Honda Sports EV Concept could reach production in 2022 – report

The Honda Sports EV electric sports car concept could reach production some five years after it was first shown, according to new reports out of Japan.

Japanese publication Car Sensor claims Honda could be preparing a road-going version of its Sports EV Concept of late 2017, set for launch as early as 2022 using rear-wheel-drive underpinnings shared with the Honda E electric city car.

The two-seat coupe would reportedly serve as an indirect successor to the compact S660, Honda's city-sized 'kei' sports convertible for the Japanese market that's set to cease production in March 2022.

In the same way that Honda's 2017 Urban EV concept previewed the production 2019 E city car, the showroom-bound coupe would retain much of the 2017 Sports EV Concept's core styling, though design elements such as wheels, door handles, mirrors and the concept's illuminated grille elements would likely see changes before entering production.

In a bid to amortise development costs, the production Sports EV would reportedly share the Honda E's dedicated electric-only platform and mechanicals.

The city car's 113kW/315Nm electric motor and 35.5kWh lithium-ion battery would likely be offered on certain grades – enabling an 8.0-second 0-100km/h time and a circa-200km range – though Honda could opt to introduce higher-performance variants in line with the coupe's sporty focus, perhaps wearing the hallowed Type R moniker.

While Honda has yet to publicly confirm the Sports EV for production, Car Sensor claims running prototypes have been built and tested around Honda's head office in Tokyo, and that development is "progressing smoothly".

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