• Two patent applications registered by Honda show a vehicle that look an awful lot like the defunct Element SUV.
The Honda Element was offered by Honda between 2003 and 2011. The boxy SUV laste only one generation, maybe because its squarely styled model was probably ahead of its time. That shape and the model’s adventurous styling are all the rage these days.
The Element is a bit of cult favourite among fans, and obviously Honda hasn’t forgotten it either. Patent applications made by the automaker have surfaced that show accessories that can be grafted onto a vehicle. That vehicle is unquestionably reminiscent of the Element. It’s as if we were looking at the logical evolution of the model in terms of design. This is particularly noticeable with the model's square styling, higher ground clearance and antagonistically opening side doors.
This is all in the realm of speculation of course, but it’s true that an electric vehicle bearing the Element name would be an obvious, or at least logical, choice for Honda.
The two patents submitted by Honda to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) were filed in December 2022, but only made public at the end of June this year. One of the patents is for a camping accessory that attaches to the rear and roof of a vehicle, with extensions that can be used for multiple purposes.
The other patent concerns a partition that can be adjusted in two positions to modify the length of a pickup truck bed. Would the vehicle envisaged, or at least the subject of these two patents, be a multi-purpose product, with removable parts that would make it a utility vehicle one day and a pickup truck the next?
As mentioned, this is pure speculation. It's just fun to guess what Honda has in mind with these two innovations.
We'll have to give it time. Registered patents are sometimes quickly incorporated into new vehicle models, but just often they sit and collect dust; sometimes they’re never heard from again.
Safe to say, in this instance, that those many ardent fans of the Element would love to see the return of a model inspired by it. Which has a touch of irony to it, truth be told, because originally Honda had aimed its Element at a very young demographic. Many of the current ardent fans of the model are north of 40.
