This is the coolest electric car you may never get the chance to drive. It's tiny,
it's cute and it's quirky, but only as few was three Honda E's as may ever come to Australia.
Are we missing out on much? Let's find out.
So if it's not on sale here, you're probably wondering how we got our hands on this:
The very first Honda E to land in Australia. Well, that's thanks to Sydney based importer,
OZM Auto group, an independent special vehicle importer that plans to bring at
least three examples of the electric super-mini over from Japan. And the only way companies like
this can bring cars like these here is through the Special Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme or SEVS,
which allows them to import vehicles that aren't offered locally by mainstream manufacturers.
So far, Honda Australia has no plans to offer the E here, because according to the Japanese
car maker, it doesn't make business sense for our market. Yes, it's a rather expensive city car,
with the few examples available here via OZM, likely to sell for around $80,000. That's a lot
more than in Europe and Japan, where pricing starts at around 53K. You can thank things
like shipping, import and certification costs, for the Honda E's high price tag down under.
Yes, that's a fair bit of money to splash out on something this size,
but few cars are as cute or as exclusive as this little EV.
Although its design was inspired by the original Honda Civic,
in some ways, it also looks like a first generation Volkswagen Golf.
Either way, there's no denying how charming this retro-inspired EV is.
The eye-catching round LED headlights punctuate its blacked out front-end design,
which is echoed by the floating black roof,
and this matching black bonnet scoop looking thing is actually the cover for the charge port.
Unlike the three-door urban EV concept that previewed it in 2017,
the production Honda E released in 2020 comes with two extra back doors.
But hidden rear door handles give it a smooth coupe-like look, and the front door handles
also sit flush to maximise aero dynamics. There are no conventional side mirrors,
instead, you've got video cameras mounted on stocks like the Audi e-tron.
Unfortunately, all the charm in the world, can't make up for lack of practicality or
user friendliness. And where this EV misses the mark is its measly 220 kilometer driving range.
That just won't be enough for everyone, especially here in Australia where fast charging stations
remain few and far between. But the Honda E does have a rear mounted electric motor that drives the
rear wheels, which makes it feel sporty, negates torque steer and is rare for a car this size.
That retro modern styling continues here inside the cabin,
with a mixture of wood grain materials and a host of touch screens and displays.
Even with all that focus on technology, the cabin is relatively minimalist.
Materials feel high quality and the seats are finished in a cosy cloth material.
There are only four seats, not five, and weirdly, given its barrage of electronics,
things like steering wheel and seat adjustments are still manual.
There are buttons, however, for most other functions inside the cabin, including gear
selection, the single zone climate control, and the multitude of camera viewing options.
There's no head-up display, but dual 12.3-inch central touch screens deliver
wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, as well as Bluetooth and radio.
Despite the fact it's a Japanese car, thankfully, most of the basic controls are in in English.
There's also lots of PowerPoints, including a Japanese household plug,
and it wouldn't be an electric car without a quirky Easter egg.
In this case, it's an aquarium, and you can feed the fishies.
The driver also gets an 8.8-inch instrument cluster that displays battery percentage,
range, digital speed, and more. Uniquely, there's a HDMI port too.
So while you're waiting for your Honda to charge, you can whip out your Xbox and play some games,
something we're told, is pretty common practice over in Japan.
Overseas, the Honda E comes with a four-star Euro NCAP rating and standard driver aids
include autonomous emergency braking, a 360 degree camera, lane assist, adaptive cruise control and
auto high beam. The top spec Honda E Advance we have here also comes with a park assist feature,
and just in case you get caught out in the middle of nowhere, Honda has added an emergency light.
As you can imagine, incidental storage isn't fantastic. Up front, you've got
a bottle holder in each door, two center cup holders and a tiny pocket here under the dash.
Rear seat accommodation is surprisingly good. There's
plenty of headroom for a pair of adults back here,
legroom is good too, but there's not a lot of room for your toes under the low-slung front seats.
And there's not much storage for those in the rear. No air vents,
but there is a cup holder in each door pocket and two USB ports down here. You
can install a pair of baby seats, thanks to ISOFIX anchorage points at either side.
The boot holds just over 170 litres and underneath the floor, is a tyre inflator kit.
But we're not gonna find out what it's like to drive back here.
Aside from the fact, there's only one of these in the country, and that makes me really nervous,
I'm actually quite spellbound. This thing is so cool.
Tipping the scales at around 1500 kilos, the Honda E is tiny but mighty, mighty heavy that is for
a micro-car. For reference, the MG ZS EV weighs about the same, but it's also much larger, because
it's an SUV. And while the claimed 0 to 100 kilometre an hour acceleration time of 8.3 seconds
isn't too shabby for a car this small, it's not as blindingly quick, as say, a Tesla Model 3.
It also comes with a sport mode that sharpens throttle response,
while three-stage regenerative braking is adjusted via steering wheel mounted
shift paddles, and in its highest setting, you can drive with just one pedal.
It handles like a little go-cart, with its 50-50 weight distribution,
but the suspension is really firm and you've gotta take it quite slow going
over speed bumps or through car parks, otherwise it's a little uncomfortable.
Even so, the Honda E's proportions and smaller than average battery make
it better suited to city dwellers that probably have nice smooth roads anyway.
Vision is pretty good in every direction, but it has taken quite a bit of time to get used to these
side mirrors. They're clear and they're pretty responsive, they're as quick as a normal mirror
would be, whereas I thought they'd be a little bit laggy. But yeah, they're quite good. It is just
getting used to that parallel parking and driving, in general, is a little bit different.
Many will argue the range of just over 200 kilometres isn't enough. But for the average daily
suburban commute, it'll be just fine for most. It is a bit concerning though, that before we'd even
moved the E from its garage, the range was showing around 100 kilometres, with the battery at 100%.
After 70 kilometres of driving, the battery percentage had gone down to 58%, and we had 111
kilometres of range left. In layman's terms, its energy consumption is right up there,
and you'll likely have trouble ever getting a full 220 kilometres out of it on a single charge.
The passenger seat has a noticeable vibration when there's no one riding shotgun.
That said, it's pretty quiet here inside the cabin, there's no
synthesised exhaust notes. All you hear, is the electricity whirring beneath you.
It's quiet and refined around town, but whip it around a corner and it actually feels sporty.
The turning circle is also incredibly tiny at just 4.3 meters,
which makes this especially easy to maneuver.
Something I've noticed, driving this Honda E, is that the steering feels a little bit artificial,
and the suspension is firm. Even around town,
little bumps and potholes really kind of send tremors through the cabin.
Because of how small this car is, it is really easy to park
in normal car parks. There are so many camera systems that
you can just find your way pretty easy, but reverse parallel parking takes a bit of
getting used to, especially with those camera side mirrors, they're a little bit tricky.
As for warranty, OZM Auto Group will cover the Honda E with a three-year unlimited kilometer
warranty, and will even service the few Honda E's they plan to sell down under.
However, service pricing is yet to be confirmed. We know Aussies aren't
necessarily rushing out to buy small cars, let alone small electric cars, but there's
something really enamouring about the Honda E, with its retro looks and high-tech gadgetry.
And if there are just three things we've discovered here today with the Honda E,
it's that it turns plenty of heads, has super fun go-cart like handling,
and Honda Australia should really think about bringing these things down under.