Honda's Frankfurt plans are all about electricity
It sets the stage for the CR-V Hybrid's likely debut in the US, too.
It wouldn't be a modern auto show without a new electric concept or two. Honda's bringing not one, but two vehicles to the Frankfurt Motor Show that preview new electrified offerings.
In addition to the 2018 Honda Fit (known as the Jazz in Europe), Honda will bring two new vehicles to Frankfurt in September. The first is the CR-V Hybrid Prototype, which in Honda parlance means a CR-V Hybrid that's very poorly disguised as a sort of preproduction concept. The company has done this before with both the Civic Type R and Civic Si.
Exterior displays are showing up on more and more EV concepts each year, yet they never make it over to production. Hopefully that will change.
The second vehicle is an all-new EV concept. The Honda Urban EV Concept previews Honda's first pure EV for Europe. Honda supplied a teaser along with the news, which shows a glowing Honda badge and a charging readout, which I assume is displayed outside the vehicle. No other information was supplied.
The CR-V Hybrid made its first appearance at the Shanghai Motor Show in April. Its two-motor system is similar to the one in the 2017 Accord Hybrid, so it should put out somewhere in the neighborhood of 212 horsepower. Odds are it'll be pretty close to the 2017 Accord Hybrid's fuel economy of 49 mpg city and 47 mpg highway, too, since the vehicles are pretty close in weight.
Bringing a CR-V Hybrid to Europe is the best proof yet that Honda will eventually bring this electrified crossover to the US. The automaker has been cagey about mentioning the CR-V Hybrid in markets outside China, but given the similarity in the UK and US lineups, a CR-V Hybrid across the pond makes it very likely that we'll see a similar "prototype" debut at a major US auto show.
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