Yes, governments are serious about tiny EVs.
Honda Motor Company today unveiled a Micro Commuter Prototype, a tiny limited-distance electric vehicle. Honda said the EV was developed in response for micro-sized mobility products that are currently being discussed under a government initiative from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan. The range for the 15 kW car is claimed to be about 60 km, and the top speed is 80 km/h.
The new Honda EV could also comply with regulations for the so-called L7 category in Europe, which is actually a motorcycle segment for vehicles that weigh 400 kg or less, excluding the weight of the battery, and have an electric motor output of 15 kW or less.
This is Honda’s second attempt at such an EV, and it builds on a previous micro that was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show 2011. That one had space for a driver and two children. It doesn’t look like much progress has been made on space, but changing the rear seat on the new micro, makes it possible fit one (smallish) driver and one (smallish) adult passenger.
The latest Honda EV includes hookups for a user-owned tablet computer to control functions such as instrument panel display, navigation, audio and back-up camera views. The car also has the ability to charge the battery of the tablet using solar cells mounted on the vehicle roof. Honda said it is continuing research of on-board solar cells to provide solar energy to assist the performance and range.
The vehicle works with the Honda Smart Home System that has already begun demonstration testing in the city of Saitama in Japan. This project is ambitious since Honda is planning to verify CO2 reduction from optimized energy management in everyday life, and when the Micro Commuter is used not only as an EV, but also as a household battery.
