Honda has the plan of unveiling its production version of the 2018 the automobile’s hydrogen fuel-cell car at the Motor show that will be held in Tokyo this week. Approximately two years following the actual entrance of the car into the market, Honda also plans to launch a plug-in hybrid vehicle that has already been confirmed to utilize the underpinnings that are the same as those of Honda’s fuel-cell car. The automaker made a commitment during the Detroit Auto Show that was held in January, to produce both a battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. However, in the meantime Honda has not given further details concerning the two models in question.

A sound hypothesis that Autoblog Green has come up with is that the three models are expected to be a similar car’s variants. Honda did a test track on the plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell car test mule and came up with the conclusion that the same underpinnings will be used by both cars. As previously stated by Honda, the fuel-cell stack of the car is so small that it can perfectly fit beneath the hood. This is due to the fact that in comparison to the previous stack, the current stack is about 33% smaller. The lithium-ion battery position has also been altered and is at the underside of the floor instead of the trunk. There are also double hydrogen trunks with one of the trunks being on the underside of the back seat and the second one situated behind the front seat. A similar platform will be utilized by Honda for the yet to be released plug-in hybrid car, regardless of the fact that the packaging requirements are different.

Consequently, Honda will manage to save costs across both car models and probably in the yet to be produced fully electric car as well. Honda has not yet confirmed whether the platform will have some similarities to its Accord, however, the size is approximately the same. The Accord model name may also be dropped by the upcoming plug-in hybrid car, although it is still unclear on the name that will be given to it. This implies that the new plug-in vehicle by Honda will boast approximately 40 miles range. Another goal for the new plug-in is allowing the electric-only mode to operate at high speeds. For the Accord, the electric-only mode had a limited range of 80 mph. The clutch and dual motor configuration are the features that the new plug-in will have in common with the current Accord plug-in.