WATCH: Honda US develops EV ride-on for hospitalized kids

Honda, in partnership with Children's Health of Orange County (CHOC) Hospital, has developed an EV ride-on for kids who are confined in the hospital’s pediatric section. Dubbed, “Shogo,” the mini EV — pretty much like Rolls-Royce’s SRH — will provide comfort to young, hospitalized patients as they are transported throughout their hospital stay.

Shogo is featured in a short film called “Project Courage,” uploaded on Honda US’ official YouTube channel. You can watch it here.

“Creating Shogo to help support these patients during what can be a stressful time in the hospital has been a labor of love for our passionate team of Honda associates and we're especially proud to introduce Shogo during this holiday season at CHOC. To see the joy on the faces of these young patients when they get behind the wheel of Shogo is truly rewarding,” said American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Manager of National Automobile Advertising Hundy Liu.

Shogo is based on a Japanese word and is intended to mean “soaring into the future” and was developed in-house by Honda engineers. It was designed for young patients, ages four through nine, who can easily drive with power controls and manage the go/stop mechanism on the steering wheel. Shogo has an adjustable speed of one to five miles per hour and is controlled by a handler such as a nurse or a caregiver.

Created with the patient’s safety in mind, Shogo was built without doors allowing kids to easily mount and dismount the EV. Other features include central seating with steering controls suitable and accessible for a child and smooth and soft-to-the-touch surfacing that is easy to keep clean in a hospital setting.

Shogo also includes an IV pole holder and a push bar that offers caregivers the option to manually push the vehicle when needed.

Features to make the child's experience more comfortable include a toy bucket in the front of the vehicle for items the child would like to bring along with them, cup holders, a center horn with different sound options, and a customizable license plate slot to display the name of each rider.

“As someone who spent time in the hospital as a young child, I really wanted the number-one objective of our Honda team in developing Shogo to ease the hardship of a hospital stay by providing kids a lasting positive memory about that experience. Every element of Shogo was designed to accommodate different needs of young children, making it as easy as possible to get in and out, simple to drive, and for the entire experience to leave them a bit happier,” commented American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Senior Exterior Designer of Vehicles Randall Smock.

Honda’s engineers worked closely with CHOC’s staff to verify Shogo’s feasibility. This included testing Shogo through a dedicated course inside the company's research and development facility designed to replicate a hospital hallway route with actual children and parents, to ensure the electric ride-on vehicle was safe to operate when delivered to the hospital.

“Our team greatly appreciates Honda bringing innovative solutions that support our ongoing commitment to providing an exceptional patient experience and infusing joy into a patient's stay. We were impressed from the beginning when we first saw Shogo, and by the Honda team's dedication in collaborating with our staff to ensure a vehicle that is perfect — and safe — for our young patients,” shared CHOC Cherese Mari Laulhere Child Life Department Manager Brianne Ortiz.

Photos from Honda

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