JAPAN TODAY


 

TOKYO — Honda Motor Co Ltd has fully remodeled its Freed compact minivan for the first time in eight years and will release it Sept 16.

The new Freed comes in two models: one with three rows of seats for six or seven people and the other with two rows of seats for five people.

Compared with the current model, Honda increased the length of the vehicle by 50mm, the space between rows of seats by 90mm and the sliding distance of the second rows of seats by 120 mm to realize a large interior space.

For its power train, the new Freed comes with the “i-DCD” single-motor hybrid mechanism, which is used for the Fit, Vezel, etc, or the 1.5L i-VTEC direct-injection engine. The gasoline engine is the same as the engine used for the Vezel. Also, it is available both as an FF (front-engine, front-wheel-drive) vehicle and a 4WD (four-wheel-drive) vehicle.

For the driving motor of the hybrid (HEV) model, Honda employed a Nd-Fe-B (neodymium-iron-boron)-based magnet that does not use any heavy rare earth metals such as dysprosium.

As preventive safety measures, the new Freed is equipped with the “Honda Sensing” ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) using a milliwave radar device and a monocular camera.