An Acura ‘NSX-Type’ Performance EV Is Coming in 2028

Back in 2021, The Drive broke the news that the beloved Acura NSX supercar would return for a third generation, likely as a high-performance EV. In 2022, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe and global executive vice president Shinji Aoyama told us in an interview that solid-state battery technology would allow Honda’s performance icons to remain as true as possible to their original characters due to their lightweight nature. Two years later, solid-state batteries still aren’t ready for mass production, but Honda’s a step closer to bringing an “NSX-type” EV to market anyway.

“We are going to introduce the sports model in 2028 that does not have a solid-state battery, but our development approach for this new 0 Series is thin and light, Aoyama told The Drive. “It means to make the platform thinner than existing vehicles. The traditional batteries [we have now] we are trying to make thinner to achieve a low height for the vehicle.

“Making this thinner also means we can have a larger [passenger] compartment. We are going to introduce a sports model, we may not call it NSX but a kind of NSX type of vehicle in 2028,” Aoyama added.

0 Series is what Honda calls its new EV architecture, on which this upcoming performance EV will be based. Ayoma explained that Honda is roughly five years away from producing solid-state batteries, but up to 10 away from mass-producing them. Hence, the approach to making current and future batteries thinner, lighter, and more power-dense.

The Acura NSX Type S said farewell back in 2021, leaving the Japanese automaker without a halo car. Since then, it’s doubled down on performance cars like the Civic Type R, Integra Type S, MDX Type S, and the ZDX Type S. Earlier this week it also pulled the sheets off the Integra Type S HRC Prototype, which previews a potential line of high-performance accessories designed and built by Honda’s famous racing division.

It’s too early to speculate on what kind of performance this NSX-type EV will offer, given that the performance benchmark won’t be the same in 2028 as it is today. Either way, delivering the kind of visceral connection to the driver these Japanese performance cars have delivered throughout the years will be a tall order for an electric car.

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