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Honda reveals more details about its adorable EV
Honda unveiled its new electric car, the tiny and adorable Honda E, earlier this year, but details have been few and far between. It's slowly drip-fed features including side cameras instead of mirrors and a faux-wood paneled dashboard, but now the company is ready to share more, revealing some key specifications about the car including battery capacity and weight distribution.
Honda's compact EV swaps mirrors for side cameras
Not only will Honda's cool little electric vehicle, the Honda E, come with cameras instead of side mirrors, they'll be offered as a standard feature. The compact cameras will sit where their mirror predecessors did, and inside, drivers will find a six-inch screen at each end of the dashboard. Honda says they'll reduce drag, boost efficiency and offer a better perspective.
Honda's big EV push now includes dirt bikes and scooters
Honda has shown an affinity for electric cars as of late, but what about the motorcycle crowd? Don't worry, you'll get your fix soon. The automaker has unveiled prototypes for both the CR Electric dirt bike (above) and the Benly Electric delivery scooter (below), offering a peek at how it will approach emissions-free transportation on two wheels. Honda didn't dive into the specs, but the CR Electric appears based on the CRF450 and uses a Mugen-developed motor along with Showa inverted forks.
Honda wants all of its European cars to be hybrids or EVs by 2025
Honda is coming to the Geneva Motor Show with more than just a pre-production electric car on its hands. The automaker has announced intentions to make all of its European car sales "electrified" (that is, hybrid or pure EV) by 2025 -- a big step up from the goal it set in 2017, when it expected 66 percent by 2025. The transition to electric powerplants has "gathered pace considerably" since two years ago, Honda's Tom Gardner said. The company pointed to its full hybrid tech (such as the two-motor system in the CR-V Hybrid) as a major factor on top of all-electric machines like the e Prototype.
Honda will open pre-orders for its tiny 'e Prototype' this year
Honda's adorable e Prototype first appeared two years ago at the Frankfurt motor show. In Geneva, the automaker unveiled a closer-to-production prototype that still has the spirit of the original concept car and announced that in addition to starting production by the end of 2019, the automaker would also be taking reservations for the tiny car.
What to expect from the Geneva Motor Show 2019
The Geneva Motor Show is about to begin and this year the focus will be electrification. From Audi to Volkswagen, the halls of the Palexpo will be filled the future of passenger transportation.
Honda shows the near-final version of its compact electric car
Honda's Urban EV concept is nearly ready to hit the road in earnest. As teased in January, the automaker has unveiled a Honda E Prototype that "previews" the production version of its city-oriented electric car. This refined version unsurprisingly includes less concept car flash (don't count on a display hiding in the front grill), but it's largely true to the spirit of the 2017 design with a glass-covered charging port on the front and cameras replacing the less aerodynamic rear view mirrors.
Take a peek at Honda's Urban EV dashboard
Honda's upcoming Urban EV is one of the most highly anticipated vehicles being shown off at the Geneva Motor Show next month. As the spiritual (and technological) successor to the venerated Civic hatchback, the Urban EV will reportedly sport a suite of high tech toys, features, and functionality when it goes on sale in the near future (only in Europe, unfortunately). Honda's been dribbling details about the vehicle for more than a year now and -- just in time for Geneva -- has revealed what its dash and instrument cluster will look like. As you can see in the image above, the Urban EV's split instrument cluster will offer what are quickly becoming the standard features for smart vehicles and EVs: Navigation, hands-free calling, a (presumably voice activated) personal assistant, smartphone connectivity, and an array of various EV system statuses. Driver's will also have access to USB, Bluetooth, and even HDMI inputs as well. But perhaps the most exciting feature shown in the teaser image is located on the faux-wood panel immediately below screens. No, not the parking brake button -- it's the volume knob and audio power button that recently returned to new Civics and Accords. Trying to adjust the volume or turn the radio off when either of those functions are virtualized on a touchscreen (looking at you, Tesla) isn't just a pain, it creates a needless distraction when you're driving. By opting for a physical, haptic interface, Honda makes it easier to futz with the sound system without taking your eyes off the road. We'll have full coverage of the 2019 Geneva Motor Show when it opens in March so stay tuned, everybody.
Honda will show off a new EV prototype in March
When Honda first revealed the Urban EV in September 2017, the car's cute retro design generated a ton of interest. It wasn't the final design, though it seems we won't have to wait too long to find out exactly what the vehicle will look like when it goes on sale. The Japanese manufacturer has released a sketch of the new prototype model it says will be shown off at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
Honda’s Sound Sitter lulls fussy children with engine noises
Plenty of parents have turned to car rides in order to calm fussy babies and Honda has now developed a gadget based on that concept. But instead of bringing the baby to the car, Honda's Sound Sitter brings the car to the baby. The company tried out the sounds of 37 different car engines, including various Civic models, Accords and Integras, ultimately determining that the sound of the NSX engine was most effective when it came to soothing babies. And when researchers tried it out on newborns -- aged six months to 1.5 years old -- 11 out of 12 seemed to experience comfort while seven showed reduced heart rates.
Fluoride discovery could lead to much longer-lasting EV batteries
Researchers have announced a new battery breakthrough that focuses on the negative. Rather than using lithium, the most electro-positive element on the periodic table, they used fluoride, the most electro-negative. It can store more energy than its lithium doppelgänger, but until now, batteries needed to run hot at 150 degrees Celsius or more. Honda, Caltech and NASA scientists discovered a way to make it work at room temperature, which could eventually yield more energy dense and environmentally safe batteries for EVs and other devices.
Honda teams up with MIT and others to develop curious AI
Honda is teaming up with three universities on a project aimed at developing curious artificial intelligence. The new three-year initiative, dubbed the Curious Minded Machine, will work towards an intelligent system that can learn continuously, much like a human, and can actually "learn to learn," as children do. "Our ultimate goal is to create new types of machines that can acquire an interest in learning and knowledge, and the ability to interact with the world and others," Soshi Iba, a principal scientist at the Honda Research Institute, said in a statement. "We want to develop Curious Minded Machines that use curiosity to serve the common good by understanding people's needs, empowering human capability and ultimately addressing complex societal issues."
Honda taps SoundHound to help make an in-car AI assistant
Honda hasn't been shy about wanting an AI assistant in its cars, and it's bringing in a partner to ensure that this assistant is one you'll want to use. The automaker has tapped SoundHound to speed up the development of its AI companion. Thanks to the Houndify platform, your ride should understand natural, conversational voice commands, including ones that depend on contextual details like your location or past requests.
GM's self-driving car reportedly has trouble recognizing pedestrians
It seems that General Motors' self-driving car unit, Cruise, is running into major difficulties, and will likely not be able to hit its late 2019 launch target. Sources close to the project have told Reuters that engineers have been hitting unexpected technical challenges, like being able to detect objects if objects are in motion. For example, vehicles would hesitate or stop when passing a row of parked bicycles, would mistakenly see "phantom bicycles" that caused jerky stops, and would even fail to recognize pedestrians. "Nothing is on schedule," one GM source told Reuters, as Cruise has already missed mileage targets and milestones.
Honda's smart intersection tells drivers what's around the corner
As the Honda Pilot is about to enter the intersection a specially built HUD (heads-up display) flashes an orangish yellow with an image of an ambulance. Seconds later an actual ambulance that, moments before, the driver could not see barrels though the intersection with its lights on (no sirens). We watch the emergency vehicle drive off and continue through the intersection.
Honda teams with GM to produce autonomous vehicles
This week, Honda that announced that it is purchasing a stake in GM's autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise. It's part of a larger plan for the Japanese and American vehicle manufacturers to work together in order to develop and produce an autonomous vehicle.
Honda Insight: Stylish, efficient and ready to take on the Prius
The original Honda Insight landed in the United States in December 1999. The tiny aerodynamic hatchback didn't light the electrified vehicle world on fire like the far more popular Toyota Prius. But it did show that the automaker was serious about hybrids even while the technology was still in its infancy. Nearly 20 years later and Insight is bigger, more powerful and while it's latest MPG falls short of the original's 70 miles-per-gallon, you can actually haul groceries and the family in it.
Honda adds driver assist tech to all 2019 Civics
In 2014, Honda added driver-assist technology called Sensing to its higher-end trim packages on select models. The system is part of the automaker's plans to bring Sensing to all its vehicles by 2022 and perfect self-driving cars by 2025. It's available, but not standard, as of 2019 for all Honda vehicles. This year, however, the company will include Sensing safety features for all trim levels of the Civic Sedan and Coupe.
Honda will pay EV owners to charge when energy demand is low
While electric vehicles are better for the environment than cars running on gas, the electricity used to charge them might not always come from renewable sources. Honda has launched a program enticing customers to reduce their carbon footprint even further by paying them money for participating. People tend to plug their vehicles in after they get home from work, but that's when demand on the grid is the highest. The automaker's SmartCharge beta program gets instant info from the grid through cloud-to-cloud communications, so it can notify people (via the HondaLink EV app) to start charging when electricity demand is low and when renewable energy availability is high.
Honda will use electric bikes to test swappable batteries
Honda has teamed up with Panasonic to start testing the swappable rechargeable batteries it debuted at CES this year. The partners are bringing Honda's Mobile Power Packs to Indonesia, where they'll be used to power electric mobility products, particularly electric bikes. Indonesia is the third largest motorcycle market in the world after India and China, and its government has been thinking of ways to reduce traffic and pollution brought by the rise of the two-wheeled vehicles. One of the solutions it came up with is to encourage the adoption of electric-powered vehicles, making the country one of the best places to test the batteries.
