Honda has unveiled NueV, a pure-electric concept car with automated ride-sharing capabilities at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland.
The concept car has a built-in smart engine, which Honda claims can learn from its driver.
The company said that the concept car has been designed to take advantage of a pure electric vehicle, which sit idle for most of the time.
Instead of keeping the vehicles idle most of the time, Honda is exploring ways to use the new NueV concept for a financially-beneficial ownership model, by functioning as an automated ride-sharing vehicle when it is not in use.
The car could pick up and drop off customers at local destinations, or may also sell energy back to the grid when there is high demand for energy.
Honda also claims that the vehicle is equipped with an artificially intelligent (AI) assistant which uses an ‘emotional engine’ called Honda Automated Network Assistant (HANA).
The AI assistant is capable of learning from the driver’s emotions while taking decisions and can apply what it has learnt in the past to make new choices and recommendations.
NueV is claimed to have been designed to have a sweeping panoramic windscreen and sloping belt line that makes manoeuvring simple. Entry and exit from the vehicle has also been made easy, even in tight parking spaces, with complete side panel that opens out and backwards to make a large opening.
The electric vehicle has two seats with space for luggage in the rear, where a ‘Kick ’n Go’ scooter concept is also stored. The scooter concept is a modified version of Honda’s original scooter of the same name launched in the 1970s. The scooter is powered by a battery system and it can be recharged through a connection in NeuV’s luggage space.
Demonstration of the vehicle is continuation of Honda’s ‘Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem’ at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, where the potential power of AI, robotics and big data to transform mobility experience of the future.
Honda also announced that it plans to sell two-thirds of vehicles with electrified powertrains by 2025 in Europe. The company plans to release plug-in hybrid, battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for its European customers.
