Honda Is not Late Anymore, Strikes First Blow With Imagined EV Compact Pickup Truck

The Japanese automaker is fashionably late on the US automotive market at quite a lot of jamborees. For instance, it is solely now beginning the assault on the EV sector with assist from GM, and the Civic Hybrid waited till the mid-cycle refresh to assault Toyota’s Corolla Hybrid.

Whereas it bought a load of automobiles, SUVs, and even some vans final yr, with American Honda ending 2023 with a tally of 1.3 million items – up 33% – there are some voices that declare issues might be even higher. Honda, too, is assured its namesake model will publish the 1.3 million determine alone this yr whereas Acura tops 150k deliveries, and it is all due to the upcoming novelties.

Honda will current the all-electric Prologue and the CR-V Gasoline Cell Automobile, a refreshed Odyssey minivan, plus the up to date Civic alongside the all-new Civic Hybrid coming to prop electrified gross sales alongside the favored CR-V Hybrid and Accord Hybrid. Acura, in the meantime, will introduce a brand new entry-level CUV alongside the bottom Integra, begin gross sales of the all-electric ZDX, and deal with the RDX with a slew of upgrades whereas the best-selling MDX will function “vital enhancements.”

So, they’re each lined within the passenger automobile and crossover SUV departments and – though they’re clearly late for the occasion – even the EV sector has one thing to root for. However except for the Ridgeline, there’s nothing coming from the beloved truck route. No worries, the imaginative realm of digital automobile content material creators will simply deal with that. Vince Burlapp (aka vburlapp on social media or burlappcar.com) is a prolific digital artist who likes to dream of all the newest fashions throughout the wide-ranging automotive realm – and his newest Honda concept comes within the type of an EV unibody compact pickup truck.

Consider it as a hypothetical preemptive strike in opposition to the likes of Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick, in addition to the rumored unibody pickup truck fashions from automakers like Ram, Toyota, or Subaru. It is a full-blown EV mannequin, although, as imagined by the pixel grasp, so will probably be considerably extra sustainable than the ICE-only Santa Cruz and even the electrified Maverick hybrid if Honda ever makes it actual. As for the platform, possibly they need to talk about with GM find out how to derive the BEV3 and Ultium know-how for one thing about as giant because the Ford Maverick.

In spite of everything, GM is utilizing the BEV3 platform as a extremely modular choice that may underpin varied fashions, from the Cadillac Celestiq to the Chevy Equinox EV and every thing in between. Alternatively, Honda might simply think about using internally developed EV powertrains from the upcoming 2026 Honda 0 Collection. Both means, we actually hope that the Japanese automaker dares to make the EV leap into many various segments as quickly as attainable.