The Tokyo Motor Show is back – only now, it’s called the Japan Mobility Show. With a focus on the future of mobility, the name change reflects a growing trend of creating alternative means of transportation. Honda’s booth at the show focuses on the future of mobility that they dream of, hence, their brand slogan, ‘The Power of Dreams.’
The dream trend continues with the theme of the booth, the Honda DREAM LOOP. Throughout the booth are various new concepts and products that Honda claims will allow users to transcend various constraints such as time and place, and augment their abilities and possibilities. While completely autonomous vehicles and flying cars were the biggest talking points, there was one small addition that caught our attention: an eMTB.
The Honda e-MTB Concept doesn’t include much detail in the press release. It simply states, “the mountain bike that offers more FUN in nature”. From what we can see from the pictures, the concept bike has some visual similarities to the Honda RN01 DH bike that never saw production. Realistically, that’s mostly likely the result of Honda’s power sports team having an influence on the design. The Honda eMTB swingarm shape and shock placement is quite similar to the RNO1, though the ebike uses a cast aluminum swingarm. The description states the unique frame and swingarm are “built using thin-wall aluminum casting technology for high-performance motorcycles, and together with the unique frame design, express a fusion of functionality and styling”
This is a concept, so it will be interesting to see how much makes it to production, if at all.
eMTB Mobile Charging?
Perhaps more interesting than the ebike itself, was what appears to be a mobile charging station shown at the Japan Mobility Show. Again, Honda doesn’t go into much detail yet, but the wheeled cart appears to house their new Mobile Power Pack e:, which seems to be a large capacity energy storage unit. The lid of the Power Pack e: container even has a small tool set to make trailhead adjustments. This unit likely wouldn’t charge the bike any faster than a normal outlet, but it would let you recharge if you’re car camping in the wilderness for a multi-day ebike adventure.
Neither the eMTB Concept or the mobile charger have details about production, but you would have to imagine Honda is working on it.
