Honda NeuV Concept
Honda presented NeuV concept car at the CES 2017 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. The city 2-seat microcar is similar to Smart ForTwo and has a huge windshild, joined with the front bumper and massive taillights. Inside the concept there is a display instead of a dashboard. NeuV is designed to operate as apart of an autonomous ride sharing fleet, letting owners generate revenue from their vehicles when they’re not in use.
Honda NeuV is fitted with a 55 kW electric engine located at the rear axle and a 20 kWh battery pack. The range is 160 to 320 km. NeuV can recoup costs by managing electric power consumption from the grid, by intelligently monitoring electricity rates and charging only when it makes sense to do so from a cost perspective.
Honda also build digital payments into NeuV, allowing prepayment on the road for goods and services via bank account or Visa. There’s even an electric longboard in the back for last-mile transportation, making it easier to get around both inside and outside the car.
The outside design of the car is also unique, with doors that only extend about 20 mm beyond the frame of the car, and then pivot upwards to a 90-degree angle. This helps make sure the doors are accessible even in the tightest spaces, and has the added benefit of making it possible to build a very low step for entry with a full, unobstructed entryway for loading cargo and for getting in and out of NeuV.
NeuV is just a concept, Honda stresses, and there’s no sense of whether it’s intended for production or when.