Nissan announced earlier this year that it was no longer spending money on combustion engines. However, other major Japanese automakers see things differently. At a joint press conference and separate subsequent events, Toyota, Subaru and Mazda pledged their long-term commitment to internal combustion engines by investing in new developments. Now it's Honda's turn to do the same. Like its rivals, engineers are focusing on hybrid applications.
Honda, which is reportedly discussing a possible merger with Nissan, is working on four-cylinder engines operating on the Atkinson cycle. With displacements of 1.5 and 2.0, the two direct-injection units are billed as “all-new.” However, we'll take the “everything” part with a grain of salt since Honda says the same thing about the Prelude. We're learning that improvements to current hybrid powertrains will allow internal combustion engines to deliver the “highest combustion efficiency.”
Photo: Honda
In the case of the smaller four-cylinder engine, Honda claims it can extend the rev range at which the engine is very efficient by more than 40 percent compared to the 1.5-liter hybrid setup found in current cars. Unspecified weight loss is also expected by reducing the size of the front drive unit. The new hybrid component will be shared between the “small-size” and “mid-size” systems, which will use the 1.5 and 2.0 engines respectively. It's unclear which of the two systems is intended for the Prelude, but we suspect it's the latter.
Part of the press release caught our attention: “The new engines are designed to achieve a theoretical air-fuel ratio. Honda is probably referring to what Mazda said about its new Skyactiv-Z engine. This is the Lambda One combustion method. Lambda (λ) is the air-fuel equivalence ratio, that is, the actual air-fuel ratio compared to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. The latter represents the ideal ratio for complete combustion.
When λ = 1, the air and fuel are perfectly balanced, meaning there is just enough air to completely burn the fuel. The result is efficient combustion, which maximizes energy production and minimizes harmful pollutants. Honda says it is taking this approach to comply with emissions regulations, which are increasingly strict in many parts of the world.
The announcement of a new series of hybrid engines coincides with that of a next-generation mid-size platform. Future electrified cars are expected to reduce fuel consumption by more than 10% compared to the current generation of hybrids in this segment. This will be possible in part thanks to a weight reduction of 90 kilograms, or almost 200 pounds. A simplified body structure will reduce body fat by 10% compared to existing hybrids.
By sharing more hardware between models, Honda aims to halve the production costs of a hybrid car launched in 2027 compared to the equivalent car launched in 2018. Some of these partially electrified vehicles will have all-wheel drive electric. To maximize commonality, the goal is to share more than 60% of parts between vehicles based on the mid-size platform. It remains to be seen whether these cost-cutting measures will be passed on to customers.
Honda aims to sell 1.3 million hybrid vehicles per year by the end of the decade. The next objective will be to offer only battery and fuel cell EVs by 2040, with the ideal being to achieve carbon neutrality for all of its activities in 2050.
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