Honda Shocks With Cybertruck-Rivaling Electric Saloon Car

It’s hard to stand out among all the tech and gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show, but Honda dunked on everyone this year with an electric vehicle concept that looks like nothing on the road today.Well, except for the Tesla Cybertruck.Like the stainless steel pickup, Honda’s sleek, black wedge could’ve starred in a SciFi movie … circa 1982. Honda calls it the Saloon — using the fancy Britishism for “sedan” — but its design is more like a retro supercar’s, right down to the gullwing doors.Its headlights are hidden under the base of the windshield to create an old-school “pop-up” look when illuminated. There’s an animated digital display instead of a grille, and a modernized take on the brand’s H logo floating in the middle of it. This new badge will be used on all of the upcoming Honda 0 Series electric models, with the Saloon leading the charge.The Honda Saloon electric vehicle, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show. Courtesy HondaHonda said a production car based on the Saloon will launch in the U.S. in 2026 before it is offered around the world. The automaker has an excellent track record of delivering production vehicles that look a lot like the concepts that preview them, so the Saloon should be quite a departure from its typically safe styling, regardless of what it ends up looking like.Honda didn’t get too deep into the technical details during the reveal, but said the Saloon was engineered with a “Thin, Light, and Wise” philosophy, unlike the “Thick and Heavy” trend many EVs have been following of late.Putting that bit of body-shaming aside, the Saloon’s low-slung shape is meant to slice through the air to help stretch the range provided by a lightweight high-density battery pack, which can be filled from 15 percent to 80 percent in 10 to 15 minutes at a public fast-charging station.That’s quicker than anything on the road today. Fast charging a lithium-ion battery cuts off at 80 percent in order to help prevent degradation. Honda claims its tech will allow the battery to maintain more than 90 percent of its capacity after a decade.The interior of the Honda Saloon electronic vehicle. Courtesy HondaPower is sent to the wheels via unique e-Axles that combine inverters, motors and transmissions into compact, efficient packages. As with the Cybertruck, the Saloon uses a steer-by-wire system that doesn’t have a steering column. The yoke-style wheel is basically a video game controller sending digital commands to the front wheels.The Honda Saloon electronic vehicle. Courtesy HondaSemi-autonomous driving capability that works on certain, pre-defined roads is planned and robotics are deployed in the seats to control the posture of the driver and passengers as the car bobs and weaves along. Even with all of the electronics, the Saloon is meant to be engaging and fun to drive when the driver wants to take control on a winding road.Honda’s road to mass-market electrification really begins this year with the Prologue and Acura ZDX midsize SUVs, which are being built on the General Motors Ultium electric vehicle platform. The partnership is already a dead-end, however, and will only produce those two models.The Honda Prologue. Courtesy HondaHonda is building a battery factory in Ohio to allow its own models qualify for the federal electric vehicle purchase tax credits, so it’s not messing around.The Acura ZDX. Courtesy HondaAs for the Saloon’s doors, they are probably just for fun and I’d be surprised to see them make it into showrooms. A lot of concept cars have similar designs to show off their interiors, but they usually get replaced by traditional swing-out doors on the production vehicles. Then again, Tesla followed through with the Model X.As for the Saloon’s price, Honda hasn’t said what it will be, but the most expensive models it sells today come in under $60,000 and if it were going to be much more than that, it likely would’ve made it an Acura.

Honda Shocks With Cybertruck-Rivaling Electric Saloon Car

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