Modern Honda Element revealed via patent filing

• The Honda Element could return
• A Honda patent filing reveals an Element-like vehicle with a camper attachment
• A patent filing doesn’t guarantee the Element returns, but the drawing gives an idea what it could look like if it did

The quirky Honda Element crossover could make a comeback, if a recent patent filing is anything to go by.

First spotted by Car and Driver, a recent patent application filed by Honda with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) shows what looks an awful lot like a new version of the Element, which was discontinued after the 2011 model year.

Honda camper patent image

The patent application was filed in 2022 and published on June 27. It’s for a camper attachment that latches onto the back and top of a vehicle, with extensions that expand the available enclosed space onto the ground. The vehicle used to illustrate this feature looks decidedly Element-like.

Illustrations of the camper attachment show a boxy crossover with a smaller rear door that appears to be rear-hinged like the back doors on an extended-cab pickup truck. Rear-hinged doors were one of the distinctive features of the Element, which was launched in 2003 and was not redesigned before production ended. The door glass, which arches upward into the side of the roof, also seems like a callback to the Element.

Honda camper patent image

A new Honda Element—whether in crossover or pickup form—is far from a sure thing.

Automakers don’t produce everything they patent, and patent images often include vehicles that aren’t meant to resemble production models. But looking at the current array of small crossovers and crossover-like vehicles—including boxy designs like the Nissan Kicks and Kia Soul that copy the Element’s signature shape—it seems like a modern version of Honda’s millennial crossover could do well.