Honda strives to build a fun electric Type R

gILANG

Februari 03, 2025

Honda has been discussing the prospects of an electric Type R since 2020. A few years later, the chief engineer lamented how stricter emissions regulations are forcing automakers to electrify their fun cars.

But in 2025, there are still no signs of a Civic called Type R without a combustion engine. In fact, a Honda company representative is now hinting that there will be no electric car with the coveted red sticker in the foreseeable future.

Speaking to British magazine Auto Express, Toshihiro Akiwa, the head of the automaker's BEV development center, explained why developing an exciting electric car worthy of the Type R mark is a difficult process. He mentioned that Honda has a lot of work ahead of it to develop an electric car that achieves the thrill of the gasoline-powered Type R.

"A battery and a motor have different characteristics, so we can't develop something that is exactly the same as it used to be. How can we as EVs convey the joy of driving? We haven't given up, of course, but it's not just about performance, it's also about the sound, the vibrations, the acceleration and the human experience. These are the joys of driving."

Despite these difficulties, Honda is determined to launch an electric sports car before the end of the decade. The company's Acura luxury division has already committed to relaunching the third-generation NSX with an all-electric powertrain. In an interview with Motor1 at Monterey Car Week last year, Shinji Aoyama, Global Executive Vice President, confirmed that an NSX model will be launched in 2027

Even though it won't be called NSX, it will compete in the same segment. The high-performance electric vehicle will be based on Honda's new Series 0 (Zero) electric architecture, which will initially support the Ohio-built radically styled 0 sedan and 0 SUV that we saw at CES in Las Vegas earlier this month.

It's too early to say whether the reinvented NSX will be Honda's first electric Type R. Even if that's the case, logic tells us that the hotter derivative will most likely not be offered from day one, so don't expect it until 2030 or even later.

Honda is in the middle of a mega-merger with Nissan, so we suspect a very sporty electric car isn't at the top of the list of priorities, as it's a niche product. Meanwhile, the Civic carries the torch of the Type R in the era of internal combustion engines, which began in November 1992 when the first Type R model - the NSX-R - was introduced.