Next-Generation Honda Civic Type R Will Be a Hybrid: Report
NSX tech is apparently coming to Honda’s relatively humble hot hatch.
On top of being one of the most divisively styled cars in recent memory, the current Honda Civic Type R looks like it'll go down in history as the last CTR to be powered without some sort of electrification.
According to a report from Autocar, the next generation Type R hot hatch will be a hybrid, citing a new plan from Honda to have its entire lineup offered with some sort of electrical power in Europe by the year 2025. This is a more ambitious revision to a previous plan presented two years ago which saw Honda aiming to have two-thirds of all European sales electrified by the middle of the next decade.
Naturally, the hot hybrid Civic will likely use tech trickled down from the company's electrified NSX supercar. While the mid-engined halo car uses a 3.5-liter V6 coupled to a total of three electric motors, Autocar predicts the next Civic Type R to continue to use a 2.0-liter four-cylinder paired with...some electric motors. We're thinking less than or equal to three.
"Since we made that first pledge in March 2017, the shift towards electrification has gathered pace considerably," said Honda Europe head Tom Gardner at the Geneva Motor Show. "Environmental challenges continue to drive demand for cleaner mobility. Technology marches on unrelenting and people are starting to shift their view of the car itself."
What's more, Honda U.K. boss Dave Hodgetts told the British publication that the move was spurred on by just how well the company's hybrid CR-V has been selling. For every ten CR-Vs sold in Britain, six of 'em are hybrids.
