Honda shows the future at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show

Unlike the previous years where Honda showed their entire lineup, excluding the kitchen sink, this year’s showing is honestly sparse. While we are used to see more focus on passenger cars such as the N-Box and the Vezel, it would seem that Honda have decided to put on a different show. This year seems to be the Year of the Bike for Honda with the introduction of the Super Cub and the three-wheeled concept — Neowing.

Having said that, it’s not all doom and gloom for the four-wheel inclined. There are three take aways from the show — the ‘return’ to sports, the advancement in fuel cell technology and the movement to an automated vehicle.

1. The Return of the NSX and the Civic Type-R

Frequent CAR readers would be familiar with the Civic Type-R, having been unleashed in Europe a few month back. It is only now that the Civic Type-R has made landing in the Land of the Rising Sun. Prices here starts at JPY4,800,000 and, get this, only 750 units will be made available to the Japanese market. Booking can only be done via website and if order entires exceed the allocated numbers, then the company will ballot to see who gets the shorter straws.

The NSX also saw its debut during the press presentation. I have jumped into the hot seat, stomped on the accelerator, dumped many horses of fire and electricity into the tyres, felt the weight of a large child sitting on my chest and whacked the speed limiter in the time it takes to go ‘whoa’. Prices we not announced here but the NSX will start production in North America in the spring of next year. Americans will get to buy the car before other markets, including Japan.

2. Fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) takes another step closer to ‘ordinary’

The major challenge in advancing the fuel-cell vehicle has always been getting that hydrogen into the tank and getting the cells to take up less space in the car. Well, it would seem that Honda has successfully miniaturised and rearranged the setup with the Clarity Fuel Cell so that the car can fit five. While it may not sound like much, the previous car can only accommodate due to the hardware that must go into a fuel-cell vehicle, which made it impractical for everyday use. The Clarity is said to have a cruising range of more than 700km.

Here is where Clarity becomes less ordinary. The car will be part of a chain that allows users to generate and use hydrogen energy via a smart hydrogen station where the Clarity gets its juice from. The Power Exporter 9000 provides the portable energy solution that won’t just power the car, but also an average household for about seven days.

Sale of the Clarity will start in Japan in March of 2016, followed by the United States and then Europe.

One side note: Honda is also actively pursuing technologies that will realise a zero accident future. To reach that goal, Honda have are putting together various familiar active safety technologies into the vehicles together with their own number of firsts. The Japanese carmaker calls this new suite of driver aids - Honda Sensing. The end goal for Honda in this aspect, is to create their own automated vehicle. We will look deeper in this aspect in the coming days.

Honda new boss, Takahiro Hachigo, has set a new direction to continue development in “challenging products unique to Honda and deliver them to customers around the world.” We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one.