EV Plus®
The Dream: Build an Electric Car
The year was 1987. Several of our top research executives had a series of meetings to determine which technologies they should give special focus in the 21st Century.
The decision? Develop clean-energy vehicles. Increase fuel efficiency. Reduce emissions. Protect the environment.
Of all the industry-changing ideas that resulted from those discussions, one in particular would pave the way for Honda's subsequent leadership in introducing gas-electric hybrids, fuel cell vehicles and other alternative-fuel vehicles. That vehicle was the Honda EV Plus battery electric vehicle.
Introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1993, the first iteration of the EV Plus was more than a "show car;" it actually ran. From the beginning, our focus was on real world value - so it was a spacious four-passenger vehicle. But we needed to further improve its performance -- especially the battery, which tended to suffer in intense heat and had limited driving range. So after exhaustive research and testing -an improved EV prototype debuted in 1995, sporting a new nickel-metal hydride battery. But our commitment to gaining real world experience led us to go even further - including crash testing by the federal government just like any other vehicle.
In 1997, after further developments, the EV Plus came to market in California as the world's first four-passenger advanced battery-powered electric vehicle introduced to consumers.
Although the limitations of battery performance ultimately led to the end of Honda's EV Plus marketing efforts, the advancement of key components, such as an electric motor, the battery power system, and our engineers knowledge of charging systems, continued to evolve. In fact, more than 10 years later, our engineers continue to build on the technology we developed for the EV Plus in the advancement of Honda hybrids and a new kind of electric vehicle the FCX hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. In fact, the first generation FCX - the first fuel cell vehicle in history to be certified for public use by the federal government - uses the same body style as the EV Plus.
So, we not only achieved our initial dream of building a battery electric car. Today the experience from that effort lives on as the building block for a new era of environmentally responsible vehicles.