The last time we heard anything about Honda’s e:NP2 and e:NS2, the former was taking part in one of those stunts popular in the 1970s where the automaker sees how many people it can cram inside. But now we’ve got some far more serious and meaningful intel thanks to the benevolent folk at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. To refresh your memory, the SUV duo were developed for the Chinese market and are essentially the same car. But they’ll be sold by both Honda’s joint-venture with GAC and by Donfeng, with each division getting its own bespoke styling cues and making its own version.
So Donfeng’s NS2 gets vertically-mounted
boomerang-shaped DRLs ahead of each front wheel and a full-width rear light bar
plus that falls towards the ground at each side and ‘Honda’ lettering on the
trunk panel.
The NP2, has headlights
with a horizontally arranged DRLs blades below and a black panel between the
two lamp units. The rear lights get a similar treatment and in this case the
‘Honda’ lettering is raised to the black panel between the lamps. One design
element common to both versions is the broad horizontal bars on the front and
rear lower bumpers that makes them look like hi-tech air conditioning units.
The MIIT filings tell us that both cars
ride on the same 2,735 mm wheelbase, and measure 1,840 mm wide and 1,570 mm tall, while just 1 mm separates the NS2 from the longer NP2. The spec sheet also reveals that the
pair each gets a single motor generating 201 hp, just as the
concepts promised, plus a 68.8 kWh battery.
The sloping rear roofline that features on
both models means they’re more crossovers than proper SUVs, and while that rear
window angle does give them a sporty look, Honda’s human-trafficking stunt we
wrote about last time set out to prove that it could still be practical. Six
gymnasts folded themselves inside the NP2’s cargo bay once the rear seat had
been folded down.
The fact that the MIIT has published
pictures and info means the official launch must be very close and Chinese
buyers will be able to get their hands on the crossovers later this year.