Honda is showcasing its evolutionary approach to more sustainable product design with the European premiere of its latest electrified urban vehicle concepts – the SUSTAINA-C Concept car and Pocket Concept motorcycle – at Milan Design Week, April 16-21.
Both will be presented alongside the SH125i ‘Vetro’ scooter to demonstrate the innovative use of materials and the unique design aesthetic that can be created while reducing CO2 emissions resulting from the manufacturing process at the Honda Italia Industriale plant in Atessa, Italy. This is one of the ways in which Honda is pursuing its goal of achieving carbon neutrality in all products and business activities by 2050.
First shown at the 2024 Japan Mobility Show, the SUSTAINA-C Concept explores how society can be freed from the constraints of finite resources. It is presented together with the Pocket Concept, a compact motorcycle that can be stowed in the trunk and enables last-mile mobility.
The panels are made from recycled acrylic resin from second-hand taillights to create exterior panels that don’t need painting, allowing Honda to create a unique, unpainted finish that wouldn’t be possible with traditional materials. This material approach can reduce emissions during production by up to 45% – partly through the recycled materials used, but also by leaving the panels unpainted, which can account for up to 80% of a car factory’s CO2 emissions.
The model on display in Milan features a black and white marble effect, achieved by mixing colors with different melting points in the panels as they are molded – leaving a marbling behind as the material settles into the mold.
In addition to their eye-catching appearance, the vehicle panels are not only crack-resistant and able to return to their original shape after minor collisions, but also offer a high level of weather resistance, with minimal degradation due to sunlight.
At the rear, the excellent transparency of the acrylic resin has allowed the SUSTAINA-C Concept’s tailgate to be formed by a single panel that functions as a smartphone screen. The mini-LED screen is designed to communicate with other road users via simple text or images, thus offering a potential new dimension for the exterior design of future vehicles.
Finally, the acrylic resin being used demonstrates a possible approach to the future circulation of resources. Developed in partnership with Mitsubishi Chemical, when second-hand taillights are sourced from end-of-life vehicles, they are crushed and treated, before being molded into the panels needed for the SUSTAINA-C Concept. This is one way Honda is seeking to reduce resource extraction and is part of its exploration of more energy-efficient, low-carbon and cost-effective advanced recycling technologies and the creation of a circular value chain from vehicle to vehicle.
Honda is already finding ways to reduce CO2 emissions from the manufacture of its products here in Europe, as demonstrated by the “Vetro” version of its hugely popular SH125i scooter produced at Honda Italia Industriale. The “Vetro”, which in Italian means glass, is a special edition model that features semi-transparent, unpainted green fairing panels. The processes involved in using these panels at the Atessa plant reduce CO2 emissions by 9.5% when compared to the manufacturing processes for normal painted fairings.
Developed in partnership with Honda Motor in Japan, the new material is a substitute for the ABS plastic traditionally used for non-structural parts and components, helping to form an elegant, unified fairing style and premium presence.
The SH125i Vetro’s elegant appearance is matched by its effortless functionality and efficiency, and it is the first Honda model built in Atessa to meet the new EURO5+ emissions targets, a legal requirement for all new models by the end of 2024.