The EV roster is finally filling in. But for every cool EV that is headed our way, there’s a handful of others that didn’t quite make it. What unrealized EV do you wish made it to production?
I’ve admitted that I am a hopeless Honda fanboy — maybe because Honda’s reliability offers some respite to the woes of my BMW ownership — so, of course, my answer has to be the Honda Sports EV Concept.
Honda revealed that concept in 2017, at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show, alongside the Urban EV Concept. The Urban EV would go on to graduate from concept to production car, and it did so in a way that was surprisingly faithful to the concept car unveiled in 2017, but the Sports EV wasn’t so lucky. I couldn’t tell you why it was passed over for production. It probably has to do with cost, but I wish so much that the Sports EV Concept could have its day in the sun.
I like to tell myself that the Sports EV was too radical, too much for the world to handle, so we got the Honda e instead. Sure, it’s a fantastic little EV, and I love it, but I can almost certainly say that I would never buy it. Not because it’s not for sale in the U.S., but because it’s a reminder of the concept that never was, of the truly awesome Sports EV.
It’s just a striking car with a beautiful, simple design. It’s friendly, almost ebullient, but still cool. It looks effortlessly fast, like it could outrun your Porsche, but without being a dick about it. Its project leader, Makoto Harada, said that his team designed it “...to give the impression of motion.”
They nailed it! The car looks like it’s moving even when it’s not. I love what coulda have been with the Sports EV Concept, but what concept car gets your vote? Which unrealized EV do you wish made it to production?