Honda Presents Electric Mobility Synergy

After Yamaha announced plans of becoming the market leader in the electric motorcycle segment, another Japanese manufacturer also unveiled the company’s future plans focused on the zero emission theme as well. Honda has recently revealed plans of developing electric motorcycles and targeted the Chinese market.

The company is to start a real-world demonstration testing, before the end of this year, of next-generation electric personal mobility products, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, electric scooters and electric carts.

Thanks to a partnership with Kumamoto and Saitama prefectures in Japan, the demonstration program will use electromotive technologies for motorcycles, automobiles and power products, together with information and communication technologies, a solar-powered energy station and others in a real-world urban transportation environment.

“Using experimental models of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles as well as the EV-neo electric scooter, Honda will verify the effectiveness of such personal mobility to realise low-carbon mobility,” the company statement reads. “By monitoring the positional and operational information of participating Monpal ML200 electric carts, Honda will verify how such personal mobility will contribute to the quality of the daily life and health of local residents in the face of an aging society.”

“By establishing and utilising recharging stations that use thin-film solar cells manufactured by Honda Soltec, Honda will verify the effectiveness of the system which reduces CO2 from the energy-supply phase.”

Honda’s experiment will first start in Japan and will then be followed by the United States. It also targets China with electric and petrol-engined motorcycles next year, stating they will introduce a new zero-emission machine into China in 2011.