Insider
are replaced by cameras feeding images to six-inch screens at
either end of the dashboard.
Interior space is relatively cramped for tall occupants, not
helped by the standard-fit glass roof pinching a bit of headroom.
The BMW i3, for instance, is roomier despite its high floor. The
boot is also high and small to accommodate the motor beneath.
Project insiders say they were pleasantly surprised by just
how positively the Urban EV concept was received. Do they
worry buyers may be put off by this near-production version’s
diluted appearance?
‘I can’t imagine driving through an urban area with the
concept car,’ says Kohei Hitomi. ‘In real life, I would prefer the
production car.’
He has a point. While it might lack the original concept’s
outlandish impact, when passers-by see the production version
of the e Prototype on a British city street for the first time, it
won’t go unnoticed. How it’ll drive, and whether it will match
its visual appeal with a similarly compelling ownership package
to give Honda a foothold in the fast-emerging EV market, is
another matter entirely.
JAMES TAYLOR
WE NEED TO TALK
ABOUT SWINDONOnly the driver’s seat tips and slides; fully charged in two hoursCitroën is marking 100 years
of innovative lightweight cars
by showing a concept that’s
so innovative and light that
it’s barely a car at all. The
Ami One is Citroën’s vision of
an electric two-seat city car.
Smaller than a Smart ForTwo,
it’s intended to be classed
as a quadricycle like the
Renault Twizy and in some
countries would be legal for
16-year-olds. If it goes into
production, it could be hired
like a Boris bike, shared like a
pool car, leased or bought.
It has near-identical
doors – rear-hinged for the
driver, front-hinged for the
passenger – as part of a
cost-conscious approach to
design that minimises the
number of different parts.
It’s equally simple inside,
where the passenger seat
is fixed but the driver’s
seat slides and tips to give
access to the small luggage
area behind the seats. The
windows, mirrors and canvasroof are all manual.
‘The way to make it
affordable was to avoid the
redundancy of technology,’
says interior designer
Jean-Arthur Madeleine. ‘It’s
based on the idea that
instead of having a lot of dis-
plays, everything is coming
from your smartphone.’
There’s a battery in the
floor and an electric motor
driving the rear wheels.
Range is around 100 miles;
a recharge using a wallbox
should take about two hours.
A car that’s going to
be shared needs to be
low-maintenance and easily
cleaned – hence the interior
design team drew inspiration
from public transport and
garden furniture.
Product manager
Sébastien Grandmougin
says if it does go on sale
it will be priced not as a
premium product but, like the
post-war 2CV, as a new way
to mobilise the masses....and Citroën’s très
French alternative
Teens targeted by novel two-seater
The new Honda EV’s Geneva
unveiling came just days after the
news broke that Honda was almost
certain to close the Swindon
factory. These events are not
unconnected.
Several factors are involved
(including Brexit uncertainty and
a new trade agreement between
Japan and the EU), but Honda
says the big one is its embrace of
electrification with the e Prototype
and everything that will follow in
its wake. Honda looked at what it
needed to do in order to pursue
electrification – with a hybrid or
EV in every new product line, and
diesels getting the boot – and
decided the most efficient
approach would be to focus its
investment on the places where it
already makes most of its cars.
Honda makes 2.3 million cars
a year in Asia, 1.9 million in North
America and 160,000 in Swindon,
which has a capacity of 250,000.
The factory employs 3500 people.
Will Swindon – which has been
building cars since 1992 – definite-
ly close? Almost certainly, but the
decision that’s actually been taken
is to not build the replacement
for the current Civic at Swindon
when that ends in 2021. In theory
another role for Swindon could be
found during talks with workers
and unions, but don’t expect it.APRIL 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 11