What's the news?
This is Honda's star of the impending Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA), which is the CR-V Hybrid Prototype. It shows off two things: the first being Honda's inaugural electrified SUV powertrain, and the second the styling of the entire CR-V range for the all-new MkV that is coming in 2018.
Built on the global compact car platform used by the tenth-generation Civic, the CR-V features bolder styling than the outgoing model, and it's wider, taller and longer than the MkIV. Honda says the thinner A-pillars increase the shoulder volume of the car, while lower down the SUV should ride on larger wheels and tyres. It also features the current 'wing'-themed family face and some fairly funky rear light clusters. No word yet on interior styling or technology.
The CR-V Hybrid Prototype being shown at the IAA comprises an electric motor, a 2.0-litre i-VTEC Atkinson cycle four-cylinder petrol engine (which handles battery charging and propulsion) and a separate electric generator motor - all of this combined together is what Honda calls Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive, or i-MMD. The hybrid CR-V has a single fixed-gear reduction ratio rather than a conventional transmission, and it can run in full EV Drive, using its petrol unit alone for Engine Drive, or in a combination of power sources in, yes, Hybrid Drive.
Honda says the CR-V Hybrid only uses the petrol engine to drive the wheels in full Engine Drive mode, whereupon the electric propulsion motor can provide an 'on-demand' peak power boost to the performance; so the SUV should only be using fossil fuel alone during periods of fast acceleration and during motorway driving.
Anything else?
For the regular CR-V range, Honda has confirmed the vehicle will be specified with the company's 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo petrol engine, which can be paired to the six-speed manual gearbox or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). This engine has been used in the non-Type R Civic MkX.