Acura NSX Factory in Ohio Will Build Hydrogen Honda CR-Vs Next
It’s not quite as prestigious as the NSX, but the Performance Manufacturing Center is ideal for low-volume projects.
The Honda NSX, called the Acura NSX in the United States, is dead—at least for the moment. But Honda put up a factory in Ohio called the Performance Manufacturing Center just to build it. What's it gonna do with the facility now? Build a hydrogen fuel-cell CR-V, of course. Silly question.
The Japanese automaker plans to build this vehicle at the factory in 2024. It will be manufactured in small quantities and unlike most other cars Honda produces, which is why the PMC is the ideal place to produce it. Keep in mind that since the latest NSX entered production in 2016, only around 2,900 were built, all at the Ohio plant.
Honda, along with other automakers, is still on the hydrogen train despite a severe lack of refueling stations outside of California. The infrastructure just isn't there yet. Despite this, many still believe hydrogen has a place in the future of emissions-free motoring. The attractiveness of quick refueling and relatively high energy density is tough to ignore for some, and government subsidies are also at play.
Little is known about the new alternatively fueled CR-V. Honda's Wednesday announcement is the first time we've heard about it. The automaker does state it will be a plug-in hybrid, which means if there's not enough hydrogen to go around, it can still be driven like a normal electric vehicle. That will definitely come in handy.
As well as the NSX, Acura also built the PMC editions of the TLX, RDX, and MDX at the site, so it has experience putting together products outside of exclusive supercars. We'll get a better idea of what this new hydrogen-fueled CR-V is like once we get closer to its production date.
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