This article originally appeared on The Drive.
Honda announced a new addition to the brand’s growing lineup of electrified vehicles at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, with the as-yet-unnamed vehicle slated to debut in 2018.
The new model will support the Honda Electrification Initiative, which is designed to bolster the brand’s pre-existing lineup by adding more electrified vehicles. It’s also part of a lofty goal that Honda is setting for itself: By 2030, the brand wants 75 percent of its sales to come from electrified vehicles. Another part of that goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by half in 2050, compared to what they were in 2000.
Takahiro Hachigo, Honda’s CEO, stated that “Half of the all-new models that Honda will launch in the United States in the coming two years will be electrified vehicles.”
This new hybrid model will rely on Honda’s proven two-motor hybrid powertrain, which is already in use in a number of Honda models, such as the Accord. The two-motor system is made up of two electric motors, a clutch, and a single-gear transmission, instead of a more traditional using a more traditional torque converter or CVT. This technology will eventually end up migrating from Honda’s passenger cars to the carmaker’s light trucks, so a hybrid version of the Pilot SUV or the award-winning Honda Ridgeline pickup truck could also be in the cards for the near future.
The model will be made at an existing plant in the United States, though Honda did not mention where exactly the new hybrid would be built. The company has four existing manufacturing facilities in America.
