Honda EV-Cub patent is the electric Super Cub we've been waiting for
Way back in 2009, we wrote that "You meet the greenest people on a Honda." That was after we saw a concept called the EV-Cub that debuted at that year's Tokyo Motor Show. A quick look at the calendar reveals that, oh, 11 or so years have passed since that retro-inspired electrified two-wheeler was put on display, seemingly to gauge customer interest in a battery-powered Cub. And now we find another set of patent drawings suggesting the Japanese automaker is still considering a production version of the stylish electric scooter.
Perhaps the reintroduction of the gasoline-fueled Super Cub, which we found just as delightful in its modernized form as the original from the 1950s, is the impetus Honda needs to put an electric Cub into production. The patent drawings — interestingly filed back in 2016 but only published this year — show a tube frame covered in what we'd guess is a flowing set of plastic body panels. But the interesting bit is the battery enclosure, which is mounted as low as possible for weight distribution and is mounted in a removable cradle.
A revised EV-Cub Concept was displayed in Tokyo in 2015 without the earlier version's chunky in-hub electric motor placement (see the video below), and if a production version looked exactly like that conceptual model, we figure a lot of city dwellers looking for a stylish urban runabout would be interested. Let's see if Honda finally follows through.
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