IEEE Spectrum October, 2016 - 36

clEAN-SHEET DESigN: Honda's Ohio Performance Manufacturing center is all new, like the NSX it makes. Ablation casting
uses water to blast sand from molds, quickly cooling the molten aluminum for a stronger microstructure and superior crash
performance. Eight robots apply 860 welds to the aluminum space frame. Wireless torque wrenches record tension settings
for every bolt. The low‑volume factory requires only 100 technicians to assemble, paint, and monitor quality for the NSX.

"I would say that's a hot topic, the emotional attributes of an electric car," Klaus
acknowledges. "I like the idea that electric propulsion can stir your soul, without constantly shaking you up."
And even professional racers, he argues,
don't like a car that's always on the edge,
requiring constant correction and mental
and physical strain. "That kind of car uses
so much of your human bandwidth that
you can't extract maximum performance,"
he says. "We've electrified a supercar that
gives you a wide range of emotional experiences, from quiet cruising to unleashing the beast at the track."
Cars like the Acura may never wail like a
V-10 Lamborghini, at least not without the
artificially synthesized sound of cars like
the BMW i8, the autosport equivalent to
lip-synching. But nor does the Acura slurp
premium unleaded as shamelessly as a
'60s muscle car. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency credits the NSX with
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11.2 liters per 100 kilometers (21 miles per
gallon), commendable for a supercar that
can hang with a Ferrari 458, Lamborghini
Huracán, or Porsche 911 Turbo.
This being Honda, the NSX team set
itself another lofty goal, creating what
they believe is the world's safest supercar. Klaus and his team say the NSX is
measurably more crashworthy than its
rivals. Maybe that's not sexy, but it might
save a driver's life in a car designed for
pushing the envelope.
The team also developed numerous
fail-safes to ensure consistent, trustworthy performance.
"It took a couple of years to harden the
system to our high reliability standards,
so that if someone puts in an unusual
or unskilled input, the vehicle's safety
performance is in line with an Accord or
Civic," says Klaus. "At up to 300 km/h
or pulling over 1 g (in handling force),
we had to make it accelerate, brake,

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and turn according to the
driver's desires, but ensure
that nothing uncontrolled
would happen to a driver or
those around them in case
of an electrical or mechanical failure."
deSpite all the integrated

systems and all the electronic
oversight, the Acura must still feel like a
natural, involving sports car. The bravura brake-force simulator is a shining
example: All supercars go, but the NSX
is special for how it stops.
The problem is that any hybrid car that
wants to save fuel must brake regeneratively: Those electric motors must also
be able to function as generators during braking, turning kinetic energy into
electricity that is shunted to the battery
for reuse. But that tends to give brakes a
nonlinear, mashed-potatoes feel.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum October, 2016