Honda settles on a name for its new hybrid tech
Words: Richard Edwards
Honda’s next-generation hybrid system will be called Honda Hybrid, and the first models using it will go on sale globally from 2027.
The system builds on e:HEV, the two-motor hybrid Honda currently uses in models including the Prelude. Honda says it has reworked the key components, including the engine, drive unit and control software, to improve fuel efficiency and driving feel. The changes include widening the range in which the engine runs at its most efficient, and making the drive unit smaller and more efficient.
The name will also be the one Honda uses when marketing the technology to customers worldwide.
Honda plans to launch 15 models with Honda Hybrid by the end of its financial year ending March 31, 2030, mainly in North America. It has not said which will be offered in New Zealand.
The new hybrids will sit on a new platform that Honda says is both stiffer where it matters and lighter. Its approach to body rigidity is designed to let the body behave as if it is flexing through corners, which Honda says improves grip. The cars will also get a Motion Management System, which is Honda’s own integrated vehicle control technology, and a newly developed electric all-wheel-drive system.
The move follows Honda’s decision to shift development and production resources towards hybrids, part of the plan to rebuild its car business that it announced in May 2026.
Honda’s hybrid history goes back to the first Insight in 1999, which used IMA (Integrated Motor Assist), a compact system where the motor helped the engine during take-off and acceleration. In 2012 it introduced three systems: the one-motor i-DCD with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, the two-motor i-MMD, and the three-motor SH-AWD, which used separate electric motors on the left and right wheels for torque vectoring. i-MMD was renamed e:HEV in 2020.
