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This is the Honda Urban EV Concept, the car that shows Honda is at long last getting serious about battery-electric cars. While the Japanese car maker has so far concentrated on making hydrogen powered 'Clarity' fuel cell cars, its CEO, Takahiro Hachigo, has recently admitted that Honda had lost its way somewhat, and fallen behind most rivals when it comes to electric cars.
The Urban EV Concept is the first sign of a turnaround, and Hachigo promises that it will be on sale, in some form, in 2019. "This is not some vision of the distant future; a production version of this car will be here in Europe in 2019," he said at the Frankfurt motor show.
The Concept, which clearly borrows styling cues from the original 1970s Honda Civic, is a compact four-seater all-electric car, although Honda isn't yet talking about one-charge range or performance figures. It's 100mm shorter, overall, than the current Jazz, and features a new blue-backlit Honda 'H' badge which will become the Honda signature for electric cars.
Slightly worryingly, the central panel between the headlights is also an electronic messaging board, which Honda says means "interactive multilingual messages can be displayed between the headlights, including greetings, advice for other drivers on the road, or charging status updates." The possibility of abusing that system makes the mind boggle...
Inside, once you climb in through the rear-hinged doors, is quite a dramatic cabin. All of the instruments and infotainment is taken care of by one huge, broad screen, like a Tesla Model 3 gone mad. There are also screens that run from the dashboard into the doors, partially because the Concept uses rear-view cameras instead of mirrors, so you need some extra screens down there.
Honda has also announced some helping hands for the Urban EV - a Honda Automated Network Assistant, which is a Siri-like AI that learns your driving habits and can offer helpful suggestions, and Honda's Power Manager Concept, a Tesla-like wallbox that can charge your car, juggle power from the grid and from your house's solar panels, and even return energy to the grid at peak times.