Honda NeuV Concept Preview: 2017 CES
CARS.COM
Looks like: A futuristic take on the Smart ForTwo
Defining characteristics: Autonomous ride-sharing capability, scissor doors that open toward the rear, artificial intelligence that learns your moods
Ridiculous features: Can sell power back to the electric grid, the dashboard is one giant screen
Chance of being mass-produced: None in this form
Honda’s latest concept car, the NeuV, has a lot in common with several of the other concepts we’ve already seen so far at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, including the Toyota Concept-i and the Chrysler Portal. Each has facial recognition capability, doors that open unconventionally, technology galore and efficient electric drivetrains, but only the NeuV has been designed with a different kind of green in mind — the money kind.
NeuV (pronounced “new-vee”) is an acronym for “new electric urban vehicle” and, as part of its conception, it’s designed to be an autonomous ride-sharing vehicle that can function as a revenue source when it’s not being used by the owner — it’s like an Uber that you don’t have to actually drive. Other users in the area can summon the NeuV like any other ride-sharing service and it will ferry them to their destination autonomously. If the owner needs to use the car, they can call it back.
This turns the NeuV into something akin to a piece of investment property. Letting it perform ride-sharing duties frequently could heavily offset the cost of ownership. Honda also says the NeuV also can sell energy back to electric companies via the electric grid during high-demand times, providing another potential source of revenue for its owner.
Exterior
The NeuV’s shape is Smart car-esque, with the wheels pushed to the extreme corners of the vehicle and a boxy vertical stance. Honda designers acknowledged this unflattering similarity, but said it allows the NeuV to have the maximum amount of usable space inside while keeping small, urban-friendly dimensions.
It must be a rule that all the concept cars appearing at CES can’t have conventional doors: The NeuV, like the other concepts, has rear-hinged scissor doors that open toward the back. There are large panes of glass on every side except the floor, and instead of side mirrors, there are two small cameras mounted in the interior that shoot out of glass ports on the doors.
Interior
The NeuV’s dashboard is one large screen that runs the width of the cabin. This screen replaces the traditional instrument panel and center console display, offering up a larger area to show important information such as speed, navigation directions and, at the top edges of the screen, a live feed from the cameras that replace the traditional side mirrors.
Also similar to other concept vehicles seen at CES this year, the NeuV comes with an AI companion, in this case the Honda Automated Network Assistant. HANA can detect your mood and checks it against your driving decisions and judgments, keeping a record to inform new choices and recommendations. It can also recommend music to fit your current emotional state, so bring on the Rage Against the Machine for Los Angeles traffic.
Honda told us that a person’s HANA user profile will be transferable to other Honda vehicles. If an owner purchased a new Honda vehicle, the AI would follow the owner and there would be no need to wait for the new car to learn the driver’s preferences.
There was one final element to the NeuV that caught my eye — an electric longboard that’s mounted in the trunk area. This is designed to get you to and from where the NeuV is parked if you don’t want it to come pick you up.
Under the Hood
Honda didn’t offer powertrain details, but its designers indicated that the design of the interior and exterior takes into account the position of a large electric battery and the two electric motors fore and aft, which provide the NeuV with all-wheel drive.
The NeuV certainly kept in touch with the technological theme of this year’s CES, which is personalization and a car that “knows” you. But its capability to be both companion and moneymaker make it stand out.
