The 1990s was the most brilliant time for Japanese cars, and toyota Supra, Nissan GT-R, and Mazda RX-7 were the souls of their respective brands, and to this day they are constantly eating the dividends of that year.
But it is recognized as the best in Japan, and the national treasure supercar is still the Honda NSX. Not only because the NSX is the world's first all-aluminum supercar with a mid-mounted engine and other top designs, but also because Honda has achieved the most in the field of racing - Honda Engine swept the F1 car world that year.
Honda made a lot of chilling F1 engines throughout the 80s and 90s, and then launched the VTEC-engined NSX in 1990. But soon Honda opted out of F1 because of the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble that year.
History is always repeating itself. After 30 years, in 2021 Honda Engines won the F1 Drivers championship again, and then Honda once again announced its withdrawal from F1.
But the reason why Honda withdrew from F1 this time is because of electric vehicles.
On April 12, Nichida held a press conference to announce the latest initiatives in the field of pure electric vehicles. Over the next 10 years, Honda will invest about 8 trillion yen (about 405.8 billion yuan) in research and development, of which about 5 trillion yen (about 253.6 billion yuan) will be invested in electrification and software.
By 2030, Honda plans to launch 30 pure electric vehicles in the global market, with an annual production capacity of more than 2 million.
The "flagship" model on the right has the shape of an NSX
And in the very large electrification plan report, the biggest concern of fans remains last - Honda promised to launch two sporty electric vehicles, including an NSX successor.
Honda released a hypothetical picture of a flagship electric sports car covered with a car coat, in which the "flagship" model has the shape of an NSX: a supercar with a mid-engine, a low body, and a shorter front end design. The other "Special Edition" has a longer front and a slightly taller body.
Special Edition" has a longer front end
Although Honda did not give the flagship model technical details, as well as the release schedule. But based on the existing Honda technology reserves, we can boldly predict the future of this electric "NSX" technology.
Must be designed with three motors, or even four motors
Today's high-performance electric vehicles all use a front and rear dual motor design, but the three-motor design must be the standard for future electric supercars: one motor in the front axle and two motors in the rear axle.
A Magna concept car that uses three motors of a Tesla body
The three-motor design can make the left and right rear wheels achieve 0 to 100% uninterrupted torque distribution, plus the motor response speed, which is not comparable to fuel vehicles.
This can create some anti-weather control - when the ordinary car is cornering, the larger the throttle, the easier it is to understeer, and the front of the car is pushed outward. With the torque vector of the three motors, boldly stepping on the throttle front of the car will be pulled to the bend, and the body will not leave the driving route like a railcar.
In fact, the three-motor technology has been used on the current hybrid Honda NSX, the difference is that the front wheel has a 36-horsepower motor control on the left and right, and the rear axle has a 47-horsepower motor. So it's only natural for the new generation of pure electric NSX to use three motors.
Even boldly, in the spirit of Honda's technology, the future NSX may use four motors — each wheel is controlled by one motor. The four-motor concept first appeared on the Audi e-tron concept car released in 2009.
Self-developed solid-state batteries may be used
For pure electric vehicles, the weight of the battery is the biggest disadvantage, and the weight will make the control back to the original shape, especially for supercars such as the NSX.
So the Porsche 911 has never had the idea of purifying electricity, and the Ferrari SF90 Spider is just a plug-in hybrid, driven by a V8 turbo engine with a maximum output of up to 780cv and three electric motors.
But according to the current ternary lithium battery technology, in order to ensure the mileage, it is necessary to put on a large battery, unless there is a revolutionary technology - solid-state battery.
Honda is betting on solid-state batteries and plans to start an all-solid-state battery construction demonstration line with an investment of about 43 billion yen (2.17 billion yuan) in the spring of 2024 to accelerate the development of solid-state batteries and install them on models launched in the second half of 2020s.
As a flagship NSX, if the research and development progress is no problem, it is normal to use solid-state batteries.
Honda, who withdrew from F1 last year, said the decision was made because the automotive industry was undergoing a "once-in-a-century transformation" and that they chose to leave to "be able to achieve their goal of winning".
And this "once-in-a-century great transformation" is electrification. As the basis of Honda's spirit, NSX believes that it will definitely return as a pure electricity.
Finally, let's revisit the current NSX that is about to retire, even if it is many years later.
Released in 2015, the NSX is equipped with a hybrid system consisting of a 3.5L V6 twin-turbo engine and three electric motors, the V6 engine adopts the purest mid-mounted design, the front wheel has a 36 hp motor control on the left and right, the rear axle has a 47 hp electric motor, and the gearbox is a 9-speed dual-clutch with four-wheel drive.
Even with the highest level of hybrid supercar created by Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren P1 at that time, it actually has the same technical principle as the NSX.