LOS ANGELES — Honda's Personal-Neo Urban Transport, which made its world debut at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday, offers a vision of urban transportation beyond such mighty mites as the Smart Fortwo.
The three-passenger P-NUT features a center driving configuration bundled with a rear powertrain layout. Honda says the powertrain could be an internal-combustion engine, hybrid-electric or battery-electric. Don't expect any more specifics in that area since the P-NUT is just a "design study," said the automaker.
The two rear seats flank the center driving position, with the setup providing a surprising amount of legroom. Those rear seats can be folded up and out of the way to boost storage capacity. The windshield doubles as a head-up display for the navigation system and the back-up camera.
"The objective of the exterior and interior designers was to explore the potential for a new type of small-segment-category vehicle that overcomes many of the objections for existing microcar designs," said Dave Marek, director of advanced design for Honda R&D Americas.
Honda said the P-NUT is 133.8 inches in length with a 68.9-inch width and 56.6-inch height.
Inside Line says: Honda clearly had some fun with this one, from its name to its powertrain flexibility. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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whobuddy says:
10:34 AM, 01/12/2010
This car is remarkable,It is necessary that this vehicle should go into production. Or, are we to let the oil barons, continue to run our lives. The vast majority of people require, a simple commuter car, something that is affordable. Lets get going,and make the needed changes;the 21st century ,is loosing ground. Do we want to go down in history as a greed driven world, or as intellectuals that made responsible changes.