[Auto] Meet Honda's first electric car

[Dr.Drako]

The Honda-e's grandfather was the first to equip a nickel-metal hydride battery on the market.
Honda is a brand that is constantly innovating, being one of the first to venture into the segment of hybrid and electric cars, and one that seems to exploit all that expertise to a lesser extent.

As the clearest example, and in case you did not know, we have the extinct Honda CR-Z, the first sports hybrid of the brand launched in 2010. This model passed practically without penalty or glory, reflecting a low volume in sales due The technology used to power it was still a mystery to users, compromising reliability and credibility.

But long before this, in 1997, the Honda EV Plus, the first electric car of the Japanese firm, was launched, which would begin to travel the complicated path of alternative mobility. This, of course, was not the first electric in the world, but it was the first model to give up the lead-acid batteries that were used at the time to opt for new-technology ones.

Background
Honda's electric vehicle development project dates back to 1988, where the intention was to develop cars that could be powered by solar energy, just as they did at the World Solar Challenge (WSC) race held in Australia.

Initially, the investigation was carried out by a team of only four people, who took the chassis of the Honda CR-X to begin manufacturing the brand's first eco-labeled prototype.

Preparing engines
By the year 1990, the development team already had more than 100 members in its ranks, and a year later the launch of the first electric concept based on the Honda Civic three-door, with an engine and battery, was made official. from external suppliers, all this on a trial basis.

The 1993 Tokyo Motor Show arrived and with it a series of prototypes that anticipated the future of the various brands attending the autoshow, including Honda and its improved concept, under the name of EV-X Concept, a car that was already functional and it had a range of 50 kilometers.

After this came the Honda CUV-4, another prototype that was taken into production, albeit in a limited way, manufacturing only 10 units that would serve as test prototypes for two years. These traveled a total of 130,000 kilometers through the streets of California, using a battery made of lead and acid, which had to be modified due to the significant deterioration they had with respect to the climate of high temperatures.

Here came one of the most important challenges for Honda, as it stopped using the traditional battery pack to migrate to a new nickel-metal hydride battery, which would be much stronger, so it was later used by various brands for its new ecological developments.

Ready to debut
With a series of aesthetic and mechanical modifications, and after undergoing various tests, Honda's first EV was practically ready, only the approval of Nobuhiko Kawamoto, then CEO of Honda Motor Company, was missing to begin its production process and promotion.

The vehicle was approved and Honda Vice President Mr. Hiriyuki Yoshino gave the instruction that the launch would take place simultaneously, both in Japan and in the United States, which at the time was a potential market for the brand.

Finally came the year of 1996, where by means of the simultaneous launch the first Honda mass production electric was unveiled, being a year later when the first assembled unit would come out of the Takanezawa plant, in the Japanese pre-invoice of Tochigi , the same production center where the Honda S2000 and Honda NSX were manufactured.

Impulsed by…
The Honda EV Plus was equipped with an electric motor capable of developing 65 Hp, with the power being sent to the front wheels and the top speed of 130 km / h. As mentioned previously, the battery was made of nickel-metal hydride with a capacity of 28.7 kWh, boasting a range of up to 200 kilometers. It also used regenerative braking technology to maintain range and maximize durability on long rides.

In total 340 units were manufactured, which were destined to a greater extent to the United States market, only a dozen remained Japan and the rest went to Europe.

The project ended in 1999, just two years later, when Honda announced the production of its first hybrid, the Insight.