Honda Australia has confirmed it will introduce its first fully electric vehicle to Australia, along with a slew of hybrid options and upgraded internal software in 2026.
The Japanese car manufacturer radically scaled back its lineup and sales expectations as it switched to a more premium-priced business model in 2020, but Honda told Chasing Cars it has now secured the stability to broaden its local product ambitions.
Honda’s sales are down 5.3 percent so far this year, with only three volume-selling vehicles in the HR-V small SUV, along with the ZR-V and CR-V midsize SUVs.
More hybrids coming to Australia
Facelifted versions of the CR-V midsize SUV and ZR-V upper-small SUV will lead the charge in 2026, with seven new hybrid grades joining the fleet. A new all-wheel-drive hybrid option will also become available, but it’s unclear if this is for one or both of these models.
A plug-in hybrid CR-V featuring 80km of electric range, is also under consideration.
By the time the new models and grades arrive, hybrids will account for 80 percent of Honda’s local lineup, a ratio it says is critical with hybrids expected to make up 90 percent of the brand’s sales in 2026.
The introduction of the New Vehicle Emissions Standard in Australia has seen car manufacturers reevaluate their product lineups and look to introduce cleaner hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles to avoid facing heavy fines.
Prelude and a mystery EV confirmed
Honda will also broaden its lineup with the return of the Prelude in mid-2026, with the coupe returning exclusively in hybrid guise for now. Read our separate article for more information.
Although unnamed at this time, Honda has confirmed it will also introduce its first fully electric vehicle to Australia in the second half of 2026, and has more on the horizon.
Honda currently offers the Prologue midsize SUV in North America, but a more likely candidate for local introduction is the e:Ny1, an electric version of the HR-V already sold locally.
Currently on sale next door in New Zealand branded the e:N1, it features a 68.8kWh lithium-ion battery and a 150kW/310Nm front electric motor providing 412km of range, according to the typically more realistic WLTP testing protocols.
More EVs on the horizon
While hybrids remain the focus for the Australian market, Honda is eyeing the introduction of more fully electric vehicles in the coming years.
Production versions of the Honda Zero Series concepts, first unveiled in 2024, consist of a sedan and SUV. Both are under close consideration for our market.
Set to go on sale globally in 2026, the production versions are likely to feature less radical styling and features than the concepts we’ve seen previously, but an aggressive focus on aerodynamics and energy efficiency, along with technology such as high-density batteries and steer-by-wire, is expected to remain.
The recently appointed president and CEO of Honda Australia, Jay Joseph, told Chasing Cars the groundwork had been laid over the last few years to give the brand confidence to expand its sales ambitions in Australia.
“We’re in a good position to execute what we’re talking about today”, he said.
Director of automotive Robert Thorp added that “everything is on the table” in reference to cars currently sold in markets such as China, North America and Europe, though he admitted the instability of the international market, particularly in relation to tariffs imposed by the US government on other countries, meant they had to pick models carefully.
Google-based software to expand
Next year, Honda will continue to roll out its Connect Gen2 software, already found on the Civic and Accord, to more models.
The software enables greater interconnectivity between the driver’s phone and the vehicle, to monitor basic factors such as the condition, remotely start and control the climate control before they hop in the car.
In the Accord, the software also provides the ability to show Google maps within the digital gauge cluster, leaving the multimedia screen free to perform other tasks.