One of the longest forms of automotive competition is the drag race. With over 70 years of history, the sport has led to the creation of some impressive drag racing vehicles. Including… an electric hatchback by Honda?

The Japanese automaker recently unveiled a new concept car mod for the 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon: the Honda E-Drag. Based on the Honda E, a popular EV sold by the brand in Europe and Japan, it’s a fully decked out hatchback rebuilt for drag racing.

The normal, production vehicle isn’t exactly a powerhouse. It uses a single electric motor (rear wheel drive) pushing 134 horsepower. It’s marked with a whopping eight seconds on their 0-60mph time. While that’s perfectly normal for a common consumer car, it can’t even light a candle to drag racers.

But here’s the strange thing, Honda hasn’t said if the powertrain was changed for the E-Drag. Plenty of modifications were made, and we’ll get to that, but we couldn't help but notice a lack of details regarding the actual powertrain. You can swap tires and change the body as much as you want, if a hamster wheel is running the engine, it’s not going to go very hard. This leaves us with the assumption that either the idea of it actually drag racing is just a for-show joke, or it has some under the hood modifications that we don’t know about.

So what HAS changed?

Much of the exterior body has been swapped for lighter alternatives, to start. The roof is carbon-fiber and plastic and the body features simplified mounting attachments. A lowered suspension sits the entire thing closer to the ground. The wheels, borrowed from an Acura NSX, measure in at 17 inches and are fitted with drag slick tires.

Inside the cabin appears to have gotten the worst of it. Nearly all surfaces have been stripped down to the bare metal, the rear seats are gone, and the front seats were replaced with bucket seats. It’s effective for reducing weight, at the obvious cost of beauty.

How it actually performs remains to be seen, as well. We know it's a concept car and likely won't even hit the pavement, but we’d love to see this dinky little electric hatchback absolutely tear it up on a drag strip.

This is strange, for sure. As far as America has been concerned, Honda hasn’t had much presence in the EV market. The Honda E isn’t sold in the States, likely due to its rather small battery giving it a startling low range by EPA standards (we’re talking 136 mile total range based on EU standards). Places like Europe and Japan are a lot more tightly-knit together, whereas in the US, it's not uncommon to plan 400+ mile road trips for family or vacations, vehicles like that don't do well here.

This isn’t to say Honda won't sell electric in the States. They recently made a deal with GM to source vehicles based on their BEV3 architecture. We won't see what they go to until 2024 as the soonest, but rumors have it one of them will be an electric SUV Acura. Time will tell.