Honda EV retro Sedan?

You might remember this vehicle shown as a prototype a few years ago in a Coupe style, well, this looks like a nice close to production ready vehicle.... Not sure what, if anything, will come of this....

Great find www.woodyscarsite.com
Source;
http://www.woodyscarsite.com/2011/02/retro-ev-honda-is-back-and-4-doors.html

Watch the All-New Honda Electric Vehicle Concept Debut Live from the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show

For those who cannot attend the Los Angeles Auto Show in person, Honda will unveil an all-new electric vehicle concept live via webcast at http://hondanews.com/live/2010-losangeles
on November 17th at 1:20 PM, PST. Keynote presenters at the press conference will be Takanobu Ito, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President and CEO and John Mendel, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., executive vice president.

For additional information on Honda's announcements at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, please visit http://hondanews.com/live/2010-losangeles.

Honda CEO sees potential in electric car market

Here's another flip flop on the whole Electric Vehicle stance....
(Reuters) - The head of Honda Motor Co said there could be plenty of demand for battery-powered electric cars, making the strongest endorsement yet of the technology that his predecessor had long shunned as impractical and unrealistic.

Japan's second-biggest automaker announced in July plans to launch a plug-in hybrid and pure electric car in 2012, but had stopped short of laying out a roadmap of how they would contribute to its business.

"It's starting to look like there will be a market for electric vehicles (EVs)," Takanobu Ito, who took over as chief executive last year, told a small group of reporters at a test-drive event north of Tokyo.

"We can't keep shooting down their potential, and we can't say there's no business case for it."

Under Takeo Fukui and other former CEOs, Honda had been a strong proponent of hydrogen fuel-cell cars as the best zero-emission alternative to today's combustion engine cars because they have a similar driving range of 500-600 km (310-375 miles), unlike battery EVs' limited reach.

Nissan Motor Co's Leaf, which will become the world's first mass-volume electric car when it goes on sale next month, can only be driven for 160 km (100 miles) on a full charge since packing more batteries to extend the range would make the car prohibitively expensive.

"The thing is, not everybody needs to drive 500 km a day," Ito said, echoing the argument made by Nissan and its partner, Renault SA, to sell battery EVs in big volumes around the world.

Ito stopped short of predicting how big the EV market could be, and how soon.

But he added that pure electric cars made more sense than plug-in hybrids, which are hybrid cars that carry more batteries that can be charged from an outside source.

"Plug-in hybrids are essentially for people who drive short distances, but it has the handicap of having an engine, a motor and a stack of batteries," he said. "Why wouldn't you just drive an EV?"

In a move that could further accelerate the industry's drive toward EVs, Ito is due to take the wraps off a new electric car concept at the Los Angeles auto show on November 17. It would be the first time for a Honda CEO to unveil a new model at the annual show.

California has some of the world's strictest environmental regulations, and Honda had said it would sell battery-run EVs there only to meet the state's zero-emission requirements.

Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp, also a recent EV convert, is planning to unveil the electric RAV4, co-developed with Tesla Motors Inc, at the L.A. auto show. Toyota and the California electric car start-up tied up earlier this year, agreeing to develop battery and EV technology together.

Source;
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A11QH20101102

Honda to Build Plug-in Hybrids and Electric Vehicle in 2012

Honda Motor Co. president Takanobu Ito at the start of a press conference in Wako near Tokyo Tuesday. Ito said Honda will start selling an electric vehicle as well as a plug-in hybrid in 2012 in the U.S. and Japan. -CBC.ca

Honda was one of the first automakers to sell a hybrid vehicle with the original Insight coupe in 1999, but has since fallen behind in hybrid and electric vehicle technology. According Honda CEO Taknobu Ito, the Japanese automaker aims to correct this in 2012 by introducing a plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle.

In his mid-year address, Ito announced that Honda is preparing a new plug-in hybrid. In addition to developing the plug-in hybrid, Honda is also working on a battery electric vehicle, both of which will be for sale in Japan and the U.S by 2012. Information about Honda's upcoming plug-in hybrid is scarce, but early reports indicate that Honda's plug-in hybrid will be capable of achieving 136 mpg. Reports haven't yet mentioned the car's possible electric-only range.

Honda's interim solution until 2012 is to release products that use its Integrated Motor Assist technology first unveiled on the 1999 Insight. It uses an electric motor sandwiched between the internal combustion engine and transmission to boost fuel economy by reducing the load on the engine, enabling start/stop capabilities, and using regenerative braking. Unlike many newer hybrid systems, IMA can't be fitted to larger vehicles such as Honda's Pilot or propel the vehicle on electricity alone.

Honda's development of a plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicle for sale in the U.S. and Japan is part of the company's larger push to reduce CO2 emissions. Honda still sees its hydrogen fuel cell FCX Clarity concept as a long-term solution, however, and will continue to develop fuel cell technology.

The new hybrid vehicles have been announced for sale in Japan, but one, the Fit Hybrid, may arrive in the U.S.

Source;
http://rumors.automobilemag.com/6695865/green/honda-to-build-plug-in-hybrids-and-electric-vehicle-in-2012/index.html

Honda ’Lacks Confidence’ in Electric-Car Demand

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. remains skeptical about demand for electric cars 10 years after it stopped selling its EV Plus battery-powered model, the head of research at Japan’s second-largest carmaker said.

“We lack confidence” in the electric-vehicle business, Tomohiko Kawanabe, president of Honda’s research and development unit, said in an interview in Wako City, northwest of Tokyo. “It’s questionable whether consumers will accept the annoyances of limited driving range and having to spend time charging them.”

The skepticism contrasts with an estimate by Nissan Motor Co.’s Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn that the vehicles will make up 10 percent of the global car market by 2020. While Honda plans to sell electric cars in the U.S. to help meet California emission rules, its priority is to improve the fuel efficiency of new and upgraded models, Kawanabe said.

“We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them,” said Kawanabe, 58, an engine specialist who replaced Chief Executive Officer Takanobu Ito as head of Honda R&D Co. on April 1.

Nissan’s Leaf electric car, which will go on sale this year in Japan and the U.S., and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s i-MiEV have maximum driving distances of about 100 miles (161 kilometers) on a fully-charged battery. Running the air conditioner or accelerating for long periods of time reduces the range.

California Rules
Honda rose 0.7 percent to close at 3,010 yen in Tokyo trading today. The shares have declined 3.2 percent this year.

From model years 2012 through 2014, the largest carmakers by volume in California must sell about 60,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric cars combined, according to the state Air Resources Board. Nissan’s Ghosn said last week he aims to have capacity to build 500,000 electric cars a year by 2012, even as other demand estimates are lower than his.

Electric vehicles will amount to no more than 1 percent of the global market by 2020, according to Menahem Anderman, president of Advanced Automotive Batteries, a consulting firm based in Oregon House, California.

Honda, based in Tokyo, started researching battery cars in 1988 and leased about 320 EV Plus models in the U.S. and Japan between 1997 and 2000. The model used a nickel-metal hydride battery pack and ran 210 kilometers on a single charge.

While the carmaker displayed a concept version of an electric car named EV-N at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, it is focusing on expanding its lineup of gasoline-electric hybrid models and improving its gasoline engines, according to Kawanabe.

The company views hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles as the ultimate zero-emission vehicle, although inadequate charging infrastructure still hampers the technology’s mass-market potential, he said.

While Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, has also tried selling electric cars, it only delivered about 1,900 electric RAV4 sport-utility vehicles between 1997 and 2003 in the U.S. and Japan.

Honda, which sells the Civic and Insight hybrid models in the U.S., is considering U.S. production of hybrids to avoid the negative impact of a stronger yen against the dollar, Kawanabe said, without elaborating on timing. Core parts like batteries, invertors and motors would still be shipped from Japan, he said.

Source;
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-18/honda-lacks-confidence-in-electric-car-demand-update1-.html

Honda Unveils Electric Motorbike

Only in Japan, and only for lease....
WAKO, Japan—Honda Motor Co. is rolling out a small, scooter-type electric motorbike, it said Tuesday, after having put an earlier model back in the shed more than a decade ago.

With the EV-neo electric motorcycle, Honda, which sells the Insight and other gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, and the FCX Clarity hydrogen powered fuel-cell car, brings some of its latest green technology to motorbikes.

Honda said it will begin leasing the bike in Japan in December, but has no plans to sell it at the moment.

"It is becoming important for companies to meet society's needs for CO2 reduction," said Toshiyuki Inuma, a general manager at Honda's motorcycle unit, at a test-drive event in Wako City, north of Tokyo.

Honda, Japan's second biggest car maker and the world's biggest motorcycle maker by volume, first leased electric motorcycles 16 years ago, albeit in small numbers, rolling out only 200 bikes over three years.

But in a sign of potentially deep demand in some emerging markets for such advanced electric motorbikes, Yamaha Motor Co., the world's second largest motorcycle maker, also plans to roll out its latest electric motorbike this summer.

Yamaha hasn't said whether it will sell or lease the bike.

Honda plans to lease its EV-neo scooter to businesses, such as pizza restaurant operators and others that run delivery services in Japan. It doesn't plan to lease it overseas. The leasing price hasn't been disclosed and Honda hasn't decided how many bikes it will lease.

The EV-neo uses a lithium-ion battery with double the power density of the nickel-cadmium battery used in the earlier electric motorbike.

The charging time for the new model is half the eight hours of the previous bike. Honda says rapid charging equipment gives the new battery an 80% charge in 20 minutes, and the bike can travel more than 30 kilometers on a single charge.

However, the company isn't certain if it can commercialize its electric motorbike operations on a large scale, Mr. Inuma said. Honda is still sizing up the potential market for such bikes, as demand will depend on costs.

To succeed with this product line Mr. Inuma said: "We have to differentiate our technology from others. Then, we'll see whether we can offer the price that customers would want."

One of the main challenges has been making the battery smaller and reducing the total vehicle cost.

The EV-neo's electric motor shares key parts with the Insight hybrid, and that cuts costs, said Koichiro Honda, an assistant chief engineer.

The company said it will use battery technology by major Japanese electronic equipment maker Toshiba Corp. Toshiba's lithium-ion batteries give nearly twice the power as those used in Honda's earlier electric bikes, so it was chosen over GS Yuasa Corp., with which Honda has a joint battery venture, said Mr. Honda, the engineer.

"One of the reasons is the durability," he said.

Source;
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303695604575181512503429520.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Honda 3R-C concept World Debut at Geneva International Motor Show 2010

Honda 3R-C concept World Debut at Geneva International Motor Show 2010

The revolutionary Honda 3R-C concept will make its world debut in Geneva, alongside the EV-N concept which makes its European debut at the show.

Both the three-wheeled 3R-C concept, which envisions a single occupant vehicle for zero emission commuting, and the EV-N urban concept, draw on Honda's vast working knowledge of vehicles utilising electric motors.

3R-C
This revolutionary three wheeled battery electric vehicle concept shows what a future minimal urban transport vehicle for one person might look like. The battery electric drivetrain is mounted low in the three wheeled chassis, therefore keeping the centre of gravity low and thus improving stability.

The 3R-C has a clear canopy that covers the driver's seat while it is parked and not in use. When 3R-C vehicle is in motion, the canopy becomes an enveloping wind-shield that provides the pilot, who sits low in the vehicle, with significant protection from the bodywork and doors.

The high sides of the safety shell seat give greater safety to the occupant, reducing the threat from side impacts and improving weather protection. In front of the driver is a lockable boot area, which gives significant secure storage for luggage or other items. The 3R-C's designers created a flexible cover that surrounds the upper torso to reduce exposure to bad weather and improving comfort.

The 3R-C study was created by European designers working at Honda's Research and Design facility in Milan.

EV-N
The EV-N concept, which has only previously been shown at the Tokyo Motor Show will make its European debut in Geneva.

The EV-N is a battery electric vehicle study, which evokes the spirit of the diminutive 1967 N360 city car. Honda designers have incorporated Honda's own solar panels in to the roof of the concept, to charge the car while it is parked. Two of Honda's U3-X, electric personal mobility devices are attached to the inside of each door. The two-door EV-N concept is envisioned with a Lithium ion battery pack, and small electric motor for predominantly urban use.

FCX Clarity
The two concept vehicles will be displayed alongside Honda's production fuel cell electric vehicle, the FCX Clarity. The World Green Car winner is being leased by customers in Japan and the US, who are experiencing the range, performance and practicality of this unique zero-emission vehicle. Two of the bespoke hydrogen fuelled vehicles are now permanently stationed in Europe for long-term research purposes. Alongside research work, the pair of FCX Claritys are being demonstrated at events like the COP 15 climate summit in Copenhagen, and the Berlin Climate Conference. The FCX Clarity shows Honda's continuing commitment to fuel cell electric vehicles as the ultimate zero harmful emission mobility technology.

Source;
http://www.hondanews.eu/en/news/index.pmode/modul,detail,0,1431-DEFAULT,21,text,1/index.pmode