Electric Honda 3R-C Concept

Honda will unveil this radical car-cum-motorbike concept model at the Geneva motor show next week. It's called the 3R-C and Honda reckons it could be the future of single-person urban transport.

What's the idea?
Motorbikes are great for nipping around town until, unless something hits you, or it starts raining. So the 3R-C's designers working at Honda's Research and Design centre in Milan set about covering up those weaknesses. Quite literally.

A high-sided safety shell gives protection from side impacts and helps shield the lower part of the driver's body from the elements.

The upper body is covered by a see-through roof or 'canopy', which acts as a windshield when the vehicle is moving and provides the driver who sits low down in the vehicle with significant protection. When parked up, the roof simply stops the driver's seat getting wet!

In front of the driver there's a lockable cubby area, which gives a reasonable amount of storage for shopping or luggage.

How green is it?
The 3R-C is all about the future, where carbon emissions will be looked on about as favourably as spitting in public, so it runs on electricity and doesn't pump out any pollution at all.

The electric motors and the batteries are fairly heavy, so the designers have mounted both low down in the chassis to keep the centre of gravity low and improve stability.

To see more of the 3R-C or any other new car being unveiled the Geneva motor show next week come back to whatcar.com on Tuesday (March 2).