Honda Urban EV Concept
- Thread starter homeforsummer
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The EV-N didn't become the N-One. Both took their inspiration from the same classic Honda N360, but the EV-N was never intended to go into production.Well, this was supposed to happen(now when i look at it, I'd prefer this)
Then, they made this instead
We'll see what happens.
The N-One is just a kei car that has one or two details nabbed from the N360.
To what are you referring?
I can confirm the concept at least is an actual real object rather than a mock-up - the photos in the tweet were mine and I was definitely standing in front of a real vehicle...
- 305
- Baltimore,Maryland
- taegonlewis78
- taegonlewis1
Firts time in the history of GTP that everyone likes this little electric car and I'm one of them. Really, like the design, the retro look, the spartan look. Too bad it is only a concept and we all know what happens to concept cars when they turn into a production car.
- 7,947
- Wreckage, Turn 1
- PrecisionXCIV
- 1,936
- A field in England
F20C-powered Honda Urban anyone?
- 51,157
- Australia
- SpacedustDaddy
- 51,157
- Australia
- SpacedustDaddy
I'm not arguing the "concept". Just what we wind up with.
It just about seems production ready. So, hope they don't change much.
The bench seat can stay. Make it 60/40. Multiple Kei cars already have split bench seats. The clear cover over the front fascia, might have to be scaled down, to just protect the LED message board. Does Honda use 19" wheels & tyres or go with 17s? Is the info screen going remain horizontal or changed to vertical?
I thought back to a college friend who had a pristine Civic S. For it's size, it was comfortable. Pure fun. It really is a good age for the rebirth of small cars.
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My point was that the N-One looking nothing like the EV-N shouldn't correlate to a production version of the Urban EV looking like the concept version. In the former, they were two different vehicles that happened to be influenced by the same classic vehicle. In the latter, the Urban EV concept itself should be followed by a production car.
That said, Honda isn't traditionally one of those companies that follows concepts with like-for-like production models, so the odds are definitely against them. I hope they've seen how positive the feedback has been online for this one so far and don't flake out on it...
I'm not so sure about the bench seat. It looks great in the concept, but in reality it's nice to have a bit of extra side support and a bench can't really offer that. I suspect it'd also make it difficult for anyone to get into the back.
I don't think the windscreen pillars will remain that narrow, and I very much doubt the rear-hinged door will remain as it is. I don't see why the interior screen shouldn't remain as-is though - production car screens are already getting larger. The screens on the interior doors are less likely I reckon, and the dashboard would probably end up being slightly more conventional. Oh, and I can't see the steering wheel remaining a square of clear acrylic...
I hugely doubt the wheels will remain as enormous as that. That's the one thing that always gets significantly changed for production.
- 51,157
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- SpacedustDaddy
That's what I'm hoping they don't do.
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JacoJa
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This is my car of the show for sure. Probably the best concept car I have seen in years. I'm just worried that most of the magic will be missing from the production version.
Aren't there laws on pedestrian safety which forces the front-end design of all new cars to be curved? I don't know how the dodge challenger designers got around it. Maybe it's only a European rule?
The seats will also need proper headrests and side bolsters to pass crash tests, and the A-pillars will need to be beefed up, even on the skateboard EV platform.
Hopefully the changes will be minimal. I love this thing! Might consider buying it instead of a Model 3 in a few years. 👍
Aren't there laws on pedestrian safety which forces the front-end design of all new cars to be curved? I don't know how the dodge challenger designers got around it. Maybe it's only a European rule?
The seats will also need proper headrests and side bolsters to pass crash tests, and the A-pillars will need to be beefed up, even on the skateboard EV platform.
Hopefully the changes will be minimal. I love this thing! Might consider buying it instead of a Model 3 in a few years. 👍
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It's primarily a European thing, but it's not a black and white flat/curved issue. It's more about the height of the bonnet and the presence of hard points below the bonnet and behind the bumper.
There are lots of little tricks to get around it. In that Honda for instance, making the clear panel over the headlight and the display flexible would help its pedestrian rating, as would it being an electric vehicle with no hard engine underneath. Other companies employ tricks to ensure their cars are compliant - the Mazda MX-5 has an explosive pop-up mechanism that pushes the trailing edge of the bonnet upwards to create more space between the bonnet and the engine.
Yep, the bench seat won't remain (though I hope they keep the colourway and the cloth material). It's feasible to keep the pillars relatively slim, but as I mentioned further up, that's less related to the EV powertrain and more to whether it'll be sold in the US - it's American rollover regulations that have forced ultra-thick pillars on us.
JacoJa
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Thanks for that information @homeforsummer . Good to know there are ways of retaining the retro looks even with the production car design restrictions. Hopefully Honda has some talented engineers to make this a reality.
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I really wouldn't mind if they have to make a few changes, ie: smaller wheels and arches, thicker pillars, traditional seats and wing mirrors. As long as they can keep the basic shape, small overhangs, clear front panel and round lights at the front, square brake lights at the back (they don't even have to be outlines) and of course, that neat touch @Famine pointed out. I'll be more than happy.
- 373
- desmodan
- what's an Xbox ?
Sorry I wasn't doubting your photo was just looking at post 17 at the time .
As regard the mx5 impact device thingy ( that's a technical name for it) my other halfs boss had a 15mph incident in his new toy . I swear I have never seen so much damage caused by such a low speed accident , just to add to his misery it took 9 weeks to get it back from the shop .
- 2,541
- somewhere near Trial Mountain
- oldbusanubis
It's like a modern EV version of the first-gen Golf or second-gen Civic hatch. Hell yes! Bring back the boxy designs again, from when cars looked good!
I'd get rid of the seat bench though and go with separate seating, change the rim style, and reduce the size of the headlamps. Rest is awesome.
I'd get rid of the seat bench though and go with separate seating, change the rim style, and reduce the size of the headlamps. Rest is awesome.
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- theufc33
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Hope it's suitably compact, and in addition to rather than instead of the mooted S2000 replacement. A new S800 would be right up my street.
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There is already an S660. Not sure there's a need for an S800.
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I mean conceptually rather than literally. The S800 is just a convenient Honda representation of a compact two-seater, closed-roof sports car.
Think a Honda sports car with roughly Miata-like performance - splitting the difference between a low-performance S660 (which effectively cannot be sold outside of Japan) and the next S2000, which will inevitably have somewhere over 300bhp and cost proportionally more than a Civic Type R.
A car in say, the 150-200 ish horsepower range, with usable storage (the S660 has none) and relatively low pricing (ideally around that of the 1.5-litre MX-5 sold over here, but certainly no more than something like a GT86/BRZ) would be perfect.
I still hold out hope that Toyota will also play the game with a production version of the S-FR shown at Tokyo a couple of years back, which matched the MX-5 near-perfectly in terms of dimensions. Could you imagine a market where customers could pick between affordable, front-engined, rear-drive sports cars from Mazda, Toyota and Honda?
