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The story
On October 9, 2026, Honda announced it will rename the next-generation hybrid (HV) system set to debut in models from 2027 onward from “e:HEV” to “Honda Hybrid.” The company says it’s aiming for a fuel economy improvement of more than 10% through system miniaturization and improved control technology, and plans to fit the new system in 15 models sold worldwide by fiscal year 2029. With Nissan branding its hybrid system “e-Power,” a 5ch thread saw users questioning whether the name change actually means anything, before the discussion expanded into comparisons of fuel economy and torque across Toyota’s, Nissan’s, and Honda’s different hybrid systems — and even into the bigger question of whether EVs or hybrids will dominate the future.
On the 9th, Honda announced that the next-generation hybrid (HV) system to be installed in models launched from 2027 will be renamed “Honda Hybrid.” This moves away from the previous name, “e:HEV” (pronounced “e-H-E-V”), toward something simpler and easier to understand.
Honda’s HV system normally runs on the motor and switches to the engine at highway speeds. The new system aims to improve fuel economy by more than 10% through miniaturization and more efficient control technology. Honda plans to fit it in 15 models sold worldwide by fiscal year 2029.
Nissan Motor also gives its hybrid system its own brand name, “e-Power.” In that system the engine is used solely to generate electricity, while the car itself is driven by a motor, just like an EV.
Source: yomiuri.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Nope! Soichiro Honda is crying somewhere right now.
Probably because some customers were mistaking it for an EV.
Actually, it does matter. Let's be real — the name decides everything. Engineering types seriously underestimate how much naming matters.
Feels like they could all just call it "HV" and be done with it.
There are "hybrid in name only" systems out there too, so you can't just lump them all together.
Gas-engine cars are the same way — every automaker slaps whatever name they want on their systems.
Toyota's is optimized purely for fuel economy — torque is basically nonexistent.
Is that really true though? It's not like it can't accelerate when you step on it. There's a computer managing things in between and you can switch drive modes — I think it's more that the deliberate tuning just doesn't match your personal taste.
It does accelerate, but on torque it's clearly inferior to e-Power and e:HEV.
That's just because the throttle mapping is tuned way softer in Eco mode. That's why Toyota's HV gives the impression you have to really stomp the pedal to get it moving when you're driving in Eco mode.
It accelerates, but it's inferior on torque. Go ahead, explain torque then lol
If the motor is the only thing providing power, efficiency tanks at mid-to-high RPM, which defeats the whole point of a hybrid.
I heard Toyota looked at range extenders early on and dropped the idea, saying it had no future.
But then again, a call made 30 years ago could change as times move on — plenty of component technologies keep evolving.
Nissan's hybrid drops to like 10 km/liter in winter.
Yeah, it's true that Toyota came out of the gate with something that already looked like the final, evolved form of the hybrid.
Toyota's hybrid just bolts a battery and motor onto a gasoline car, so the vehicle price goes up by that much. It's such garbage tech that you have to drive 100,000 km just to recoup that extra cost in gas savings. They got the government to pour subsidies and eco-car tax breaks into it, squeezed their suppliers to build it cheap, and that's how we got here.
Tesla only sold because of subsidies too lol, same with Chinese EVs lol
Wait, are they discontinuing the GR Yaris?
Apparently Chinese buyers really care about cylinder count. Is that why?
Though of course there's also vibration, engine size, and I think some advantage with emissions regulations or something too, right?
They should pivot to infrastructure or some other field, like the home appliance makers did.
Huh? What's that you're saying about Honda Motor, the pride of my home prefecture, Tochigi?
Hitachi bought Honda Motor's parts subsidiary, and that's how (Hitachi) Astemo — Denso's rival — came to be.
I don't know about overseas, but in Japan the traffic lights are deliberately timed so you get stopped at every single intersection, which absolutely wrecks your fuel economy lol. Stopping again after just a few hundred meters, no way lol. What a dumb country lol
Well, they're traffic lights — their whole job is to make you stop (lol)
More like Japan just has way too many traffic lights. I was on assignment in Germany for two years and it's nowhere near as packed with lights as Japan.
I'm saying Honda Motor is a wonderful company. That's exactly why I'm saying they don't need to be in the car business at all.
Japanese appliance makers who got crushed by Chinese competitors in home electronics switched to infrastructure and other non-appliance fields and became huge successes — their stock prices shot way up too. That's why I'm saying automakers should do the same.
The two giants of general-purpose gasoline engines are Honda and Suzuki, you know?
Engines are an advanced and wonderful technology, sure, but in cars and motorcycles they're completely obsolete at this point.
Sorry, but it's time to say goodbye to the car and motorcycle business.
Honda already pulling back on gasoline engine investment puts them below Toyota at this point.
The one headed for the end is Toyota, isn't it — the one that put some clueless corporate suit in as president?
Then why are EVs the more expensive ones…?
Everything is expensive when it's new. But structurally, EVs can be made far cheaper — you're basically just bolting wheels onto a motor. Same as a washing machine, an electric fan, or an RC car.
And because they're so easy to build, countries that never had a seat at the table in the gasoline-car era — Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, India — are seeing their domestic automakers surge once things shift to EVs. Korea's absolutely thriving in EVs too.
It's been over 15 years since the Leaf came out though…
Mitsubishi and Nissan started mass-producing EVs 20 years ago. You call that "new"?
Background and key points of this discussion
Honda’s “e:HEV” name has been in use since the Fit launched in 2013, describing a proprietary system that mainly runs on the motor while using the engine for generating electricity or driving directly at highway speeds. Toyota’s THS, by contrast, is a series-parallel system that mechanically switches between generating electricity and direct engine drive, while Nissan’s e-Power is a series system that uses the engine purely to generate electricity — so even though all three get called “hybrids,” the underlying mechanisms differ by automaker. The thread split over two questions: whether the name change itself carries any real substance, and how the different systems stack up against each other on fuel economy, torque, and everyday drivability. The thread contains plenty of confident technical claims, but it’s worth noting that fuel economy and power characteristics can vary by driving conditions and individual vehicles, so comments from the thread shouldn’t be taken as a universal verdict.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Honda’s next-gen HV system renamed “Honda Hybrid”… moving on from “e:HEV,” targeting a 10%+ fuel economy improvement.”
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