Honda Previews All-Electric Cub Scooter, Re-Focusing Efforts On Electric Vehicles

INSPIRED BY the Honda Cub 50cc motorcycle developed in 1958 and still in production today, the all-electric Cub is Honda's vision for future urban mobility.

While driving through both front and rear wheels via a pair of small electric hub-motors, Honda is keeping quiet about power figures and the finer technical details.

Honda isn't the only motorcycle company working on two-wheel-drive technology for its bikes, with Yamaha, Ohlins and KTM deep in development of their own versions for the past decade.

Thanks to the lack of conventional engine components, the all-electric cub is slimmer than its iconic petrol counterpart.

Honda is aiming to have an electric motorcycle on the market by the end of 2010, although it has not confirmed whether it will be the electric Cub, or a larger sports/performance model.

Honda Re-Focusing Efforts On Electric Vehicles

Despite its investment in hydrogen fuel cells, Honda is set to introduce at least one all-electric vehicle to the market in the near future.

Citing the slow development of a hydrogen infrastructure around the world, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito told Reuters this week that his company would need to offer an electric vehicle if it is to meet new laws in California that requires manufacturers to offer a particular ratio of 'zero emission' cars.

One of the few carmakers not to have a major electric vehicle project already in place, Honda recently revealed the all-electric EV-N concept (pictured above).

Inspired by the classic Honda N600 of the late 60s and early 70s, the EV-N concept features swappable seat fabrics, a solar roof to support the battery-powered motor, and a car-to-car communications array in the front bumper.

[via Reuters]