Day: September 21, 2021

For those who prefer to look out for No. 1 when they travel, Honda has a car to fit the bill. The company has unveiled a kei car camper concept that makes use of extremely clever packaging to create a single-bed sleeper car for the solo road-tripper.

The concept is based on the Honda N-Van, a Japan-market compact work van that is known for a cabin that can, aside from the driver’s seat, fold entirely flat. While it’s great for loading boxes and gear, in this case the unbroken horizontal floor makes the perfect surface for a mattress. When you get tired of driving, you can simply pull over and flop out of the driver’s seat onto your bed.

The N-Van is also known for its unique pillar-less architecture on the passenger side. The rear sliding door latches onto the hinged front door so that when both are open the aperture is greater than half the length of the cabin itself. Combined with a very low load height, it’s an ideal cargo hauler for Japan’s crowded and narrow urban streets. And in case you were wondering, the driver’s side still has a traditional B-pillar.

The camper concept is also fitted with a ceiling basket drawer that slides up against the headliner for storage, a peg-board area by the rear hatch for hanging items, and a folding awning that shades the large opening on the pillar-less side.

However, the N-Van also gives you the option of additional seating should you need it. A passenger jump seat can rise from the jigsaw puzzle-like floor, as can a second row of rear seats.

Because the N-Van falls under kei car rules, horsepower is limited to 63, which Honda makes from a turbo three-cylinder mated to either a six-speed manual or CVT. Kei cars are also limited in exterior dimensions to a prescribed footprint — under 134 inches long, 58 inches wide, 79 inches tall — which has forced Japanese automakers to come up with increasingly clever packaging solutions like this N-Van.

Honda plans to unveil the N-Van camper concept on Oct. 2 at the Feeld Good Festival (that’s not a typo, but rather a pun on “Field”), a camping and RV show in Hokkaido.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday confirmed that it has opened an investigation into another 30 million vehicles that could be driving around with ticking time bombs — defective airbag inflator circuitry made by the Takata Corporation.

The concern is, the inflators can explode and, in rare instances, send deadly metal fragments flying, with deadly consequences. 

The worldwide Takata recalls taken together were already the largest safety recall in automotive history, involving more than 67 million Takata airbag inflators recalled in the United States and more than 100 million worldwide. Millions of those vehicles are still driving around with potentially dangerous airbags.

The defective inflators have killed at least 28 people worldwide, including 19 in the United States, and have caused more than 400 injuries. In the U.S., 16 of those deaths were in Honda vehicles, two in Fords and one in a BMW. Overseas, 9 other Honda deaths occurred in Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico.

NHTSA on Tuesday said the additional 30 million vehicles were manufactured by two dozen automakers between 2001 and 2019 — and comprise 1,384 different vehicle models in all. 

They include vehicles from Honda, Ford, Toyota, General Motors, Nissan, Subaru, Tesla, Ferrari, Mazda, Daimler, BMW, Chrysler, Porsche, Jaguar, Land Rover and others.  

The new investigation is an engineering analysis — meaning that this new round of vehicles is not yet part of the greater recall. NHTSA said that “while no present safety risk has been identified, further work is needed to evaluate the future risk of non-recalled” inflators. The agency “is not aware at this time of any ruptures, injuries or fatalities due to propellant degradation in these inflators, and the driving public does not need to take any action.”

The inflators in the new investigation contain a desiccant, or drying agent, that is supposed to keep moisture from degrading the circuitry. In the previous Takata recalls, propellant that was designed to inflate the airbag in an accident could break down after long-term exposure to large fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Those airbags did not contain a drying agent. The airbags now under investigation do.

Honda said automakers “have been working collaboratively with NHTSA to assure the safety of these inflators for several years. … Honda is committed to quickly informing NHTSA and other stakeholders if this ongoing analysis shows any risk of rupture.”

The Japanese automaker vowed to take quick action “if Honda believes that there is a threat to the safety of our customers.”