The world has been waiting for Honda to seriously get behind electric bikes, motorcycles, and other lightweight personal electric vehicles. And now they just have, in a big way. But I no matter what you’re expecting when you hear “Honda just launched a bike lane vehicle”, I can pretty much guarantee that it isn’t this. Say hello to the Fastport eQuad, a new four-wheeled delivery vehicle from Honda.
Honda is officially entering the micromobility space, and they’re not easing in – they’re rolling out a pedal-assist, battery-swapping, cargo-hauling quadricycle that’s designed to live in bike lanes and take over the urban last-mile delivery game.
Say hello to the Fastport eQuad, the first product from Honda’s new micromobility business, Fastport, which will make its global debut at Eurobike in Frankfurt later this month. Fastport will become Honda’s newest spinout, a “B2B business dedicated to transforming the last-mile delivery industry with innovative micromobility solutions.”
Fastport’s first product, the eQuad, is a four-wheeled, pedal-by-wire electric delivery vehicle built specifically for navigating congested cities – in bike lanes.
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Yes, this thing is actually designed to be bike-lane legal. That’s a bold move, but potentially a game-changer for cities where streets are packed and curb space is at a premium.
And yes, if you’re thinking that bike lanes aren’t meant for four-wheeled vehicles, you may be onto something. That’s true in many areas of the US, though laws differ between cities and states. But in Europe, many countries allow four-wheeled vehicles like these to use bike lanes, which are more like mobility lanes intended for a variety of non-car urban runabouts.
Keep in mind though that Honda is targeting both North American and European markets with the Fastport eQuad, so the US definitely looks to be in its sights.
“The Fastport team has worked tirelessly to create the Fastport eQuad, a zero-emission alternative to delivery vans that solves the challenge of last mile urban logistics by meeting the needs of urban residents expecting on-demand deliveries of packages, groceries and other items,” explained Jose Wyszogrod, general manager and founding member of Fastport. “Drawing from the deep knowledge of Honda design and engineering talent in the U.S., the Fastport eQuad is a testament to the commitment of Honda to advancing a more sustainable future through innovative mobility solutions.”
Instead of fighting traffic in a Sprinter van, the Fastport eQuad lets couriers zip through town at up to 12 mph (20 km/h), quietly and cleanly, thanks to a combination of pedal-assist power and swappable Honda Mobile Power Packs. It’s fully enclosed with a UV-protected canopy, a ventilation fan, and automatic parking brakes. Think of it as a futuristic urban rickshaw mashed up with a mini delivery van, only way smarter.
And I mean smarter. This is a software-defined vehicle, which means it’s more than just an EV; it’s a rolling data hub. It comes with AI-enhanced fleet dashboards, real-time diagnostics, and cloud-based updates over the air. Honda’s also launching a full Fleet-as-a-Service (FaaS) platform, handling everything from battery swaps to maintenance.
Honda’s swappable batteries (as demonstrated in an electric scooter)
There are two versions: a larger model with a 650-pound (295 kg) payload capacity and a smaller one that carries up to 320 pounds (145 kg). The big one can go up to 23 miles (37 km) on a charge even when fully loaded, though the smaller version’s range is listed as “TBD.”
If 23 miles of range doesn’t sound like much, remember that this is an urban delivery vehicle, and it’s more than likely going to be used for delivery circuits that are significantly less than 23 miles. But if the need ever arrived, it’s Honda Mobile Power Pack batteries are around the size of a lunchbox (remember those?) and can be swapped out in seconds. Considering the rear cargo box can carry between 90 to 150 cubic feet of cargo (1.5 to 4 cubic meters), I’d say there’s room to bring a spare battery.
Both models are built with a modular design that allows businesses to swap out the cargo box for parcel, grocery, or specialty delivery needs.
Or if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, that rear cargo box would make an awesome camper. At 75 and 89 inches in length for the smaller and larger cargo boxes (190 and 239 cm), both would fit a sleeping adult, no problem. Don’t get too excited yet though – it doesn’t look like Honda has any plans for a camper or passenger version, at least not at the moment.
The specs are impressive, sure. But what really stands out is Honda’s commitment. This isn’t some side project. They’re building it in the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, the same place that makes the Acura NSX supercar and Honda’s race cars.
If you want to know whether Honda is serious about this whole micromobility thing, that should answer your question. They’ve also designed it around their fancy-shmancy Gogoro knock-off batteries, finally giving us more real world devices to use the rarely-seen power packs. That further lends credence to the impression that Honda is really getting behind this thing.
The Fastport team says vehicle deliveries will start in late 2025, with mass production set for 2026. And while pricing hasn’t been revealed yet, it’s safe to assume Honda is positioning this as a premium business solution, not a consumer joyride. But hey, as long as it’s not insanely expensive, that might not stop me from trying to raise the funds to buy one and trick it out into an awesome bike camper. Feel free to email my publisher and tell him Electrek should help me make that happen…
Electrek’s Take
This could go either way. I love the ability for vehicles like these to take more vans and trucks off the road. That’s better for everyone. On the other hand, I can see cyclists having something of a problem with a the bicycle equivalent of a delivery van inviting their bike lanes. As a car-free guy, I get it.
That said, I have to deal with trucks and delivery vans in my bike lanes all the time, so hey, this smaller one is definitely an improvement. Getting hit by it is more likely to ruin my day than to ruin my life. So….. progress?
Jokes aside, I think it is fair to say that with the rise of urban delivery services, and cities pushing harder than ever to get vans out of downtowns, the timing couldn’t be better. We’ve seen a few bike-lane-legal delivery quads hit the market in Europe, but not from a brand with Honda’s resources, engineering, and distribution network.
If this is what Honda thinks the future of urban logistics looks like, I’m all for it. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing Fastports zipping past gridlocked vans sooner than we think. Perhaps with something this large, you could even “Take the lane” and ride on streets with cars with a little more confidence. Car drivers often don’t seem to be worried about a cyclist’s femur messing up their paint, but they might be a little more careful when they’re challenged by something that could actually send them to the garage for expensive bodywork.
Let’s be real… it’s a small(er) electric delivery van, but with handlebars and pedals
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The Reliance Industries Ltd. oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, on Saturday, July 31, 2021.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
India is navigating a tricky balancing act after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “penalty” over its continued imports of Russian oil — a trade that New Delhi appears reluctant to end anytime soon.
Despite Trump telling reporters Friday that he “heard” India would halt purchases, officials in New Delhi have remained noncommittal. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the country decides its energy import sources “based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”
“The Indians must be having some confusion” following Trump’s threat — a reversal from the more tolerant approach taken under the Biden administration, Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
“Now we’re flipping around and saying, ‘What are you doing taking all this Russian oil?'” McNally said.
In March 2022 — a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — Daleep Singh, a former U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics in the Biden administration, reportedly said that “friends don’t set red lines” and “there is no prohibition at present on energy imports from Russia.”
“What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India’s imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime,” Singh said.
On July 30, Trump announced that India would face a 25% tariff beginning Aug. 1, along with an unspecified “penalty” for buying Russian oil and military equipment.
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But analysts suggest that India, which is the third-largest energy consumer in the world, isn’t blinking. Reuters reported that there are no immediate changes planned to India’s long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, citing two anonymous Indian government sources that did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Russia has become the leading oil supplier to India since the war in Ukraine began, increasing from just under 100,000 barrels per day before the invasion, or a 2.5% share of total imports, to more than 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023, or 39%. According to the International Energy Agency, 70% of Russian crude was exported to India in 2024.
India’s energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri defended New Delhi’s actions in a July 10 interview with CNBC, saying that it helped stabilize global prices and was even encouraged by the U.S.
“If people or countries had stopped buying at that stage, the price of oil would have gone up to 130 dollars a barrel. That was a situation in which we were advised, including by our friends in the United States, to please buy Russian oil, but within the price cap.”
Russian oil exports had been capped at $60 per barrel in December 2022 by the Group of Seven nations, representing the world’s top economies, while the European Union had lowered the price cap to just above $47 per barrel in July.
Still, pressure is mounting. Vishnu Varathan, Managing Director at Mizuho Securities, said that the U.S. threats present a “clear and present danger” to India. He said that New Delhi is likely to remain non-committal on oil purchases as it assesses the trade-offs of this “Russia option” as a bargaining chip.
India will need to scour the global market for comparable oil bargains with Russian oil, Varathan, who is also the head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan, added.
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New Delhi could explore alternatives, including Iran — if an exemption from the U.S. can be negotiated — as well as a few other producers “either within or outside of the OPEC+ that have been pressured by the U.S,” Varathan said.
The OPEC+ bloc had agreed on Sunday to raise output by 547,000 barrels per day in September, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.
India is going to face a tough choice, Rapidan’s McNally said.
“Trump is serious. He’s frustrated with Putin… India is going to have a tough choice to make, but it’s hard to see them continuing to import that a million and a half barrels [of] Russian crude if Donald Trump decides to really put the whole relationship on the line over it.”
Wagons don’t get a lot of love Stateside, with American buyers choosing SUVs over – well, pretty much every other type of vehicle imaginable. That’s our loss, as the latest plug in hybrid versions of the Volkswagen Passat are here to prove.
The latest Passat Variant eHybrid (or, in some markets, Vario, which is what the Europeans like to call wagons) is different from the version we get in the US. Unlike the domestic version which is based on a low-cost platform specific to the US and China, the Euro-market version is built on the MQB platform that underpins VW’s flagship Arteon four-door coupe and both VW‘s and Audi’s entry-luxe SUVs.
That might seem weird, since VW has sold more than 34 million units sold worldwide and the Passat is the second top-selling Volkswagen of all time (behind the Golf and ahead of the Beetle). It’s understandable, then, that the European execs are pretty proud of their Passat.
The latest evolutionary stage of the modular transverse matrix (MQB evo)forms the highly innovative technical basis of the ninth Passat generation. Thanks to the significant economies of scale of the MQB evo, Volkswagen has again democratised numerous high-tech developments and made them available for hundreds of thousands of drivers. The two completely newly developed plug-in hybrid drives (eHybrid) are a perfect example of this. In combination with a new battery,they make all-electric ranges of around 100 km possible. This distance turns the new Passat Variant into an electric vehicle for everyday life – this is additionally ensured by short charging times as the battery can now be charged at AC charge points with 11 kW instead of the previous 3.6 kW. The Passat Variant eHybrid can even be charged with up to 50 kW at DC fast charging stations. In addition, the combination of electric drive motor and new economical turbocharged petrol engine provides overall ranges of around 1,000 km.
KAI GRÜNITZ Member of the Brand Board of Management, VW
In case the jealous American wago-philes reading this aren’t jealous enough, Volkswagen has announced new Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions that add nearly £5k of options for the new model year effectively for free.
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“Match is better equipped than the outgoing Life, with additional features including metallic paint, VW’s IQ.Light LED matrix headlights, tinted rear windows and an ‘assistance pack’ which adds area view and emergency assist,” reports Alastair Crooks, from the UK car site AutoExpress. “The new Black Edition comes with metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, tinted rear windows (darker than the Match’s), heated front and rear seats, a head-up display, a 15-inch central touchscreen and the same assistance pack as the Match.”
The entry-level Match replaces the previous Life trim, but costs the same £45,555 (about $60,500), while the Black Edition costs the same as the outgoing R-Line, from £48,900 (about $64,950). The order books open 14 August.
You can take a look at some of the VW press photos of the European Passat wagon Variant, below, then let us know if you’d rather have this for $60K or the discount American version in the comments.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Wirtgen Vögele recently revealed the battery-powered MINI 500e and the MINI 502e electric pavers. With an electrically heated screed, a range of paving widths, and zero-emission operations, they’re paving a greener, cleaner path.
“These pavers excel on small-scale construction projects and jobs covering a small area – the type of work for which paving crews would not previously have been able to use machines,” reads the official Wirtgen Vögele copy. “Thanks to their elimination of manual labor, among other benefits, the new MINI pavers improve the efficiency and quality of asphalt paving, particularly in the construction of sidewalks and drains, as well as in tight downtown locations.”
The new Wirtgen MINI 502e (the one with wheels) and the MINI 500e (the one with crawler tracks) offer pave widths from 0.25 to 1.8 m, feature a battery-electric drive outputting 22.8 kW (30 hp), and your choice of either a 15 kWh or 22 kWh 48V li-ion battery – good enough battery capacity for up to 16 hours of continuing paving. Both versions can be fully charged on a conventional 110/120 “L1” power socket in about eight hours.
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Electrek’s Take
Wirtgen Vögele MINI 500e; via Wirtgen.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the federal EV incentives are or even what the guys on your crew want to operate. What matters is that construction noise upsets Mrs. Clancik’s terrier, and she will force the town council to keep the noise down all by herself.
If your construction company wants to bid on any municipal work, that means you’re gonna have to stay quiet. Maybe even keep the smells to a minimum, too. Buying electric equipment means you can do both.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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