Honda’s Vision for Electric Cars Puts a Futuristic Spin on an Old Civic

Honda's vision for the future, which it showed off at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is electric with a hint of the 1970s first generation Civic.

The Urban EV is a concept. But unlike many, many other concepts that get rolled onto auto show stages, a version of this car is going into production. And it's coming to Europe by 2019.

The all-electric concept car is built on a new platform that aims to set a direction for what Honda's future battery electric car will look like. Honda first revealed its electric car strategy earlier this year at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show and it's been teasing its electric car debut plans for the Frankfurt show over the past several weeks.

“This is not some vision of the distant future; a production version of this car will be here in Europe in 2019,”Honda Motor Co. President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo said during his press conference speech.

Hachigo also pledged to bring electrified technology—and that could mean a hybrid, plug-in, or all-electric, in every new car model launched in Europe. Honda aims to have electrified technology in two thirds of its new car sales by 2030 globally. It wants to hit that same target in Europe by 2025.

The Urban EV, with its Honda emblem backlit in blue, has a low stance that's supposed to hint at its sporty driving performance. The car is about 100 mm shorter than the Jazz supermini, the EU version of the Honda Fit.

The front of the car has a display in between the headlights that can send out multi-lingual messages, including greetings—Hello!—advice for other drivers—brilliant idea—or charging status updates.

The inside of the concept car features two bench-style seats that can accommodate four people. The design, while unlikely to show up in a production version, is meant to create a "lounge feeling."

Honda's ‘urban EV concept’ ‘showcases advanced technology within a simple and sophisticated design.
Its low and wide proportions give the car a planted, muscular stance that hint at sporty driving performance.
The japanese manufacturer’s emblem on the concept is backlit in blue, which previews a new styling feature for the company‘s future EVs. At the front of the car, interactive multilingual messages can be displayed between the headlights, including greetings, advice for other drivers on the road, or charging status updates.

The driver’s outward visibility from the ‘urban EV concept is enhanced by its slim A-pillars and a wide windscreen that appears to sweep around the entire front of the car.
Entry and exit from the vehicle is through rear-hinged coach doors. The electric charging cable connection is housed on the bonnet. The concept can accommodate four occupants, across two bench seats finished in different materials. To create a lounge feeling, the front row is upholstered with natural grey fabric, with the seat backs, squabs and arm rests embellished with contemporary wood finish accents.

The seatbelts for the rear bench are fixed in the middle of the seat, allowing the belt to retract out of the way before a passenger exits the car.
The same wood finish wraps around a large ‘floating’ dashboard console. this houses the steering wheel column, a set of simple control buttons, and a panoramic display screen. The dashboard itself is completed by a wrap-around screen that runs behind the console and extends into the doors. The main dashboard screen presents vehicle information including remaining battery level. whilst the extended door screens function as the car’s wing mirrors through digital camera displays.