Speculations about a Honda CR-V EV releasing in 2024 had floated on the web for more than a year, but the announcement of the Honda Prologue electric SUV last year spewed cold water on the rumors. A Honda CR-V EV will become a reality only in the second half of the decade, and there are two different engineering options for that model.
1. GM-Honda co-developed Honda CR-V EV
Honda entered an agreement with GM in April 2020 to co-develop two EVs based on GM’s third-gen global EV platform and powered by Ultium batteries first used for the GMC Hummer EV pickup and the Cadillac Lyriq. The first model, the Honda Prologue SUV, will arrive at dealers in early 2024. The second vehicle, an Acura electric SUV, would emerge later that year. Honda will design the exterior and interior of both vehicles, and its engineers would modify GM’s platform to match the driving characteristics customers typically expect in a Honda.
Honda saw the partnership as a way to quickly put electric vehicles on the road and accelerate its electrification roadmap. The combined manufacturing efficiencies and scale would provide customers with a greater value.
Alliance deepens
Two years after announcing their tie-up, GM and Honda deepened their alliance to include more jointly developed electric vehicles. In an announcement on April 5, 2022, the duo said it will produce millions of EVs, including compact crossover vehicles, starting in 2027. These models will be affordable EVs based on a new global architecture, and they will incorporate GM’s next-gen Ultium battery technology.
The companies (Honda and GM) are working together to enable global production of millions of EVs starting in 2027, including compact crossover vehicles, leveraging the two companies’ technology, design and sourcing strategies.
GM and Honda’s joint announcement on April 5, 2022 via HondaNews.com
A possibility is that the pure electric compact crossovers Honda and GM plan to make from 2027 as part of the expanded relationship will include a Honda CR-V EV and a Honda HR-V EV. The compact crossover segment is the world’s most popular category, representing annual volumes of 13+ mn vehicles. The CR-V, Honda’s best-selling model in the U.S., is a top seller in this category.
2. Indigenously developed Honda CR-V EV
Following the first two models co-developed with GM, Honda will introduce indigenously developed BEVs based on a new in-house ‘e:Architecture’ in the second half of the decade. As per its announcement on April 23, 2021, Honda plans to offer the bespoke EVs developed in-house, first in North America and later in other regions. Given that the CR-V is the best-selling model in the U.S., the company’s most important market in the continent, fully electrifying it or releasing a pure electric alternative would be a priority.
In-house developed Honda EVs still relevant
In a separate announcement on April 5, 2022, Rick Schostek, the Vice President of Corporate Operations at American Honda, confirmed that the expanded partnership with GM for Honda EVs doesn’t mean that EVs developed in-house are no longer in the pipeline. The company is already developing EVs using the Honda e:Architecture, Schostek said. He added that it would align the affordable Honda EV co-developed with GM with the Honda e:Architecture-based EVs.
Schostek said Honda wants to dramatically expand the sales of affordable, compact EVs. That’s where the Japanese automaker can leverage the strength of its relationship with GM. A key factor in deciding to co-develop a new series of affordable EVs with GM was the success of Honda’s design and development teams working with their counterparts from the American automaker on the first projects.
With GM or on a homegrown platform, Honda would need a Honda CR-V EV equivalent to remain relevant in the C-segment that is transitioning to EVs quite quickly. We expect to see a Honda-badged VW ID.4 rival in American showrooms after 2025.
Next-gen Honda CR-V with hybrid & plug-in hybrid variants
The sixth-gen Honda CR-V is coming later this year, and it’ll be available with partial electrification.
The CR-V is the fifth best-selling vehicle in the U.S., and its redesign is a major project at Honda. The fifth-gen CR-V debuted in 2016 as an evolutionary upgrade, but big changes are likely on the sixth-gen CR-V in the looks department. Honda engineers are currently testing prototypes of the all-new CR-V ahead of the launch later this year.
With the release of the eleventh-gen Civic, Honda is upgrading its interior design philosophy to “Simplicity and Something.” Expect every new Honda, including the new CR-V, with a low-profile dashboard, compact, flat-bottomed steering wheel, slim climate control panel, wide touchscreen infotainment system, and fully digital instrument cluster.
Honda may continue running the fifth-gen CR-V’s hybrid system with an efficiency upgrade. The two-motor hybrid powertrain pairs a 2.0-liter i-VTEC engine with an electric motor and e-CVT transmission. It produces 212 horsepower, and it can return a fuel economy of 40 mpg (city)/35 mpg (highway)/38 mpg (combined).
Expect the Honda Sensing 360 in future CR-V versions
The next-gen CR-V could be among Honda’s first SUVs’ to get Honda Sensing 360, the company’s next-gen advanced safety and driver-assistive system suite. Compared to Honda Sensing, Honda Sensing 360 has an expanded sensing range, and that too, not just in the front and rear, but around the vehicle.
Honda Sensing 360 will debut in a new model in China this year and become a standard feature in the U.S. by 2030. Image Source: Honda
In addition to Honda Sensing’s monocular camera, Honda Sensing 360 uses five millimeter-wave radar sensors in the front and at all the corners of the vehicle. A more advanced Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Front Cross Traffic Warning, Lane Change Collision Mitigation, Active Lane Change Assist, and Cornering Speed Assist will be the main features of Honda Sensing 360.
Honda EV goals for North America
Honda has announced ambitious targets for electric vehicles. The company plans to have 40% of its sales in North America come from electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) by 2030. By 2035, Honda wants that number to be 80%. It’s ultimate goal is a 100% zero-emission line up in North America by 2040.
Featured image: Render of the next-gen Honda CR-V by BestCar magazine.
Keyword: Wait for the Honda CR-V EV continues to be a long one