HONDA
CITY PAL COMES TO THE DETROIT AUTO SHOW
DETROIT,
Jan. 10 – Honda’s concept commuter vehicle, the City Pal -- already part of a
demonstration program in Japan -- is on display at the North American
International Auto Show.
The
City Pal is a two-seat, advanced electric vehicle designed for use in Honda’s Intelligent
Community Vehicle System (ICVS) at Honda’s Twin Ring Motegi motorsports complex
in Tochigi, Japan. ICVS is a regional
traffic system for the near future, suggested by Honda. This research program integrates alternate
modes of transportation, including car sharing, with existing systems to help
ease traffic congestion, alleviate parking shortages and reduce air pollution.
In
1998, ICVS began at Twin Ring Motegi where Honda tests how ICVS members share
the use of environmentally friendly vehicles such as the Racoon, an electric
power-assisted bicycle; Mon Pal, a single-seat electric car; Step Deck, a one
person hybrid car; and City Pal. Using
advanced technologies, each vehicle is accessible from various port locations
to ICVS members using an ATM type “smart card.”
When
the number or mix of vehicles at ports becomes unbalanced, a system worker
driving an ICVS vehicle, like City Pal, can lead up to four unmanned vehicles
to another port using inter-vehicle communications systems and ultra-wide angle
laser radar. If the car returns with a
low charge, the vehicle is automatically moved to a charging terminal and
recharged.
The
City Pal is a front-wheel-drive, extremely compact vehicle, as wide as it is
high at 5.4 ft. (1,645 mm) and 10.5 ft. (3,210 mm) in length. It reaches a top speed of 68 mph (110 km/h)
and can go approximately 80 miles (130 km) on a single charge. City Pal has a large luggage compartment and
offers comfortable passenger space.
Standard features include an advanced navigation system and air
conditioning.
The
ICVS concept also is being tested in the United States. In February 1999, American Honda Motor Co.,
Inc. partnered with the University of California, Davis’ Institute of
Transportation Studies in Riverside, Calif. for CarLink, the first car-sharing
system in the U.S. to use smart-card technologies. For this ICVS program, members share the use of 12 natural
gas-powered Civic GXs. The vehicles are
assigned to them when they use their smart card.
In
March 1999, Honda joined with the University of California, Riverside’s College
of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology in Riverside,
Calif., in the program. Members of this
research program share 15 EV PLUS electric vehicles that they access using their
smart card from one of three port locations.
In the CarLink
and IntelliShare programs, onboard electronics monitor vehicle logistics,
customer use and vehicle location, then transmit this information to a command
center.
By testing
these systems, Honda can gain real-world information on consumer acceptance of
car sharing, allowing researchers to further refine the concept.
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