Honda’s Ohio Factory Went From Building Supercars To This

The last Acura NSX was a huge departure from the first-generation car in loads of ways. It was turbocharged and hybridized, instead of having a naturally aspirated engine, plus it was all-wheel-drive instead of rear-wheel-drive. On top of all that, it was built in Ohio, rather than in Japan. It was the first car to be built at a new Honda factory called the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC). Of course, the NSX has been discontinued for some time now, and the factory has been busy with other projects. Some of them are still focused on performance, and others are rather strange. One of those stranger projects is production of the Honda Fastport eQuad. It may not have impressive outright speed, but it can probably get across a congested city faster than an NSX.

It’s Basically A Four-Wheel E-Bike

While the eQuad has four wheels and a big cargo box, what we’re looking at is sort of a fancy e-bike. The driver sits on a bicycle-style seat and does have to pedal to operate the vehicle. What’s a bit strange is that the pedals aren’t directly connected to drive wheels, as Honda says the eQuad has a “pedal-by-wire” assist system. It doesn’t go into details as to whether the pedalling helps generate some electricity to top up the battery. The battery, though, is an existing piece of Honda hardware, as it’s the company’s Mobile Power Pack that can be easily removed for charging, or swapped for a full pack for getting back on the road quickly. That’s not to say that the eQuad is quick, though. It has a top speed of 12 mph. That may be just as well, as the eQuad is designed to be able to also take advantage of bike lanes for getting through thick traffic, and cyclists are already irritated by overpowered e-bikes filling up bicycle trails and lanes.

The driver’s position is located behind a large windshield and a metal frame. A full enclosure can be fitted for more all-weather comfort, and it also comes with a fan. Two different sizes will be available to start with, a small version and a large version. The small model has a maximum payload of 320 pounds and a cargo box measuring 95.8 cubic feet. The large one can carry 650 pounds and 148 cubic feet. The small one is also about 11.15 feet long and 3.28 feet wide, while the large one is 12 feet long and 4 feet wide. Honda plans on offering the Fastport eQuads both in Europe and North America, with the early production models arriving later this year. Production will increase next summer.

Related

Acura TLX PMC Edition Is A Hand-Built Special Inspired By The NSX

The limited-production M340i rival will be hand-built at Acura’s Ohio facility.

Performance Manufacturing Center Builds Other Things, Too

Now before you panic too much about PMC being relegated to building tiny delivery trucks, that’s only a part of what the facility is doing. Acura has occasionaly commissioned special edition performance versions of its cars to be built there, such as a few TLX Type S variants. The facility also builds some race cars, and it’s going to build the hydrogen fuel-cell Honda CR-V. Basically, when Honda needs some limited-production vehicles that are a major departure from its volume products, PMC is there to do the job.