Goodbye to mirrors?

Wednesday, 29 May 2019

Honda has revealed that its upcoming EV city car - the Honda e - will come standard with cameras instead of side mirrors.

Could we be seeing the beginning of the end for car side mirrors?

Following law changes in a number of key markets (mainly Japan) to allow car makers to fit camera systems in place of traditional door mirrors a number of manufacturers have made such systems optional, most notably Audi on its upmarket e-tron electric SUV.

But now Honda has become the first to bring the technology into a more mainstream setting with the announcement that its delightfully cute urban EV - the Honda e - will come standard with cameras in place of side mirrors.

The Honda e is headed for production, but we don't know yet if it is headed to New Zealand.

Honda says the Side Camera Mirror System, first shown on the prototype version of the Honda e, brings significant benefits for styling, safety, aerodynamics and refinement and provides live images to two six-inch screens inside the vehicle, integrated at either end of the dashboard to ensure a 'natural feel and vision' for the driver.

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Unlike conventional side mirrors, the cameras are contained within the width of the car and do not extend beyond the wheel arches and Honda claims that as well as improving visibility, these compact cameras reduce aerodynamic drag by around 90 per cent compared to conventional door mirrors, resulting in an approximate 3.8 per cent improvement for the entire vehicle.

This contributes towards the Honda e's overall efficiency and range, while also significantly reducing wind noise when compared to normal side mirrors at higher speeds.

Another big advantage of cameras over mirrors is in the reduction of blind spots - the driver can choose between 'normal view' and 'wide view' via the vehicle settings, extending the field of vision further than with conventional side mirrors, with Honda saying this reduces blind spots by around 10 per cent in normal view and approximately 50 per cent in wide view.

The Honda e is available to order in Europe now, with no word on whether or not it will ever be available here. Honda says it will feature a competitive range of more than 200km with 'fast charge' functionality that will allow an 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes.