Sometimes electric cars can be just plain cute.
Honda revealed its European-exclusive city EV on Wednesday ahead of its formal debut in Frankfurt, further confirming several of the E’s technical specifications and offering a road map for customer deliveries.
Honda designed the E from the ground up as an EV, but it’s still a city car first and foremost. In other words, this isn’t aimed at the Tesla Model 3 or Chevrolet Bolt EV, but at smaller cars intended strictly to serve as urban runabouts. To that end, it packs a 35.5-kwh battery that Honda says is the most compact in the class and good for 136 miles of total range.
That battery provides juice to a motor that drives the rear wheels, making the E not just cute, but sporty too. This motor comes in two tunes: 100 kw (134 horsepower) or 113 kw (151 hp), and the more powerful variant can push the E to 62 mph in approximately 8 seconds.
Production Honda E
The Japanese automaker has a habit of showing prototypes that end up being little more than production vehicles by another name. With the Honda E, we’re seeing that yet again. The production model shown here is identical to the E Prototype shown back in May, which in turn was merely an evolution of the Urban EV concept that first made the rounds on the show circuit in 2017.
Honda’s final product incorporates the retro charm of the original Urban EV concept with the showroom-ready practicality of the E prototype, resulting in a fun and funky aesthetic that doesn’t go overboard on the futuristic look so popular with certain EV designers.
The key interior component that made the transition from concept to production is the Honda E’s full-width digital dash. Trimmed in wood (likely a suggestion of sustainability), the dash is topped by two 12.3-inch touchscreen displays, which, Honda boasts, will give both the driver and passengers equal access to the E’s comfort and connectivity features. While this may seem like technology overload, the execution is pleasantly minimalist and clean, much like it was in the concept car.
If the minimalist controls turn you off, you have the option of using voice commands. The E utilizes an AI-based smart interface activated with the phrase “OK Honda.” It accepts commands and answers questions, allowing many vehicle functions to be accessed hands-free. It is also fully smartphone integrated, allowing access to the vehicle (including locking and unlocking) via an app.
Online reservations for the Honda E are currently available in the UK, Germany, France, and Norway. Honda is also soliciting interest from other European countries. It will be officially unveiled at Frankfurt on Sept. 10.
