So if new NSX has electric motor AWD, will battery charge match gas tank capacity

[khappucino]

I was just thinking... perhaps this is a non-issue, but wouldn't it be kind of silly to run out of charge for your AWD before your actual gas runs out... unless they are continuously recharging the batteries? And if they are recharging, how efficient is that under heavy load.

 

[Arshad]

It was mentioned somewhere that it is parasitic and is constantly charging when the ICE is running. Not sure of the hit to efficiency.

 

[NSX2398]

There was no mention of it being a 'plug-in' hybrid like the Volt .. and the pictures seem to confirm no visible plug door. However, it was just a styling mockup so the lack of an obvious plug door doesn't guarantee anything. The videos do show a 'motor' near the engine ..not sure how it plays in the overall picture. Although any motor can be a generator and recharge batteries under braking as an example, only the motor connected to the V6 would be able to charge the batteries at idle or under non-braking conditions. That might also imply that the motor near the V6 might also be able to add add'l torque to the RWD like the Honda IMA does. Lots of questions .. not too many answers.

 

[95ttht]

Somewhere in Japan there is a Honda engineer wondering those same things.

 

[TCroly]

It is an interesting question as to whether the new NSX will have a plug in aspect to it. I see two major advantages to a plug in version. First a plug in can store more energy than one based primarily on regenerative braking and taxing the engine to top off charge. So more power could be available. For example if we are talking about 70-100 HP, it will take way more than just regenerative braking to fuel that much energy for more than a few seconds of power.

Then there is the issue of battery cycling for efficiency. For many of us our NSXs are weekend, fair weather drivers. A hybrid battery sitting for long periods without being driven will discharge excessively and this will hurt battery longevity. A plug in version could handle this battery cycling automatically without the car even being driven.

 

[khappucino]

If the electric motors do run out of juice I hope they have a graceful way to go offline, it seems like it would suck if you were turning, then halfway through the turn you went from AWD to RWD. Probably not an issue but you never think of a GTR losing AWD while driving it.