News EV Fun: Honda's electric roadster nears completion.

Electric motorcycles are slowly making their way into the landscape. With a few well-established players, such as Zero and BMW scooters, and brands aimed mainly at the urban landscape. But there's no sign of a big electron-powered roadster on the horizon. Triumph did launch development of an electric Speed Triple with the TE-1, but the project, though advanced, came to nothing. BMW tried the same thing with the E-Power Roadster, an electric clone of the S 1000 R, but to no avail. The LiveWire One attracts little interest...
The list is not short, and the attempts are there. But for a mass-market roadster, the wolf has yet to enter the henhouse.

Will Honda be on the offensive? In any case, a prototype is on the road, under a convoluted camouflage. This EV Fun concept was first presented at the Milan Motor Show, less than a year ago. At the time, the Japanese manufacturer announced a sporty roadster with performance equivalent to a medium-displacement engine. There's every reason to believe that we'll be seeing it soon.

A few elements suggest that the production version will differ little from the initial prototype. There's the single-sided swingarm (reminiscent of the CB 1000 R?), the thin central headlamp, the cubic, minimalist look, the front end with inverted forks and Nissin radial brake calipers, the handlebar-mounted mirrors and the strange side fins. The dashboard won't be transplanted, and a more common element will take its place; probably the 5-inch TFT panel from the 1000 Hornet.

Now, no idea of the engine's power or features. Except that it's equipped with a CCS2-type fast-charging system.
Honda is more informative about the person who piloted the project: Masatsugu Tanaka. Obviously, this name won't mean much to you. However, when you read that this engineer was responsible for the dynamic behavior of the CBR 600 F, CBR 600RR, CBR 1000RR-R Fireblade and 1800 Gold Wing, and then supervised the development of the VFR 800 F, VFR 1200 F, VFR 1200 X CrossTourer, CRF1100L Africa Twin and NT1100, you'll have a much better idea of Tanaka san's potential.

Honda's staff have carried out an extensive series of tests in Europe to fine-tune the details of the EV Fun. The forthcoming Milan Motor Show should give us the final word on this machine. Will it pass the hurdles of price, range and weight where most of the hopes and desires of electric customers are shattered? Perhaps the answer will be here in two months' time.