Honda Urban EV Concept: Old School For The Future

With carmakers pushing towards alternate fuels and automation, cars have started to look like sketches out of sci-fi novels. But, when the world is pushing towards radicalising car design, Honda has taken a step back, and possibly, in the right direction.

The Honda Urban EV Concept harks back to the 70's. A much simpler and more beautiful time, when the first-gen Honda Civics and the Mark I Golf GTIs used to rule the streets. But don't be fooled, this concept is indeed the future of Honda's all-electric urban cars. What knocks our socks off is the fact that a production version of this Urban EV Concept will be in Europe in two years!

The simple lines, the short bonnet, boxy design and the sloping rear windscreen - every design element is reminiscent of the first-generation Honda Civic. Simple, yet so elegant. Dial in the fact that it is brimming with technology and looks like the holy monogamy of the past and the future. The finishing touch to which has to be the rear-hinged suicide doors.

Not just on the outside, the Honda Urban EV Concept is stunningly simple on the inside as well. You get sofa-like bench seats, both at the front and the rear which can seat four occupants. The dashboard consists of a floating console which runs just short of the width of the dashboard. This screen flows into the doors which display the feed from the rear view cameras. You still get a steering wheel, but other controls/buttons are largely limited.

Based on a completely new platform, the Honda Urban EV Concept is a small, but a low and wide hatchback. The grille of the car also acts as a display which can read custom messages between the headlights. It can also double up as the charging status display when the vehicle is parked and charging.

Speaking of charging, the Urban EV Concept takes it quite a few notches higher. With Honda’s Power Manager Concept, you can even release electricity generated by renewable sources back into the home or sell it back to the grid! A car that makes money! And like all cars of the future, you also get a 'personal concierge, which learns from the driver by detecting emotions behind their judgments.'

Though this concept has a lot of features from the future, we know that the production version will carry forward similar looks and the all-electric powertrain. 2019 never seemed so far!

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