Bright Prospects: Honda Announces New Ye Line of Electric Vehicles for China

Honda is trying to become a significant player in the electric vehicle segment of the Chinese market and will present three new products from the new Ye family at the Beijing Auto Show next week , two of them will go on sale this year.

Back in 2021, Honda announced a new generation of electric vehicles for China and two platforms for them — e:N Architecture F (front-wheel drive) and e:N Architecture W (rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive). To date, only two models on the e:N Architecture F platform have been put into production and entered the market — compact crossovers Honda e:NS1 and Honda e:NP1, they are produced in joint ventures with Dongfeng and GAC, respectively. Technically, the Honda e:NS1 and Honda e:NP1 are identical, but have minor differences in design.

Honda e: NS2 1/2 Honda e:NS2 2/2

Today we can say that the Honda e:NS1 and Honda e:NP1 failed in the Chinese market: in the first quarter of this year, according to CAAM, they sold 1,759 units. (-27.2% compared to sales in January-March 2023) and 150 pcs. (-78.6%) respectively. For comparison, let's say that in general Honda sold 234,915 cars in China (+7.3%) in the first three months of this year and took sixth place in the ranking of the most popular brands. Last week, Honda announced in China a coupe-shaped crossover e:NS2 based on the concept of the same name from a year ago. In technical terms, the Honda e:NS2 is no different from the e:NS1 and, most likely, will also not be of interest to the Chinese consumer.

Honda pins much more hopes on the new Ye line of electric vehicles based on the e:N Architecture W platform. Ye is a Latinized version of the Chinese character 烨, which can be translated into Russian as “dazzling” or “brightly shining.” The Ye line will consist of six models, the debut will be the Ye S7 and Ye P7 crossovers, the first, as you might guess, will be produced by Dongfeng Honda, the second by GAC Honda.

Honda Ye P7 1/3 Honda Ye P 7 2/3 Honda Ye P7 3/3

The Ye S7 and Ye P7 crossovers should hit the Chinese market before the end of this year; they will be offered in single-engine rear-wheel drive and dual-engine all-wheel drive versions. The reader can appreciate the difference in the design of these two models from the photographs; their interiors are the same. Cameras instead of mirrors will likely become the privilege of the rich. Specifications have not yet been published.

Honda Ye S7 1/3 Honda Ye S7 2/3 Honda Ye S7 3/3

The red Honda Ye GT liftback will be shown at the Beijing Auto Show as a concept; it will become a production model by the end of 2025. There are no details about this model at the moment either, so for now we are admiring the design.

Honda Ye GT 1/6 Honda Ye GT 2/6 Honda Ye GT 3/6 Honda Ye GT 4/6 Honda Ye GT 5/6 Honda Ye GT 6/6 >Add , that last fall Honda launched a separate electric vehicle brand Lingxi with Dongfeng in China. For the global market, Honda is preparing completely different new battery products, announced earlier this year at the CES exhibition in Las Vegas, where an updated prototype of the debut electric model of the brand Afeela was shown — this is a joint project between Sony and Honda. In addition, in March, Honda and Nissan announced their intention to enter into a strategic alliance, which would include jointly developed electric vehicles.