD), Sport Hybrid Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive (i-MMD)/e:HEV and the NSX‘s Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). You can read our test drive report of the company’s next-generation midsized hybrids here.
GALLERY: Honda next-gen mid-size hybrid tested in Japan
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