Posts Tagged ‘ev-n’

Honda’s EV-N – A Solar Electric Car

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The auto manufacturers are coming up with some slick concept vehicles these days, and this one from Honda just might raise the bar once again for the best electric car.  They call it the EV-N and its a battery powered with a solar panel for a roof.

The interior is what you’d imagine the car to have looking at it from the outside.  Its almost got that iPod or Mac style going on with the really clean design.  In addition to it looking clean, it has a really interesting bonus build into the side of the passenger door.  It’s called a U3-X robo-unicycle and it seems like the offspring of the famed Segway and is a very cool feature of the car.

The seats are made with a removable fabric system so you an change it out for another color or pattern.  The front grill area has some type of illuminating system for communication.  The rest of the car is fairly simple, and may become quite popular for those who don’t travel far from the home.  With so many jobs that allow you to work from your home, this might make sense for the occasional trip down to the post office or grocery store.

While the simplicity is there, it still seems to be lacking something before it could really appeal to a large audience.  It could just be the lack of or empty appearance on the inside that gives it that golf cart type feeling.  An interior can make or break a deal no matter what the car can do mechanically, simply because people want to have an experience.  It could be the luxury of leather seats, the onboard media systems, or a design that is attractive enough to stare at for as long as you drive the car.  The EV-N just seems to be missing that experience, and perhaps its quite common for concept cars to have that sense they are missing something.