Honda’s EV Outlier Concept, an electric motorcycle study fitted with in-wheel motors on both the front and rear wheels, has been named a Red Dot winner in the Design Concept category of the Red Dot Design Award 2026. A second Red Dot went to the brand film for the company’s electric motorcycle business, titled “What Is a Motorcycle? / Electric Motorcycles,” in the Brand & Communication Design category. Honda gave the EV Outlier Concept its world premiere at the Japan Mobility Show 2025 in October 2025, and the company reports the model was well received by visitors.
Highlights
- Two Red Dot wins in the 2026 cycle: the EV Outlier Concept in Design Concept, and the electric motorcycle brand film in Brand & Communication Design
- The concept carries in-wheel motors on both wheels, a layout Honda credits to the packaging freedom of electric drive
- World premiere took place at the Japan Mobility Show 2025 in October 2025
- The Red Dot Award dates to 1955 and is administered by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany
What Is the EV Outlier Concept?
The EV Outlier Concept is a concept model framed as a proposal for motorcycles beyond 2030 rather than an extension of existing machines. Its defining hardware choice is the pair of in-wheel motors, front and rear, which removes the central powertrain mass that dictates conventional motorcycle proportions. Honda says that packaging freedom is what allows the dynamic, low-slung stance.
The design brief sits under Honda’s common design theme for electric motorcycles, Precision of Intrinsic Design, with the EV Outlier developed as a model “unconstrained by boundaries.” The riding position is dropped to an extreme low, which Honda says produces an open field of view and a heightened sense of acceleration while exaggerating the low seat height in the machine’s proportions. Smooth surfaces and a smoke-clear body expose the mechanical elements underneath.
The Brand Film and Honda’s Electric Motorcycle Promise
Honda has defined the brand promise for its electric motorcycle business as “Expected life. Unexpected discoveries.” The company frames this as co-creating a world where riders live as they expect while encountering the unexpected, a value proposition it says is meant to produce electric motorcycles specific to Honda.
The film, What Is a Motorcycle? / Electric Motorcycles, builds on that promise across two threads: the value Honda argues only electric mobility products can deliver, and a future mobility ecosystem in which people and electric motorcycles coexist. Its Brand & Communication Design win puts Honda’s marketing output in the same 2026 award cycle as its concept hardware.
Design Center Response
Toshinobu Minami, Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Design Center, Honda R&D Co., Ltd., said: “The Red Dot Design Award is one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and it is a great honor for us that our EV Outlier Concept received the Red Dot award in the Design Concept category, and the brand film, ” What Is a Motorcycle? / Electric Motorcycles,” was named a Red Dot winner in the Brand & Communication Design category. We believe these awards recognize our initiative to anticipate the needs of the future and give shape to new value ahead of the times. Honda will continue to create new values that surprise and inspire people and provide the joy of expanding their life’s potential.”
The Red Dot Award was founded in 1955 and is administered by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany.
