The most exciting new electric car that will be cruelly withheld from us affable, friendly Americans was revealed in production form today, the Honda E. Honda’s new electric city car retains the stylish, adorable look of the prototypes, and digs that adorable electric knife deeper into our guts with some really good-sounding specs: 152 horsepower and a 137 mile range. Dammit, Honda. Why do you have to be so cruel?
The little Honda city car is all kinds of appealing. Those 152 horses are more than enough to make a car this small likely quite fun, especially when you remember that those horses are spinning the rear wheels on this thing, and that it’s making 232 ft-lbs of torque.
The range, while less than something like a Tesla Model 3, is still decent enough for the urban driving these are designed for, and Honda claims the 35.5 kWh battery can hit 80 percent charge (about 110 miles) in 30 minutes.
Here’s the press release dump on the specs, so you can hear it from Honda’s e-mouth:
The Honda e is equipped with a high-power electric motor available with two power outputs of 100 kW (136ps) * or 113kW (154ps) *, and impressive torque of 315Nm*. The 35.5kWh battery is one of the most compact in its class yet delivers a range of up to 220km * from a single charge, perfect for every day urban commuting. A fast-charging capability also allows recharge to 80% capacity in 30 minutes *. On the road, the car delivers a responsive and fun experience, with the powerful electric motor driving the rear wheels for a sporty and connected feel. The Honda e delivers outstanding acceleration from a standing start and will reach 0-100km/h in approximately 8 seconds *.
I’m amazed how close the production design is to the prototypes, especially for significant details like the side cameras that replace the side-view mirrors. Other than the not-really-production Volkswagen XL1, I can’t think of another car to actually make it to production with side-view cameras in lieu of mirrors, at least not in any quantities like the Honda E is likely to see.
I think Honda has a genuine winner on their hands here, and hopefully it’ll be priced reasonably. The design is cute without being cloying, just retro enough to evoke Honda’s strong small car heritage, but still feels cutting-edge and modern.
It looks usable and fun and just wildly appealing all around. I think it’s wonderful and tragic, tragic because Honda has no plans to bring it to America, probably as a way of getting back at me for that time I puked in my friend’s four-wheel-steering Prelude.
I’m sorry, Honda. Just bring this awesome little car here. Tell people it’s an SUV if you have to, and they’re just seeing it at a distance.