Honda Scores Double Design Wins With EM1 e: and NC750X
The NC750X and EM1 e: have both picked up the gongs in two different design awards already in 2025
Honda’s been busy adding yet more silverware to the cabinet, with the NC750X and EM1 e: both nabbing top design honours.
The all-electric EM1 e: moped and the ever-practical NC750X have picked up iF and Red Dot Product Design Awards, respectively, a nod to the brand’s commitment to clean lines and clever thinking.
Let’s start with the EM1 e:, which continues to clean up on the awards front after already bagging a Red Dot earlier this year. This compact commuter has now been recognised by the iF jury as well, with its slim, minimal silhouette and easygoing battery-swapping setup earning praise. It runs on Honda’s Mobile Power Pack e: system – the same tech that’s popping up in urban mobility projects across Asia. The system makes real-world, urban electric ownership a little less stressful by allowing riders to swap a flat battery for a fresh one at roadside charging points.
Launched in Europe in 2023, the EM1 e: is Honda’s first proper crack at a mass-market electric two-wheeler for the continent. Think of it as a city runabout with just enough tech to feel future-facing, but without overwhelming the everyday rider. LED lighting all around and that flush-fit headlamp help give it a futuristic edge without looking like a prototype that escaped a design lab.
Over at the other end of the versatility scale is the NC750X, Honda’s jack-of-all-trades middleweight that just keeps on evolving. For 2025, it’s had a subtle makeover and added a world-first: it’s now using Durabio in its construction, a bio-based polycarbonate resin. For the most part, it looks, feels, and behaves like a normal oil-based plastic, and is a small but significant step in Honda’s push towards sustainability.
You may like to read our 2025 Honda NC750X review.
According to Honda R&D Project Leader Valerio Aiello, the latest iteration was all about blending rugged adventure styling with clean and dynamic lines, without forgetting the core of what makes the NC750X so appealing: real-world rideability, scooter-like storage, and outstanding fuel economy. In fact, the NC740X made it into our best commuter motorcycles list for these very reasons.
It’s a bike that refuses to be labelled. Adventure-tourer? Daily commuter? Budget workhorse? It kind of does all three. That’s probably why it continues to be one of Honda’s most quietly popular machines.
Speaking on the award streak, Toshinobu Minami from Honda’s Design Centre said the recognition reflects the company’s “human-centric approach” and passion for design that “enriches the lives of our customers.”
Well, whatever Honda’s doing, it seems to be working. Six years on the bounce with Red Dot wins is no small feat – and with the EM1 e: and NC750X setting the tone for 2025, it doesn’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
