In the worldwide electrification process, the voice of Japan, a powerhouse of gasoline cars, remains relatively quiet in our media.
In April of this year, Honda’s newly appointed global CEO Toshihiro Mibe announced Honda’s electrification targets for all major electrification markets, including China: to increase the proportion of electric and fuel cell vehicles in overall sales to 40\% by 2030, 80\% by 2035, and reach 100\% by 2040. In order to implement these targets quickly and steadily, Honda plans to stop launching any new gasoline-powered models in China after 2030, and electrify all newly-launched models such as HEVs and EVs.
On October 13, Honda China held an electric strategy conference in collaboration with Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda, which focused on the electrification plan for China, a “crucial” market in the global strategy announced in April. The entire event was live-streamed, and the information output was relatively dense and compact.
Still Honda
During the era of gasoline cars, Honda was famous for handling and driving pleasure, which is the root of the belief in “Once Honda, Always Honda”. In the era of pure electric cars, Honda is preparing to release the Architecture pure electric platform for its electric vehicle models, which is divided into two different driving modes: “e:N Architecture F” and “e:N Architecture W”. Honda strives to create a unique sense of sports performance in pure electric vehicle models.
The e:N Architecture W platform is divided into AWD (front and rear dual motors) and RWD, which will be applied to medium and large cars.
The e:N Architecture F platform is a front-wheel drive platform that will be used in compact and mid-sized cars. Many people say that this platform is “oil-to-electric”, why is that?
We can see clues from the front-wheel drive form, irregular-shaped battery pack, the newly unveiled e:N S1 and e:N P1 with rear door opening similar to the Honda Vezel and XR-V, and even the same 2,610 mm wheelbase, which are almost identical to Honda’s compact fuel platform. More importantly, Sanmu Macro just became CEO in April this year, and the first e:N brand product will be launched this year and is expected to be on sale next year. The pace of product release does support the above statement.
However, the “oil-to-electric” itself also depends on the actual driving experience. For example, BMW’s iX3 currently belongs to what we consider an “oil-to-electric” platform, but from the performance of the cruising range and auxiliary driving abilities, it is not inferior to the so-called pure electric platform products, and even BMW’s next generation CLAR is also a so-called “oil-to-electric” platform.
Many people think that pure electric front-wheel drive platforms are not good enough, but I do not think so, at least for Honda. Because in the era of fuel vehicles, Honda also created many fun and affordable models on front-wheel drive platforms, such as the Fit and Civic, which also created almost the best cabin space in the same class within limited body size. I am looking forward to the actual experience in the future to verify my thoughts.
The e:N Architecture F platform also uses a three-in-one high-power motor, but the specific parameters of this motor are still unknown. The official statement is that “more than 20,000 scene algorithms are integrated into the motor control program, which is more than 40 times that of ordinary pure electric vehicles”. Honda also accumulated electric vehicle technology through electrified sports models like F1 and NSX, which will help to develop motors with high power density.
As for the range, the official statement says that the maximum range will exceed 500 kilometers, but it is not clear whether the specific test standard is based on CLTC or NEDC. Moreover, related information such as the energy density, chemical composition, and cell specifications of the battery pack is also unclear. The only thing known is that the battery is provided by CATL.
The alliance between CATL and Honda was actually set in July last year. Honda invested in about 1% of the equity of CATL through its domestic subsidiary Honda R&D (China) Investment Co Ltd. This cooperation was promoted by Honda’s former technical R&D department executive, Sanbu Min Hong.
e:N OS
Let’s take a look at the e:N OS launched this time. This is not a car operating system launched by Honda, but an integrated system consisting of Honda SENSING and Honda CONNECT.### Honda SENSING 360
The perception hardware of Honda SENSING 360 currently consists of a monocular camera and five millimeter-wave radars, which can realize more than 20 driving assistance functions. This system will be installed in the models released in China in 2022 and is planned to be installed in all vehicle types sold in advanced markets by 2030.
The most prominent feature of this system also reflects Honda’s ultimate goal, which is to achieve “zero traffic accidents by 2050”, emphasizing safety.
- Upgrade of the Collision Mitigation Braking System
When turning at a crossroads on a common road, this system detects the presence of vehicles or pedestrians. If there is a risk of collision, the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) will be activated to prevent accidents.
When the vehicle is moving at low speed or stopped at an intersection on the ground street, the system will notify the driver of the vehicles approaching from both sides. When the system identifies the risk of collision with the intersecting vehicles, the system will provide audio and visual warnings on the instrument panel to remind the driver.
When changing lanes, the system can help avoid collisions with vehicles approaching from behind in the adjacent lane. When the system identifies the risk of collision with the vehicle approaching from the rear blind spot, the system will provide audio and visual warnings on the instrument panel to remind the driver.
The above three points actually show that the main function is warning and reminding, rather than demonstrating the ability of assisted driving.
On highways and expressways, when the low speed follow-up mode of the Adaptive Cruise Control System (ACC) and the Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS) are enabled, and “certain conditions” are met, turn signals for changing lanes can be executed. Here, “certain conditions” should be related to speed, obstacle situations, and even road conditions.
- Curved Road Speed Adjustment Function
When driving on highways or designated roads with ACC system activated, the car can adjust to an appropriate speed on curved roads through the front camera, which detects the curvature of the lane ahead, to help drivers smoothly and safely navigate through curves.
Honda also claims to have accumulated technology for Level 3 autonomous driving based on these promotional features. In an article titled “Honda, which isn’t able to receive OTA, is the first to activate level 3 autonomous driving,” my colleague provided a detailed introduction to the “world’s first Level 3 autonomous driving vehicle that can legally drive on highways”.
Currently, Honda SENSING 360, equipped with a monocular camera and 5 millimeter-wave radars, lags behind new EV models in terms of perception hardware variety, which affects the upper limit of its ADAS abilities. In 42Mark’s tests, Cadillac CT6, equipped with a monocular camera and 6 millimeter-wave radars, performed well in highway ADAS. Some may think of the new Ideal ONE’s 1 camera and 5 millimeter-wave radars, but the Ideal ONE uses an 8-megapixel and 120-degree wide-angle lens, which can basically be considered “two birds with one stone” for this purpose.
While I am not certain of the parameters of Honda’s monocular camera, it likely does not have the high image resolution and wide angle of the Ideal ONE’s camera. Rather, it is probably similar to the CT6’s camera, which mainly collects forward road information, so I believe this system’s performance on highways could be compared to that of the CT6. However, the forward perception camera lacks close-range perception abilities, so its performance in situations such as lane cutting may not be ideal.
Let’s wait for the functionality and product to roll out, and we can test it once again thereafter to gauge its performance.
Nevertheless, Honda has invested in the autonomous driving company Cruise, but Cruise has not yet provided mass production technology support to any of its customers.### Honda CONNECT
This section mainly refers to Honda’s construction of the intelligent cockpit. In addition to AI intelligent assistant, daily life interconnection and remote control, in the next generation Honda CONNECT, it can remotely monitor the traffic conditions and potential risks in the driving environment, and then recommend a safe route autonomously. At the same time, DMC can also recognize the driver’s facial expressions. Of course, Honda also demonstrated a large-size HUD.
Regarding the specific functions that Honda CONNECT can achieve in pure electric vehicle models and the layout of the vehicle, I will explain them in combination with specific products in the following text.
New Products
The rhythm of the e:N brand’s products in China is also quite clear, divided into four phases except for the first one, and the other three phases are concept cars, which will be mass-produced within 5 years.
The second phase is e:N Coupe concept.
The third phase is e:N SUV concept.
The Fourth Wave of Honda e:N GT Concept
As can be seen, these cars adopt a large number of straightforward surfaces and lines in their exterior design, with even the headlights becoming contour lines. Of course, they also have the characteristic of short front and rear overhangs common to pure electric cars. From the appearance features of these concept cars, we can roughly glimpse the design ideas for the appearance of future Honda pure electric models. Within five years, we will see these concept cars entering mass production and launching ten e:N series pure electric models.
As an aside, did anyone notice that the e:N SUV concept from the third wave bears a striking resemblance to the Lyriq from Cadillac?
In addition, Honda has also introduced a new logo for e:N: a glowing “H” on the front, and a glowing “Honda” in English on the rear. We can also see this logo on the first e:N series products, e:N S1 and e:N P1.
| The first two products of the Honda e:N series are e:N S1, which is responsible for Dongfeng Honda, and will be unveiled at the Wuhan Auto Show as soon as possible; and e:N P1, which is responsible for GAC Honda, which debuted at the Guangzhou Auto Show this year. Both cars belong to the Architecture F platform and are planned to be mass-produced as early as spring 2022. | e:N S1 | e:N P1 |
|---|---|---|
| 4390 x 1790 x 1560 mm | 4390 x 1790 x 1560 mm | |
| slightly larger than the Honda Vezel and XR-V | slightly larger than the Honda Vezel and XR-V | |
| wheelbase of 2610 mm, consistent with the Honda Vezel and XR-V | wheelbase of 2610 mm, consistent with the Honda Vezel and XR-V | |
| In addition, e:N S1 and e:N P1 have special noise reduction technology for low, medium and high band road noise. | In addition, e:N S1 and e:N P1 have special noise reduction technology for low, medium and high band road noise. | |
| At the same time, in sports mode, the acceleration sound is retained, which I heard during the live broadcast, and it feels different from the traditional internal combustion engine sound. | At the same time, in sports mode, the acceleration sound is retained, heard during the live broadcast and feels different from the traditional internal combustion engine sound. |
These first two models are based on the Honda e:prototype, a pure electric SUV concept car released by Honda in April this year. It can be seen that the production version basically retains the exterior and interior design of the concept car.
We also can see from the promotional images that the concept car has already made visual UI design for assisted driving on both screens. Of course, we still need to verify this point on the production car.
In the cabin, e:N S1 and e:N P1 are equipped with a 10.25-inch LCD instrument panel and a 15.2-inch ultra-thin border vertical central control display. This Honda CONNCET 3.0 pure electric car version integrates AI voice assistant, car-home interconnection, energy management, OTA online upgrade and more than 20 functions.
By examining the screenshot from the live stream, we can see that the instrument panel is very similar to the concept car’s instrument panel, displaying information from left to right, including gears, driving modes, speed, motor status, etc., in a concise manner. At the same time, there is a lot of whitespace reserved for visual display.
On the central control screen, we can learn more about the e:N S1 and e:N P1 with the exclusive Honda CONNECT 3.0 version.
In the bottom right corner of the central control screen, there are physical buttons for front and rear storage, and hazard warning lights are arranged in physical button form in the center. The Dock bar on the screen integrates commonly used functions such as seat heating, air conditioning modes, fan speed, and circulation mode. Moving up, we can see more detailed temperature and air direction zone adjustments, which seems a bit complex.
In the middle of the screen, the App menu should be invoked, and I saw Baidu CarLife’s domestic Android mapping, indicating that the completion of this system is already very high. However, at the top of the App menu, I saw the return, home, navigation, and QQ music functions. These should have been placed in the App menu icon as function keys, and at the bottom of the App menu, I saw BACK and HOME buttons. There may be an overlap with the buttons at the top.
At the top of the screen, the navigation interface is displayed, and it is worth noting that there is a virtual assistant image on the right side. I don’t know if the voice part of this special Chinese car machine is done by Baidu and how the user experience is.
However, from this screenshot, the buttons of the entire car’s system are too complex, and some functions even appear twice at the same time. However, there are still six months before the launch, and we look forward to subsequent improvements.
During the video presentation, the smartphone can serve as a digital key for the e:N vehicles, enabling remote control of the doors, windows, air conditioning, etc., and allowing for keyless starting via the phone.
Additionally, the DMC driver state sensing system in the e:N S1 and e:N P1 can effectively recognize the driver’s state, even sensing changes in emotions, and providing proactive reminders.
Honda also has a close partnership with General Motors (GM), with GM’s Warren Battery Laboratory Technology Center collaborating with Honda’s Sayama Research and Development Center as early as 2018. Honda plans to leverage GM’s Ultium battery technology to create vehicles for the Honda and Acura brands, with potential release as early as 2024. According to a Nikkei article in September this year, Honda and GM plan to advance the commonization of pure electric vehicle components to reduce production costs.
Layout in the Chinese Market
During the live broadcast, both San Hui and several Honda executives emphasized the importance of the Chinese market, which can be seen from the first launch of the e:N brand in China. Moreover, some e:N models produced in China will be exported to other markets worldwide by Honda.
Honda will strengthen its pure electric vehicle production system in China. GAC Honda and Dongfeng Honda will respectively build new high-efficiency, intelligent, and low-carbon pure electric vehicle factories, with plans to start production successively from 2024.
In addition to relying on 1,200 authorized dealers nationwide to build “e:N” spaces, Honda will also establish “e:N” flagship stores in key cities to conduct diverse offline experiential activities. At the same time, Honda will expand its online digital platform.
Final Words
As a sample of Japanese transformation, Honda has fallen behind in the global electrification process, including carbon-neutral timetables, product sales scales, and pure electric vehicle models plans, all lagging behind traditional car companies in Europe, the United States, and even South Korea.
Under the leadership of Toshihiro Mibe, who took office in April, Honda has changed the strategic style of his predecessor Hachigo, and has begun to accelerate the electrification process. While taking office in April, Honda has announced its overall electrification plans in major markets such as China, the United States, and Japan, and also halted its self-developed and self-produced hydrogen fuel vehicle projects, but maintained cooperation with General Motors.
Honda plans to invest ¥5 trillion (approximately RMB 283.5 billion) in the next 6 years to promote its carbon-neutral goals. This includes the research and development of pure electric vehicle models and platforms, the transformation and construction of factories, and inevitably layoffs.
Currently, we have seen Honda actively accelerating the electrification process in China, and the first product will be mass-produced and delivered next year. However, whether Honda, which is half a step behind, can become representative of Japanese automakers’ electrification transformation, we still need time to observe and evaluate.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.