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Honda Spins Into Micromoblity Business with Electric Quadricycle
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It's been 128 years since Henry Ford created the first quadricycle. Now, Honda plans to use the form of transportation in a thoroughly modern way as a last-mile, micromobility solution.
Honda's new Fastport operations is a business-to-business (B2B) business dedicated to creating micromobility solutions for the last-mile delivery industry. In America, much of that type of delivery is done by car, SUV or truck outside of urban areas. In Europe, delivery via bicycle is far more common.
The company will debut its first solution, a zero-emission, electrified quadricycle at the Eurobike exhibition in late June. The Fastport eQuad is designed for use in bike lanes.
"The Fastport team has worked tirelessly to create the Fastport eQuad, a zero-emission alternative to delivery vans that solves the challenge of last mile urban logistics by meeting the needs of urban residents expecting on-demand deliveries of packages, groceries and other items," said Jose Wyszogrod, general manager and founding member of Fastport, said in a press release.
Fastport eQuad Prototype testing in New York City.
Fastport eQuad Prototype testing in New York City.
Honda
The eQuad is powered by Honda Mobile Power Pack swappable batteries and has software-defined vehicle features, the company said. It utilizes a pedal-by-wire powertrain to have electrically enhanced movement through the streets.
Its regenerative braking system captures and reuses energy in a manner similar to how an electrified car, truck or SUV does. It also has automatic parking brakes.
Honda's eQuad was designed to prioritize rider comfort. It features a canopy with a UV coating. Buyers can opt for a ceramic tint, ventilation fan or full-frontal enclosure. Its chassis was engineered by Honda to allow the model to ride smoothly over rough surfaces.
Fastport's large and small vehicle and cargo box container sizes are tailored to meet regional customer needs. Its modular design is primed for customization depending on the need.
The large version can handle a payload of up to 650 pounds, while the small version can handle up to 320 pounds. Both versions have a maximum speed of 12 miles per hour.
Range is payload dependent. The large model will be able to go up to 23 miles at a time. The range of Fastport's small model has not yet been released.
The company plans to couple the eQuad with a Fleet-as-a-Service model that allows customers to tap into the vehicle's software-defined vehicle attributes to feed information into artificial intelligence-managed fleet software dashboards. These dashboards give real-time insights to fleet managers via cloud technology.
Discussions with major logistics and delivery companies in North America and Europe are underway with the aim of starting a pilot test program ahead of production launch.
Fastport plans to sell its last-mile solutions in North American and Europe, beginning with first-edition vehicles in late 2025. Mass production is expected to begin in the summer of 2026. U.S.-bound units will be assembled at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio.
