Now that both IMSA and Indycar race series’ utilize hybrid technology, Honda sees more ways to improve their road car hybrid tech. And racing stays relevant!

Over much of automotive history, racing provided the most brutal of testing grounds to test new technology. And Honda knew that if it worked on the track, you very well may see it on your road car some years later. But as the world adapted to hybrid and other technologies in cars, the racing-as-a-proving-grounds path started to disappear.

But a revival of sorts has arrived. IMSA’s top class, the LMDh prototypes started running hybrid powertrains in 2023. And now, in 2025, Indycar adapted something similar for its open-wheel powerhouses. And that gives Honda a new outlet to test hybrid systems. Fitting, as the brand finds more places to add hybrid power to its road cars.

IMSA HYBRIDS

IMSA and the top LMDh class, makes use of a standardized hybrid system, all LMDh cars from every manufacturer (mfr.) use the same system. But, mfrs. enjoy full reign on the software to integrate the hybrid with the rest of the powertrain. That allows for a lot of development of the race cars, and, potentially, road cars of the future.

Furthermore, IMSA’s hybrid uses a high-voltage battery pack as the energy source, just as many hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric cars do on the road. That makes them more directly applicable.

Fu puts it this way, “We’ve done a lot of development, especially on the LMDh side, that’s a much more integrated powertrain. We’ve done a lot of work there and we presented it in technical workshops and presentations across all of Honda. And we’ve done that with some of the work we’ve done with integration on the control side and there’s been interest from Japan to take that and maybe move forward with it too.”

In other words, Honda’s ability to safely and repeatedly deploy electric help quickly on the next generation Honda CR-V or HR-V, may have originated from their IMSA prototypes.

INDYCAR HYBRID

Don’t count out Indycar entirely, however. It’s limitations stem from the fact the sanction body highly controls all aspects of that system. Indeed, Honda builds the super-capacitor for the entire series. Chevrolet builds the electric motor for the series. And it’s all pre-packaged and largely handled by the driver and teams, not the mfrs.

But Indycar opted for capacitors as opposed to batteries. And that means the boost of power the hybrid provides comes in bursts. That’s different than batteries and allows for opportunities to learn yet new ways to harness electric power. Heck, perhaps capacitors in addition to batteries in future cars, etc.

Honda noticed, “The Indycar hybrids with the super capacitors, there’s interest there, too,” Fu said. “It’s unclear where it’s going to go on the production side, but we’re doing it so there’s a lot of people paying attention.”

And Indycar just started with hybrids in 2025. It’s use may very well develop rapidly in the series and quickly become more useful for road cars soon.  

SUMMARY

Racing went through a rough patch for a decade or two, across the world. It needed to find its place in the rapidly changing auto industry. But a new period of future development arrived. We now know how to make electricity work in cars, let’s use race cars to help make them fun.