Last year, Japanese automaker Honda's Urban EV Concept car made waves in the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Urban EV will make an appearance again in this year's Geneva Motor Show, with Honda announcing that it plans to begin rolling out units in 2019. However, the electric Urban EV will only initially be available in Europe, and Honda has made no mention of whether or not the car will be available in other markets.
Despite its simple, retro design, the Urban EV turned heads in Frankfurt last year. At first glance, the car looked like it rolled in from the 70's. It was a small two-door hatchback that can comfortably fit four people inside. A look at the car's interior, however, revealed how Honda molded modern technological functionality with an unassuming retro-inspired exterior.
The car's interior revealed design details such as a square steering wheel, very few buttons and knobs, a wooden dashboard, and a very wide touch screen. The lack of the usual controls indicates that drivers will likely need to talk to the car to give commands, which means that artificial intelligence will likely play a huge role in the Urban EV.
Honda's concept car is set to appear once again at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, which runs from March 8 to March 18. Design-wise, not much seems new. There is also not much information about how the car is powered, but what is clear so far is that the car is likely to run on electricity.
However, the engineering behind the car's electric power is still unknown, possibly because Honda may make changes to the Urban EV's electric platform between now and the time that units actually roll out.
The Japanese automobile giant also revealed that it will begin taking orders for the Urban EV in early 2019, with the goal of launching the finished products in late 2019.
While the design features of the Honda Urban EV piqued interest, not all of them will make it to the finished product. After all, the Urban EV shown in the motor shows is only a concept car. Many of the design features are likely to change or disappear entirely in the manufacturing process due to practical and legal considerations.
Unfortunately, the car will only be available in Europe, at least for now. Honda remains silent on if and when the car will be available in the United States, Canada, and other territories. It is possible that Honda has decided against releasing the model in the United States since there may not be much demand for a car that is already inches smaller than the smallest car currently on the U.S. market. However, the car is likely to fit in well with Europe's narrower streets.
