While the U.S. Market hasn’t exactly embraced the idea of robotic lawn mowers yet, the European market has seen extraordinary growth and demand for such a device. While there are quite a few good robot mowers out there already, Honda wishes to join into the competition with its Honda Miimo.

This will be Honda’s first commercial robot product for average consumers and will feature a continuous cutting system that can mow 2-3mm of grass at time, several times each week. This means your grass is ‘always’ being cut, in sections, so that means less stress on the grass and healthier growth. It will also reduce moss and weeds, or so Honda claims. The robotic Honda Miimo navigates through a yard using timers, controls and a real-time sensory feedback system. Like many other robotic mowers, it does require a boundary wire installed under the ground to work, though.

The Honda Miimo isn’t too terribly different from other grass-cutting robots out there, but one feature that is unique to its device a fan that is built into the blade holder. This creates better airflow to suck the grass towards the blade. The device also makes use of three blades which bend on impact with hard objects, instead of shattering or chipping. This means you don’t have to worry about broken blades around the yard, either.

For the moment, there is no official pricing on this thing, and looks like it will be limited to the European market- at least for now. The Miimo will be manufactured by Honda France Manufacturing in Orlean and will start shipping to Authorized Honda Dealers in Europe in early 2013.

[ source ]

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Rush hour traffic isn’t fun for anyone and the frustration is further exacerbated when you have to come to a complete stop for no reason in particular. This is due to what is called the “accordion effect” and Honda has developed technology that could make it a thing of the past.

Look at the diagram below. If one car has to brake suddenly for whatever reason, the car behind it has to slow down to prevent a fender-bender. As a result of the second car slowing down, the car behind that has to slow down more. And the car behind that has to slow down even more, creating a “backward travelling wave” of slower and slower traffic. And that’s how you get a traffic jam and that’s how, somewhere down that wave, cars may have to stop altogether.

What Honda has done is developed technology that will detect the driving patterns of a vehicle that may lead to this kind of congestion. The system monitors acceleration and deceleration patterns, offering suggestions on how to minimize the accordion effect. In short, it’s about minimizing the need to quickly accelerate and quickly brake, instead driving as smoothly as possible.

This is all well and good, but there’s at least one major speedbump: other drivers. When you use the “congestion minimizer system” and leave extra distance from the vehicle in front of you, more likely than not a car from the other lane is going to seize the opportunity to fill that gap with the conviction that your lane is now the faster one. The way you get around this is if every car on the road uses this and it’s used in conjunction with Adaptive Cruise Control that taps into cloud servers, viewing and predicting the traffic patterns ahead.

In any case, the first Honda public road tests of the system are being planned for Italy in May and then Indonesia in July.

[Source]

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Ever seen “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”? Odds are that you have, as it is certainly an 80s classic.

For those that can’t tell, I’m a big fan personally of this movie, so it’s awesome to see that they’ve brought it back in the form of a semi-parody commercial for the CR-V.

I hope every Super Bowl commercial proves as creative as this. Regardless of whether or not your a fan of the movie, if you’ve seen it you will likely appreciate this.

Does this commercial really say anything about the CR-V that would make you want to purchase it? Not really, but it’s still an awesome video worthy of watching.

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The Honda CR-Z is already supposed to make hybrids fun. It may not be a sports car, but it is a sporty car. The upgraded version from Mugen, however, could be a completely different story.

I’ve seen people who have Mugen’d up their Civics and Integras with a fair bit of success, so it’ll be really interesting to see what Mugen Euro (based out of Northampton) can do with the sporty little hybrid. The CR-Z MUGEN is based on a joint partnership between the tuning folk and Honda UK.

They plan on upgrading not only the 1.5L gas engine, but also the Honda IMA electric assist system, giving the hot hatch more power and torque. Tossing in some alterations ot the exhaust and induction, they also hope to achieve improved fuel economy and reduced emissions “during some conditions.”

Not surprisingly, Mugen is doing the styling aerodynamic thing with new bumpers, spoiler, carbon fiber hood… and probably some stickers too, along with new rims, suspension, and brakes.

It’s just a one-off project, but there’s nothing stopping you from pimping your own ride to face off against Toretto.

The post Is the Honda CR-Z Mugen Too Fast, Too Furious? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

A report released by Zpryme Research and Consulting to shed some light on brand loyalty going into the age of electric vehicles shows that, despite a year of recalls and bad press, Toyota fans remain the most loyal customers of any brand.

In the web-based survey of 1,046 U.S. drivers age 18-65, 57 per cent of Toyota owners indicated they would prefer to buy an electric vehicle of the same brand as their current car than that of any other brand, followed by Honda at 54 per cent and Ford at 48. By comparison, only 43 per cent of Chevy and Nissan drivers would buy an EV from the manufacturer of their current car, followed by 28 per cent of Hyundai drivers and only 18 per cent with a GMC.

“I think there’s two compelling cases we’ve found here,” said Zpryme managing director Mark Ishac in an interview with Mobile Magazine. “Regardless of Toyota’s subpar year last year and recalls, they still have a substantial consumer base that believes that they still want to purchase those products. They still believe in the Toyota brand.

“That’s huge,” says Ishac.

According to the report, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge and GMC’s lower numbers suggest the brands are “less inclined to be associated with new technology and will struggle should they decide to enter the EV market without a branding effort to redefine themselves as manufacturers of compelling EVs.”

But that doesn’t mean the drivers of those brands aren’t looking to make the switch. Despite the fact that they aren’t likely to buy an EV sporting the same mark as the car they’re currently driving, 45 per cent of Hyundai drivers expressed they’re likely to buy an electric vehicle in the next two years – more than the drivers of any other brand. Nissan and Toyota both stand at 43 per cent, followed by GMC and Honda at 36 and Chevy and Ford at 35 per cent.

“Hyundai owners have been known to be very cost-conscious,” says Ishac. “You could say that the same thing about the GMCs: Traditionally, a very cost-conscious group. Those are SUV and truck drivers, so with the gas prices, they see the electric vehicles are a cost-saving alternative.

“It’s not necessarily a natural transition for an SUV or a truck owner to move into the electric vehicle segment, but it’s very appealing that they could save money in the long run with the electric vehicle,” he says.

At the bottom end of the results, Dodge and Chrysler drivers seem to be some of the least apt to adopt the new technology, and if they did, they’re even less apt to buy electric cars from the same mark as what they’re currently driving.

But brand loyalty won’t have a lot of sway in the beginning, Ishac says.

“The one interesting aspect of the electric vehicle market is that it’s really going to be spearheaded by the advocates and the evangelists. They’re more excited that there’s an electric vehicle market available rather than a brand.”

Zpryme also believes that disenchantment with a certain make or model of EV is unlikely to be tied to any companies in the beginning, he says. “For example, the Chevy Volt – at least, based on a new consumer report survey – didn’t get very rave reviews. But that won’t necessarily hurt the Chevy brand.

“I think those early adopters are just happy to reserve the car, to have their car and that it’s electric…It’s more about selecting an electric vehicle that best fits your needs rather than the best brand” for the first round of purchasers, he says.

[Zpryme via PDF report]

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The FAA-conforming HondaJet just successfully completed its maiden voyage over the skies of Greensboro, North Carolina, the site of Honda Aircraft Company’s world headquarters. The bird was in the air for just under an hour and it seems that everything is peachy keen on the FAA conformity front. This places the plane that much closer to commercial viability by 2012, just as Honda had planned.

The jet has an interesting design, similar to that of a hummingbird, Honda must have been playing in the wind tunnel for some time. It’s a shame there’s no hybridization for the HondaJet, reading the press release below it appears to be a typical fuel burning sky flyer. It can up to as far as1400 nm (1611 mi/ 2593 km) and carry 2 crew + 6 passenger with 57 cubic feet of cargo.

[Honda Jet]

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Honda will start leasing its EV-neo Electric Scooter on Friday, December 24, 2010 to select businesses in Japan. They are leasing 100 scooters as part of a government-backed program to collect data about the scooters. The EV-neo can go for 34 km before needing to be recharged, which Honda measured at a constant speed of 30 km/h on a level road. The scooter is being marketed for delivery services.

To save the pizza delivery guy from a charge time of about four hours with the portable 100V charger that comes with the scooter, Honda has developed a quick charger exclusively for the EV-neo, which can fully charge the scooter in 30 minutes. They are also part of the pilot program for the recently announced Honda EV charging stations in Japan.

Honda promotes the scooter as green, clean and quiet. It’s so quiet that there is an optional pedestrian alert system on the scooter to warn pedestrians that the pizza delivery guy is hot on their heels. The base price of the scooter with tax is about $5900 US. The scooter with the quick charger is about $6850 US. Honda hopes to start lease sales of the EV-neo to general businesses and individual business owners in April 2011.

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Honda announced that vehicle charging stations will be part of a Japanese trail to further Honda’s goal of reducing CO₂ emissions through their products.

The trail will include Honda’s electric vehicles (EVs) including the Fit and Accord, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, (PHEVs), the new EV-neo electric scooter and the Monpal ML200 4-wheel electric scooter.

A current drawback of EVs and PHEVs includes the lengthy charging times.  Honda’s Fit EV Concept can be driven for 160 km before it needs to be recharged. According to Honda, it takes less than six hours to charge using a 200-volt power source.

Honda’s PHEV model combines an electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery and an internal combustion engine. It can run as a fully-electric vehicle, a gas-electric hybrid, or as a gas-powered vehicle. In the all-electric mode, the vehicle can be driven 15 to 25 km before needing to recharge. Fully recharging the battery would take about 1.5 hours using a 200-volt outlet.

While it may be simple to charge an EV overnight in the garage, not everyone has a garage or access to an easily-accessible power source. Not to mention that it would be difficult to refuel in the middle of a trip. With stations that offer faster charging at higher voltages, it could allow drivers to gain full advantage of their EVs and PHEVs. Customers would be able to drive their cars for longer periods of time and go greater distances, and reduce their PHEV’s gasoline usage.

Honda will also test a communications system that allows drivers to search for the charging stations. The system will allow drivers to view how much charge the EV has left, and show a map that drivers can follow to the nearest charging station using either a smartphone or the built-in car navigation program.

[Honda]

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Honda this week kicked off their Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program, with the first public tests of the Fit EV and Accord plug-in hybrids.

The Fit EV, with a top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h) and a range of up to 100 miles (160 kms) on a single charge, features three settings – Econ, Normal, and Sport – designed to adjust output for either better energy conservation or performance, depending on the driver’s circumstances. You won’t see the Fit for sale in their pilot markets — the US and Japan — until 2012, but Google Inc., Stanford University and the City of Torrence will be receiving Fit EVs for testing in 2011.

“The goal of the Honda Electric Vehicle Demonstration Program is to more fully understand the challenges and opportunities associated with such a fundamental shift in technology,” said Tetsuo Iwamura, president and CEO of American Honda Motor Co, Inc. “The city of Torrance and the other participants will play a key role, by providing real-world feedback on their experience. They will help us tackle the important issues surrounding customer adoption of electric vehicles.”

During the study, the city of Torrence will be focussing on charging infrastructure and public awareness of electric vehicles.

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It looks like Honda is really starting to take this whole electric car thing a little more seriously. Going beyond the hybrid game of the Insight and CR-Z, we find a full electric vehicle on display at the LA Auto Show.

If you’re thinking that its outward appearance looks familiar, you’d be right. It’s the tried and true Honda Fit, which happens to use the exact same platform as the aforementioned Insight and CR-Z. The key difference, of course, is that this is a true EV. Honda is promising that an EV of some kind will be delivered within two years.

The tech is being borrowed from the CR-Z, as well as that FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle that we’ve been seeing for several years now. When plugged into a 240V socket, the Fit EV can fully recharge in six hours and go for about 100 miles at a time. Its max speed is limited to 90mph to help extend range and it has the same three drive modes as the Honda CR-Z sports hybrid.

I’ve said before that electric cars are not the future and even though I’ve taking some flack for saying it, I still believe the statement holds true. Honda thinks so too, banking on hydrogen as the future, but it also recognizes that Fit EV definitely has its place among the product portfolio too.

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