The automotive industry has been very successful in increasing the range of electric cars.
Of course, there are exceptions. And I've got two of them with me today. The Mini Electric and the Honda e. Both cars cost over €35.000...
and for that money, they're not as practical as you'd imagine for that money. However, they do have their own strong suits.
From the ground up, the Honda e was designed as an electrical car. No concessions whatsoever. That has resulted in a car which has wheels...
in the corners, which make for a very stable base. Very handy, since electric cars tend to weigh a lot.
Luckily, the dampers and springs have been altered to be able to process the weight. It's sturdy, but not too dynamic or anything.
There's more than enough comfort. The steering is quite light, but feels relatively distant. It does have a very small turning circle though.
Very handy in the big city.
Honda offers two electric motors in the e. One with 136 horsepower and one with 154 horsepower, and we're driving the latter today.
And it suits this car very well. It's nice and rapid and the response to the accelerator is nice and quick. Just like we're used to from electric...
cars, so I'm glad this is not an exception. The electric motor is found underneath the boot floor and the...
batteries are incorporated in the floor. The battery pack has a capacity of 35,5 kWh, which should take the car 210 km...
on a single charge according to WLTP. We couldn't reach that though. We were only able to reach around 160 km.
Not particularly groundbreaking for an electric car.
Like I said, it's a city car. It's not really meant for driving across the country on a regular basis.
Just like a lot of other cars, you can adjust the level of regenerating done by releasing the throttle.
You can do that with flappy paddles behind the steering wheel, or with a button in the center console. You can almost drive it with one pedal.
It all works fine, but that's not the most important feature on this car. Instead, it's the interior.
And I'm not talking about the amount of luggage space, because that's not very big. And it's the same for the rear seat.
Honda clearly sees this car as an extension of your living room, and if I take a look around me, I can get behind that.
The fabric looks like it comes from a living room couch. On the middle console, there are ports which we recognize from home. A 230V-port,
with 1.500 watt in this case. Also, there's a HDMI-port and some USB-ports. Very practical indeed.
If we move further upwards, there are five displays to look at. The outer two are rear-veiw camera's, because it doesn't have...
side-view mirrors anymore. In front of me, there's a very clear instrument cluster and next to that are two multimedia screens.
One of them is in the middle of the dashboard, and the second is right in front of the passenger.
You can project all kinds of information on the screens, anything you want. Just like you can customize the quick-menu's, for you and your passenger.
And if I'm done with all of the information, I can choose to project a lovely flower on the screen. Or if I prefer a fish tank, I can project...
a fish tank. I can even choose the amount of fish and the landscape that's in the fish tank. Even better; I can feed the fish.
Honda has made a big deal about the interior. This is not 'just' another electric car.
So, is there nothing wrong with this car? Well, not exactly. There are a few things to talk about.
One of them is that my left hand often blocks the view of the rear-view camera, and my knee tends to touch the heated seat-controls,
so sometimes, my back gets very warm all of a sudden.
But that's nitpicking in an interior which is incredibly good as a whole.
As opposed to the Honda, the Mini is an electrified version of an already existing model.
We've known the Mini for years, but instead of a combustion engine, there's an electric motor in the front.
The battery pack is fitted beneath the rear seat, so the car is just as practical as a regular Mini. Or impractical, as you wish.
The electric motor produces 184 horsepower, which is a tad more than the electric motor in the Honda. That means the car is a tad...
feistier. The throttle response is slightly faster, just like the response is faster when you release the throttle. BMW really likes one-pedal...
driving, so Mini likes it to. You can't turn that off, but it's very handy in the city. It is what it is.
That also helps with the playful personality this car has. Just like the chassis.
Sometimes, with electrified combustion cars, the chassis has been compromised, but none of that with this Mini.
The springs and dampers are nice and tight, the chassis is very direct and the drivetrain is very responsive. Torque is available immediately...
and the power is there whenever you go near the accelerator. It's one big party piece.
If we look at the electric performance, it's all very modest. It has a 32,6 kWh and a WLTP-range of 234 km. Not a lot, and in reality it'll do...
around 160 or 170 km. Just like with the Honda, not a record-breaker.
Again, that's not what this car is meant for. Just like the Honda, this Mini feels at home in the city. If you need to drive longer distances...
you should look for different cars. If you need to, you can quickcharge the Mini. It's not like a Renault Twingo that can only handle regular...
charging stations.
If we look at the interior, we see a design that's been around for almost twenty years now. It's been updated now and again, but not drastically.
That's why it's very easy to use. Also, everything you touch and see feels premium. A clear trait from a manufacturer that's used to...
make premium cars.
It's very easy to use. No weird gimmicks like the Honda has, and a very big advantage is the multimedia system.
BMW was the first to introduce a multimedia-button on the middle console, and that has found its way into the Mini as well.
It just works very well. It's quick and the menu structures are logical.
Right, the practical usability then. The boot is slightly bigger than in the Honda. But as an adult, you have absolutely no business...
on the rear seat. That's only meant for children or you sports bag. You can't really fit anything else.
Gadgets. That's what they are, but both in their own way. With the Honda, it all starts with the minimalistic but very playful exterior.
It just looks like its driven off from a show. The big party piece in the Honda clearly is the interior. Absolutely.
And Honda has done that without having to sacrifice any functionality. If we look at the Mini, it still has an exterior which everybody knows.
The interior might be almost 20 years old, but it's still very usable. However, because of the go-kart-like drive in the Mini,
it's very difficult to compare the two. One is all about the looks, whilst the other is all about the drive. One thing is certain though,
they aren't groundbreaking when it comes to electrical mobility. Fortunately, they weren't designed to be either.