Well, finally, Frankfurt Auto Show is happening, and Honda decided to use it in order to showcase its prototype of the 2018 Honda CR-V Hybrid which will be delivered to the EU market. The prototype showed us many design cues and features that in some way or another differ from the new CR-V that has arrived on the US market. Honda apparently decided to tweak this model specially for the EU region in order to be the biggest rival to the next Hyundai Tucson.
The prototype of the 2018 CR-V has a handful of unique styling tweaks that draw your attention specifically to its electrified powertrain. If you didn’t know, under the hood will be the latest hybrid setup called Intelligent Multi Mode Drive (i-MMD) and it is basically a two-motor hybrid system – an electric motor plus a 2.0-litre petrol engine plus a separate electric motor generator. As for the transmission system, Honda decided to scrap the more conventional gearbox that we are all used to and, in order to save weight and simplify things, used single-fixed gear ratio. This is not the first time this transmission solution is appearing, we saw it on the in prototype form earlier this year, and now it is definitely being prepared for the mass production on the 2018 CR-V.
The next gen SUV also has three driving modes which the onboard system shuffles between depending on the road and road conditions you are driving on. A pure EV mode and hybrid drive settings are tuned for low speed and urban driving, but a major drawback is the fact that its electric-only autonomy isn’t that big and it surely won’t challenge many plug-in vehicles already on sale. The purpose of the petrol engine is to aid the SUV on highways at higher speeds, but it also is being used for delivering power to the electric motor and recharging the battery pack.
Besides this hybrid SUV reveal Honda announced that they will also be offering the European C-RV with a 1.5 L VTEC turbo petrol attached to either a six-speed manual gearbox or a CVT transmission, but surprisingly they didn’t announce any diesel units at all. For more info about this vehicle we will have to wait a little bit longer, until then, enjoy the Frankfurt Auto Show and the best it offers.
