Honda’s EVster Concept Needs to Be the New Honda Beat in 2014

This is the Honda EVster concept … and, after seeing it myself, I am ready to go on the record. The Honda EVster needs to be the new Beat.

For the uninitiated, the Honda Beat was the last Honda to be overseen by the great Soichiro Honda himself. It was a tiny, 600 cc roadster that topped out at speeds that might have gotten it crushed on US highways, but on a tight and twisty mountain road on a sunny day, it was (by all accounts) a sublime piece of simple, light-handling fun. Back in 1991, it looked like this …

1991 Honda Beat

… the EVster above, though, is a bit more exciting. It’s looks a bit heavy on the Michael Bay, I know, but the photos don’t convey how tiny this thing really is. It’s cute and adorable, it’s fun and light and breezy and if you don’t want one you’re probably dead inside.

I know there’s some debate on the new Beat, which Honda has been promising (threatening?) for a decade or so, now. Other outlets are pointing to the CRZ roadster concept and saying that’s the new Beat – but, if it is, then Honda has truly lost its way. A new Honda Del Sol? Sure, make this thing a new-age Del Sol, if you must. No one misses that frog-eyed runabout … but the Beat? The Beat, like the NSX, is a legend, and Honda needs to get this one right.

How right does the EVster get? Honda’s electrics are proven, reliable, and deliver 100% of their torque off the line, making for a new-age Honda Beat that will be quick and squirty in heavy traffic, where the diminutive Kei cars compete with scooters for the title of “fastest way to get from A-B in rush hour”. In other words: it will be perfect.

EVster for 2014 Honda Beat.