Honda announced that they’ve opened the order books for the 2019 Honda Urban EV concept but we already knew it was going to be made so…
Honda’s Urban EV Concept will be the first mass-produced EV for Honda so it’s sort of a big deal for them. According to Honda in an official press release they dropped earlier today to coincide with the Geneva Motor Show (Mar. 6,2018) production was given the greenlight to start rolling out these all-electric hatches for model year 2019. Of course, we already knew that Honda was going to build this Urban EV Concept so no surprise there. What we’re really hankering for are those sweet specs like range and price which, although they haven’t been announced yet, should be coming shortly.
“A production version of this highly acclaimed concept will be introduced to Europe during late 2019, and in response to the positive feedback to this model, we expect to open order banks for the Urban EV during early 2019.”
Check out a couple of shots of the Urban EV Concept as we know it below!
As this is just a concept car, you can expect Honda to trim the unnecessary design fat for the sake of cost. That means outside you can say goodbye to that interactive front lighted grill, those A-pillars that wouldn’t survive a crash test, and those paper fin looking wheels. In its place, you’ll probably find a conventional grill and headlights, wheels with plastic aero covers along with chunkier tires and structural reinforcements to run the Euro NCAP gamut.
Inside, you can expect the same cost-cutting regime so bye-bye to that battery sapping dash screen and real wood interior accents.
And you did really expect this Urban EV to hit US shores anytime soon did you? It’s an Urban EV for one. This compact EV was made for Europe’s narrow streets with a much more EV friendly charging infrastructure anyways.
And with the dominance of Tesla along with other EV offerings in the United States from the likes of Nissan and GM, a Honda EV would be a non-starter if they can’t compete on price and range , which I doubt it will.
Here’s to hoping this Honda Urban EV concept is a smashing success in Europe next year and that they fill their order books. Maybe..just maybe Honda will find an excuse to bring it over here.
