Honda Unveils New V3 Engine with Electrical Compressor
ICE development hasn't stopped yet
Honda announced two electric motorcycle concepts at EICMA, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready to leave internal combustion behind, also revealing a brand new 75° V3 engine with an electric compressor.
V3 engines aren’t completely new for Honda, with the two-stroke NS400R introduced in 1985 being a notable example. But that was 40 years ago, and Honda’s new V3 is built for modern needs.
The engine is arranged with two cylinders pointed toward the front, and a third cylinder pointing backward and forming a 75° V shape. Above the front cylinder head sits an electric compressor, a first for the motorcycle industry.
Unlike a turbocharger, which uses exhaust gas, or a supercharger which is typically spun with a pulley connected to the engine, the V3 uses electricity to spin the impeller. This allows the engine to compress the air intake independently from the engine speed, providing boost even at low rpm, where superchargers need faster speeds to provide the necessary compression, and without the lag typical of a turbo. Honda’s electrical compressor also does not require an intercooler.
At the moment, Honda has remained cagey on more specific details. We don’t know the displacement of the engine or any performance figures, but Honda says it intended to “apply the new V3 engine to larger displacement models in the future,” with plans toward mass production.
For the example shown at EICMA, the engine is mounted to a steel trellis frame, but that may have been chosen just to make it easier to see components like the compressor and the airbox. But for what it's worth, the sample chassis also makes use of an inverted fork, dual front brake discs, a single-sided swingarm and Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV tires, all of which hint at more sporting intentions. Of course, that doesn't mean that the V3 will necessarily be used on a sportbike, if it ever enters production at all.
Still, for a company with a reputation for being conservative, it comes as quite a surprise that Honda has designed one of the most radical new engine designs in recent history.
Honda's New V3 Engine Gallery
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Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
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Rich, those examples are old news. I remember the oval piston RC30 and Interceptors back in the 1980s, but that was 40-years ago. I grew up a Team Honda fan. All I owned was Honda's, while friends went with Suzuki and Yamaha. Decades ago, they lost their ways, and I have found their build quality fit and finish very poor, with a 2016 CBR purchase. It's a fairy tale about their build and finish quality in my experience from what I have seen this century. Design is another story, and Honda has had some hideous styling design in the last 20-years.
Switch to decaf.