Honda EV-neo scooter

[Richard230]

Here is Honda's spin on the EV business. Check out the photos of the scooter. I particularly like the scared and worried-looking model sitting on the seat. Not exactly Brammo quality.    Times must be tough in Japan this year.    Read about it and see pictures of the scooter here:

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2011/japan-honda-ev-neo-electric-scooter

[Phantom]

Thanks for the link.

I would bet it does well in Japan. I saw a bunch of scooters there earlier this year. The ratios of scooters to motorcycles was probably about 50 to 1 based on the places I visited. The strength of the Japanese yen is making it difficult for Japanese companies to compete overseas on price. I would take a Brammo any day over those.

[protomech]

Honda has some solid specs for the bike now.
http://world.honda.com/news/2010/2101216EV-neo/

2.8 kw peak, 0.6 kw rated / 8.1 ft-lb @ 2000 rpm AC motor
72v / 12.6ah (.91 kwh) lithium ion battery
21 mile nominal range @ 30 km/h
106 kg / 230 lb

The interesting bits are a dry clutch, a combined braking system, and the toshiba-developed SCiB battery which offers a 30 minute quick charge at 200v. The onboard 100v charger will fully charge the bike in 3.5 hours.

Obviously no competition for the Enertia, as the power and range are much lower than even the Enertia 3.1kwh. It still may be a good fit for its niche.

I won't make a stab at yen to USD conversion, but it's priced slightly lower than a JDM Ninja 250R, about $4k here.

***

This is one of the first applications using Toshiba's SCiB (super-charge ion battery). SCiB is a lithium-ion battery with outstanding durability and thermal envelope claims, exceptionally high charge rates, and somewhat disappointing energy density.

* durability - supposedly safe from thermal runaway after physical abuse, 82% capacity after 6000 cycles (10C charge!!, 3.5C discharge @ 25°C)
* thermal envelope - claims 85% capacity at -30°C, 95% capacity at -10°C .. compare to valence ucharge 12xp, 65% capacity at -10°C
* high charge - claimed 10-11C in pack configuration, 5 minute charge to 95%

It's worth noting that 240v / 70a (per the tesla roadster) is probably the highest practical charge rate without substantial infrastructure investment. That's only a 1.7C charge rate for the brammo empulse, so high power charge is only really useful for small batteries or for facilities especially designed to charge EVs.

I suspect the EV-neo battery is a 3S 3P configuration of Toshiba's 24V modules, which gives the rated 72V / 12.6 Ah capacity. That pack weighs ~18kg of the bike's 106kg and is fairly well sized for the small motor. Honda isn't making extreme use of the high charge rates of SCiB, but the scooter should be a very inexpensive delivery bike for an easy 200k km..