Honda Motor on March 13 introduced its latest electric scooter, saying it initially plans to target domestic business customers such as pizza delivery services.
The EV-neo is powered by a lithium-ion battery that matches the performance of a 50cc petrol engine, without the noise, and can travel 30 kilometers (19 miles) on a single charge at up to 30 kilometers per hour.
The battery can be rapid-charged up to 80% of capacity in 20 minutes, while a regular power socket charge would take about four hours, Honda said.
"The distance it can travel may not be satisfactory for personal use, but eventually we want to make it available for individual customers," she said.
The company promoted the scooter as "quiet and clean and contributing to creating a low-carbon society" as it unveiled a prototype of the two-wheeler at a research facility on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Honda plans to start leasing the scooter to Japanese companies from December, said a spokeswoman, without disclosing the price tag or production targets. No international sales plans were announced for the electric scooter, Honda's second since it released 200 units of an earlier model to Japanese business customers in 1994.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
