While companies including Tesla, General Motors, and Nissan are battling through the obstacle course that is the path to affordable long-range electric automobiles, Honda has pinpointed a practical niche in the growing electric-vehicle (EV) market. Earlier this month, Honda and digital fabrication specialist Kabuku announced a tiny commuter vehicle that applies short-range EV technology on the inside, with customizable 3D-printed body panels on the outside. The joint project was built to make nearby city deliveries for Toshiyama, the company that produces the popular Japanese dove-shaped shortbread called Hato Sabure.
Coming in at 98.2 inches long, 60.8 inches tall, 50.3 inches wide, and 1325 pounds, the Micro Commuter is ideal for narrow city streets. Using pint-sized electric tech from Honda’s previously launched MC- β EV, it’s supposed to be able to tool around town for about 50 miles on a charge, and its 15 horsepower can rocket the Micro Commuter to a claimed top speed of 43 mph.
The look, shape, and engineering of the 3D-printed parts on the car are a perfect example of Kabuku’s application of mass customization. The idea is to have a platform that allows cost-efficient, quick, and individualized design to be applied to a mass-produced product. In this case, the development only took two months and allowed Toshiyama to create a body that portrayed and advertised its dove confections without spending a lot of money.
From a structural standpoint, the car was not created entirely by 3D printing, only the outside and the storage compartment. Underneath, the car relies on Honda’s pipe-frame architecture, a light but rigid solution for small projects like this. In order to leave room for as many of those delicate little cookies as possible and minimize size and weight, the delivery vehicle only seats one centrally located driver.
The car officially launched at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) in Japan, a tech show similar to our CES, and is fully intended to make it into the real world. It might not look as spiffy or have nearly as much wacky tech as the futuristic Micro Commuter concept that Honda launched in 2011, but this is still pretty nifty and extremely practical. Now, where can we get some of that shortbread here in America?
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