- Honda works with dealer network to deliver 60 electric ride-on vehicles, called Shogo, to children's hospitals nationwide
- Designed, developed and built in-house by Honda engineers, Shogo will provide comfort and joy to young patients
- Shogo is built exclusively by Honda Performance Development (HPD) in California using race-winning technology
- First two production Honda Shogo vehicles have arrived at Akron Children's in Akron, Ohio and Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana
Honda, in partnership with its local dealer associations, has started production of Shogo, an electric ride-on vehicle that will transport young patients at children's hospitals across the U.S. Developed to bring comfort and joy to hospitalized children and their families. Shogo was designed by a passionate team of Honda associates with 60 of these vehicles being built exclusively by Honda Performance Development (HPD), the Southern California-based center for Honda's North American racing activities. View Honda Shogo's program expansion video, here:
Shogo, which takes its name from a Japanese phrase and intended to mean "soaring into the future," is hand assembled by Honda racing engineers at HPD and will be provided to children's hospitals across the country in partnership with their local Honda dealers. The first two production Honda Shogo vehicles have arrived at Akron Children's in Akron, Ohio and Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana in partnership with the Northern Ohio Honda Dealers Ad Association and Shogo servicing partner, Great Lakes Honda, and the Central Indiana Honda Dealers Ad Association and Shogo servicing partner, Penske Honda, respectively. Additional Shogo vehicles will make their way to children's hospitals throughout the country as early as this fall.
"Creating Shogo was a true labor of love for our team of Honda associates and engineers driven by our desire to bring joy and mobility to young patients dealing with a hospital stay," said Hundy Liu, manager of national automobile advertising and Project Courage Lead, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We're incredibly excited to expand the program by partnering with our Honda dealer network to make a Shogo vehicle possible for more children's hospitals nationwide and use the power of play and laughter to help ease the stress and anxiety of hospitalized children and their families."
The original Honda Shogo vehicle has been transporting young patients to and from procedures and appointments at one of Honda's long-term community partners, Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in California, since December 2021, bringing joy and comfort to these children and their families. Honda initiated the Shogo program – called "Project Courage" – utilizing a version of Shogo designed and built by a small volunteer team of Honda associates. The team conceived the concept with the ultimate aspiration, now realized, to build Shogos to help more children and their families dealing with hospital stays nationwide.
HPD Assumes Production Role
HPD has transformed the original Honda Shogo design into a production-ready vehicle over an 18-month process, meticulously and successfully advancing Shogo's engineering along the way. HPD's racing engineers have increased Shogo's durability, safety and performance, while adding a racing pedigree to the electric ride-on vehicle with multiple parts and pieces borrowed from Honda's race-winning machines, from IndyCar steering shaft washers and front knuckle bearings to steering from a Honda-powered Go Kart.
To bring even bigger smiles to the children, the HPD team also reimagined Shogo's horn to play a new series of cheerful sounds. The racing engineers thought about every possible detail, even Shogo's VIN tag is a special, laser-cut mini Shogo-shaped aluminum plate hidden away on each chassis.
"HPD is much like a prototype shop, but with a racing pedigree and capabilities from product engineering to production, so we knew incorporating Shogo into our manufacturing process was the perfect fit," said Kelvin Fu, vice president, Honda Performance Development. "Everyone at Honda who has touched Shogo has been emotionally impacted by the project, so HPD playing a part in creating a memory for these children during a stressful hospital experience is beyond measure for our team."
Honda Electric Ride-On Vehicle
The battery-powered Shogo is specifically designed to navigate hospital hallways with a focus on helping patients ages 4 through 9. Honda Shogo is easy for children to "drive" by managing the go/stop mechanism on the steering wheel, with an adjustable speed of 1-5 miles per hour. It also can be pushed by a nurse or caregiver by a rear handlebar, which is equipped with an IV pole attachment.
Safe and easily accessible for young riders, Honda Shogo is designed without doors and features central seating with steering controls suitable for a child. Smooth, soft-to-the-touch surfacing makes Honda Shogo easy to keep clean in an indoor hospital setting, while a toy bucket in the front of the vehicle holds items the child would like to bring along with them and a center horn provides a variety of sound options. Honda Shogo's license plate slot is customizable to display the name of each rider.
About Honda Performance Development (HPD)
Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD), has a rich heritage creating, manufacturing, and supporting Honda Racing and Acura Motorsports customers since 1993. From pinnacle racing in INDYCAR and IMSA Sports Cars to commercial racing programs, HPD powers the dreams of professional and amateur racers from age 4 to 40+. HPD is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and leads all of Honda and Acura's high-performance racing programs in North America. HPD specializes in the design and development of powertrain, chassis, electronics, and performance parts, as well as technical and race support. HPD offers parts and race support to Honda and Acura amateur and professional motorsports racers and is continually expanding its palette of racing programs that make Honda racing products available to all racing styles, from karting and Quarter Midgets to the highest levels of pro racing. As of Jan. 1, 2024, HPD will be rebranded as Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) to reflect its expanding role in Honda's global racing activities.
www.hpd.honda.com
About Honda
Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through more than 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The award-winning Honda lineup includes the Civic and Accord, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. Honda's electrified vehicle lineup includes the Accord hybrid, CR-V hybrid, and, in the future, Civic hybrid. The Honda Prologue SUV, Honda's first volume battery-electric vehicle, will join the lineup in 2024.
Honda has been producing automobiles in America for over 40 years and currently operates 18 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2022, more than 99% of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, with more than two-thirds made in America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.
More information about Honda is available in the Digital FactBook.
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