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Is Acura working on a premium minivan?

Here's a vehicle that nobody saw coming. Unless Honda/Acura is keen to play tricks on us, our spy shooters recently caught what appears to be an Acura minivan fully camouflaged for testing on some back roads on a rainy day.
Details on the disguised minivan are rather scarce, but it certainly bares all the hallmarks of an Acura. The front grille alone gives it away with a look that mimics the latest MDX, and note that the orientation of the rear door handle heavily suggests that it slides to open. Moving inside, the tester appears to borrow some tech from the luxury brand's parts bin too, and the Acura logo seems to be covered in tape right in the middle of the steering wheel.
Mechanically, our spies believe that the production version of Acura's minivan might borrow the brand's V6, nine-speed automatic and Super Handling All-Wheel Drive - a similar layout to some trims of the TLX. The photographers also think that the vehicle is a little wider than the current Honda Odyssey to give occupants a bit more room. Given the more luxurious focus, the high-end model would surely carry seven people with a bit more opulence than the standard Odyssey, especially, we'd imagine, for second-row passengers. A launch for this posh hauler could be slated for the 2016 or 2017 model years.

Recharge Wrap-up: Elon Musk in Reddit AMA; Honda releases annual environmental report

Elon Musk will answer questions in a Reddit AMA tonight. The "Ask Me Anything" event will begin at 9:00 pm EST, and will last one hour. Musk will answer as many reader questions as he can in the allotted amount of time. Reddit's /r/TeslaMotors board is selecting official questions from users to pose to Musk as well. If you have any aching inquiries for the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, you probably don't want to miss this. Read more at Clean Technica, or at Reddit. Powertree Services plans to build solar-powered EV charging at San Francisco apartment buildings. The group will rent parking spaces at apartment buildings and put solar panels on the roof. Tenants with EVs can pay a monthly fee to charge their cars at their own apartments and Powertree Services parking spots around town. It takes the responsibility of building and maintaining the chargers off the building owners, but provides them with some revenue from renting the space to Powertree. Read more at Treehugger. The market for environmentally friendly cars will remain strong despite cheap oil prices, according to IHS Automotive Advisory Services. James Chao, director of the company's Asia-Pacific region, says his clients are still very focused on fuel economy. IHS has predicted green car production to triple by 2020 from 2014 figures. Hyundai and Kia, who are clients of Chao, have new EVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles on the way - a seemingly "unfocused" plan that Chao defends. "Especially at times when uncertainty is dominant, it could well be referred to as being prudent," he says. Read more at The Korea Herald. Honda has released its annual North American Environmental Report. In the report, Honda notes environmental progress it has made over the last year in a number of areas. It points out the introduction of the 2014 Accord Hybrid and the FCV Concept. It enumerates reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in transportation, use of its products and even from Honda's suppliers (however, there was a 0.7 percent rise in CO2 emissions during manufacturing due to, or rather "despite a significant increase in production"). Honda is using less water, and producing less waste - only 0.8 kilograms are sent to the landfill per car manufactured. Honda also worked with SolarCity to get solar panels on 1,650 rooftops in the US. Read more on Honda's website. Marco Andretti will race in the Formula E Buenos Aires ePrix.

Acura NSX GT3 data 'will inform future iterations' of the street car

Motorsports programs exist to drive innovation in road vehicles, and that's precisely what's happening at Honda. Acura NSX development boss Nick Robinson told Autocar that the company's work on the GT3 racing variant is directly informing future development on the road car. "In North America, we've just unveiled the GT3 version of the car, and the development team of the street car has had some involvement in its development," Robinson said. "What works well on the track will inform future iterations and updates of the street car and vice versa." But Honda is a big company that does more than build cars. Robinson paid tribute to the impact his employer's well-known motorcycle program had on the NSX. Apparently, building stuff like the CBR helped Honda with the NSX's complicated packaging. "For many years our motorcycle development teams have strived to ensure the optimum centralization of mass, ensuring the lowest possible center of gravity," Robinson told Autocar. "This leads to the best possible yaw response." Is this all a sign that a long-rumored lighter, faster NSX, potentially wearing the vaunted Type R badge, will be especially track-focused? Maybe. Robinson's comments indicate that the company is doing something with the mountains of data it collects running a GT3 program. While a pure road-focused NSX-R successor seems like it'd be a waste of that data, an NSX-based rival to the Porsche 911 GT3 RS might make a lot more sense. Related Video: News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Brendan McDermid / Reuters Motorsports Rumormill Acura Honda Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance gt3