But drivers still have a lot of misconceptions about going electric.
From range to charging challenges, here are some of the biggest EV myths, debunked.
Electric cars are gaining traction, bolstered by efforts from the federal government, billions of dollars of investment from the auto industry, and momentum from sustainability advocates all over the globe.
But the US’ transition to electric has been slower than other parts of the world, hitting just about 6% EV adoption in 2022.
Some of that can be attributed to real hurdles, with infrastructure, cost, and more. But more people than might think can probably go electric, so long as some major myths are demystified and their questions answered.
Here are 8 of the biggest myths about EVs, debunked:
Myth 1. All EVs are expensive.
Most consumers who aren’t very familiar with electric vehicles or weren’t early adopters have the perception that all of them are costly.
Honda E 2021 (Image: honda.co.uk)
It’s true that the average price paid for a new EV hit $55,089 in April — higher than the average for a new gas-powered vehicle of $48,275, per Kelley Blue Book. Most US consumers have indicated they don’t want to spend more than $50,000 on one if they opt to electrify. It’s also true that EVs haven’t yet hit scale (at least in the US), and EV batteries are generally a really costly component. Plus, most of the EVs that have hit the market so far have been luxury products and bigger vehicles.
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The all-electric Honda e has a spacious and comfortable interior, but the impressive technology makes it really stand out from the crowd.
The Honda e is an amazing all-electric vehicle. When Honda presented it as a concept car, it looked like a million dollars. However, in the cold light of day, while trudging to the off-license or running errands, the production version lacks some of that luster.
Even so, it’s a commendable effort and unquestionably more attractive on the exterior than the great majority of other compact EVs now on the market – such as the Renault Zoe, Mini Electric, and Mazda MX-30.
The Honda e was initially offered with either 134 or 152 horsepower, but Honda has since discontinued the less potent type. The remaining model has a 35.5 kWh battery and a modest 137-mile range, which Honda believes will be more than adequate for city dwellers. It takes just 30 minutes to charge it from 10% to 80% using a quick charger, or six hours to charge it from 10% to 80% using a standard 7 kWh charger at home.
Honda e Electric Car (Image: Honda.co.uk)
Although it saves on fuel costs (because it’s all-electric) it’s a bit expensive compared to EVs of the same size. However, that’s beside the point. Instead, let’s have a look at the Honda e’s remarkable cabin.
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Honda is a brand that’s always been at the cutting edge of technology. From being an early pioneer of hybrid to then being one of the first marques to explore hydrogen cars, it’s never been frightened to try and do things a bit differently.
Though in recent years its models might have taken a plainer approach, the brand is now back with a bang, as models like the Honda e show. While it could have played things safely with its first electric car to compete with more ordinary rivals like the Renault Zoe, Honda has instead been bold and different – packing its city EV with all the latest technology.
Here are five tech highlights of the Honda e.
It doesn’t have door mirrors
A key part of the Honda e is its minimalist exterior design – you’ll notice it looks similar at both the front and rear – and an element of that are its lack of door mirrors.
That’s right, there are no mirrors as such, but instead cameras that relay live images onto screens in the interior. It’s a really high-end touch and one that hasn’t been seen on a model of this size before. The rear-view mirror can also be changed into a digital screen to improve visibility too.
Honda E 2021 (Image: honda.co.uk)
Interior is made up of five touchscreens
One look at the Honda e’s interior and you’ll quickly realise just how bold and different this EV is. That’s because there are an impressive five screens laid out across the full width of the dashboard.
These include two screens for the door ‘mirrors’, along with the main touchscreen and digital dials, while even the passenger gets their own screen. Both of these can be operated simultaneously, giving the Honda e a true connected experience.
Brimmed with safety equipment
Typically small cars make sacrifices when it comes to standard safety equipment, yet – despite measuring less than four metres long – Honda has managed to pack a range of driver assistance technology into the e.
Just a few features available include adaptive cruise control that can bring the car to a complete stop in heavy traffic, along with an intelligent speed limiter that can adapt your speed as the limit changes, along with blind spot information and a system that helps you avoid leaving the road.
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Although General Motors will build Honda’s first two fully electric vehicles for North America, the Japanese automaker plans to change course and manufacture its own later this decade.
Company officials say they’re developing their own EV architecture, and after two GM-made EVs go on sale in 2024, Honda will start building its own.
“It’s absolutely our intention to produce in our factories,” Honda of America Executive Vice President Dave Gardner said, adding that Honda has developed battery manufacturing expertise from building gas-electric hybrids. “We absolutely intend to utilize that resource.”
Honda e Electric Car (Image: Honda.co.uk)
Honda and GM have been partners on hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles. Earlier this year they announced that GM would build one Honda SUV and one Acura SUV using its Ultium-branded electric vehicle architecture and battery system. The company said the Honda SUV would be named the Prologue, and that both SUVs will have bodies, interiors and driving characteristics designed by Honda.
But after those two, Honda plans its own manufacturing for most of a series of electric vehicles, although it hasn’t determined if it will use GM components.
Gardner says sales projections for the Prologue are between 40,000 and 150,000 per year, but he didn’t say when those numbers would be reached.
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With the expectation that EVs and FCVs to account for 40% of vehicle sales by 2030.
Honda‘s new CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, has officially launched plans to increase its ratio of electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to 100 percent of all sales by 2040. The carmaker’s goal follows the company’s expectation that EVs and FCVs will account for at least 40 percent of vehicle sales in major markets by 2030 and 80 percent by 2035.
With the aim in mind, Honda is also set to produce more EVs and FCVs in the coming decades. The company also plans to roll out the first EVs it will build on e:Architecture, a new EV platform lead by Honda. Those vehicles are expected to make their debut in North America before expanding to regions across the pond. In the meantime, Honda and GM have introduced two jointly-developed EV models that will use GM’s Ultium batteries. The cars are expected to launch in 2024 in the North American Market.
Honda e Electric Car (Image: Honda.co.uk)
Reuters obtained a quote from Mibe stating, “I believe it is the responsibility of an automaker to achieve our carbon-free goal on a ‘tank-to-wheel’ basis.”
He continues to comment on the company reaching the goal in the Japanese market saying, “While the government’s target is extremely difficult, I believe it is a feasible target from the viewpoint of Japan becoming carbon neutral in 2050. As for Honda, we are in full support of this target – 46% -and we’d like to put all our efforts towards achieving the goal.”
Honda is expected to invest a total of $46.3 billion USD in R&D initiatives regarding electrification over the next six years, regardless of sales revenue fluctuations.
In other automotive news, Triumph updated its 900cc street scrambler for 2022.
Honda’s electric supermini has its charms, but what’s it like to live with? Let’s find out
Why we ran it: To see if the E has the everyday usability to match its desirability, despite its relatively short range
Life with a Honda E: month 5
Our time is up with Honda’s eye- catching electric city car. So how has it fared in our hands? Let’s find out – 7 April 2021
The world is quite divisive, you may have noticed. Debates are fierce, and the grey middle ground seems lost in a desire to make everything black or white. Whatever happened to a bit of good old-fashioned fence-sitting?
With that in mind, comments about the Honda E tend to go something like this: “Yeah, I love the way it looks inside and out, even more so the way it drives, but its range is tiny, so it’s basically rubbish.” Sure, the range figure is smaller than similarly priced rivals such as the Peugeot e-208, but by enough to discount the E entirely? Not a chance.
We’ll come back to the issue of range later. Yes, it’s part of the story of this car that started with us last summer, but it’s not the only part of it.
Our Crystal Blue metallic-coloured E came in the higher of two trim levels, Advance. This specification gets you not only an extra 17bhp for the single, rear-mounted electric motor, but also some extra comfort, convenience and safety features for a £2500 jump over the base car. For a premium product, it’s a price worth paying to experience the E in its very best light.
On first impressions, and even for the weeks and months that follow, the E will charm you with its exterior styling. This is a fine-looking, well-proportioned car that you never get tired of clapping eyes on – from a company whose styling department has a less than impressive past decade behind it. Indeed, the E looks like it’s from an altogether different manufacturer when it’s sat in a showroom with its Honda rangemates. But it’s a welcome reminder that the Japanese car maker still knows how to nail a timeless design, and it’s one that has never stopped turning the heads of passers-by during its time with us.
Those show-stopping looks make this not just another electric car but also the exact type of car to bring the EV debate to a more mainstream audience. Those conversations with strangers would so often start with a discussion on the looks, or the two side cameras that replace the door mirrors, but then talk would turn to general electric car ownership. Those conversations between curious strangers and real-world EV users give a far better impression of what it’s really like to live with an electric car than an internet search engine can ever hope to achieve.
Ah yes, those mirrors. What I at first thought was a bit of a gimmick actually turned out to be an incredibly useful feature. The ‘mirrors’ display just inside the A-pillars on a screen that extends across from the centre of the dash. The display is crisp, clear and perfectly sited, and the cameras give not only a slightly wider field of vision but also a clearer one that performs particularly well in low light. Quite what they do to the aero performance and therefore range is impossible to quantify in a test like this, but every little helps.
Honda E 2021 (Image: honda.co.uk)
Bravo, too, to Honda for creating such a great interior. There’s a real sense of space and airiness, which comes from a combination of the light-coloured fabrics, large windscreen and even more so the absence of a centre tunnel between the front seats. It’s a really good use of space: with the rear bench up there’s enough room in the back for two adults for short journeys (although the boot is tiny like this), or drive it as I did for the most part with the bench folded flat and you have a spacious two-seater minivan with enough room for a large greyhound to sprawl out on her way to some daily mandated exercise (in the local area, of course).
Nippy off the line, adjustable regenerative braking allowing for true one-pedal use, runs out of puff a bit above 60mph… These attributes could apply to all manner of small EVs, but the E really stands out in other ways. Chief among them is its amazing turning circle, thanks to the rear-mounted motor and rear-wheel drive. Three-point turns have never really been the bane of my life, but I’m now sneaking round in one turn when before it would take three. It really is fantastic.
The E, then, is a car you desire when looking at it, when sitting in it and when driving it, and it comes with three or four killer features that make it excel as the most modern of city cars. If you do most of your miles within a short radius of home and can charge at home (or work, if your commute isn’t a monster), and have access to a second car for longer journeys, then even the range is fine.
The range, then, from the E’s 35.5kWh battery pack, is officially 125 miles. We got close to that in the summer, but it’s a figure that only tells half the story. On the coldest winter days, you’re likely only to manage half that distance, when you need to demist the windows, warm the cabin and make use of the heated seats and steering wheel.
For those who fit the home charging and second-car criteria, is a 125-mile range enough? Most likely, yes, but don’t rush into ownership without taking the 65-mile winter range into serious consideration. I was surprised to find that, despite its range limitations, the E managed everything I asked of it without causing range anxiety. For others, though, that winter range doesn’t half undermine the E’s overall appeal, so any final verdict comes with a significant caveat.
But caveats are fine so long as you go in with eyes wide open: the E is still a great car, just one with a great big (potential) flaw that limits any emphatic
I was captivated by the Honda E – the looks, the interior, the handling and that amazing turning circle. You look forward to offering someone new a chance to ride in it, just to demonstrate how well it turns. But range is the decider. If you need a car for local trips – a city car, as Honda labels it – there’s almost nothing to dislike, especially if home charging is the norm for you. But as your one car for all jobs? Forget it.
Life with a Honda E: Month 4
If you thought its range was too short in the summer, well… – 17 February 2021
We’re very much still in the education phase of electric cars among the public. Many Autocar readers will know their appeal and drawbacks, likewise the early adopters and evangelists – although less of the drawbacks there…
That education must include an explanation of what a headline range figure really means. In the Honda E’s case, 125 miles is very much a best-case scenario, and one valid only for the warmest months of the year. Or warmest days, in the UK’s case.
In the summer heatwave when the E was first delivered, a range approaching 125 miles was indeed possible when I drove carefully and turned the regenerative braking to its maximum, always-on setting using the button on the centre tunnel (rather than the lighter touch given by the steering-mounted paddles).
In the winter, I’ve seen it drop below 70 miles when getting in on a 99% charge (for some reason, it never shows 100%) on the coldest days.
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CAR GRANTS for those purchasing brand new fully-electric road cars have been dramatically cut from £3,000 to £2,500 under a new initiative from the Government.
Campaigners have attacked the proposals with many warning it could be families and those who need to purchase larger road cars who will be the most affected. The proposals also cap the scheme to models only priced below £35,000.
This means the UK’s most popular electric car, the Tesla Model 3 will no longer qualify as part of the plug-in grant discount.
With sales of brand new petrol and diesel road cars banned from 2040, drivers must switch.
But, road users can still secure a range of vehicles under the new measures including the popular Renault Zoe and Honda E.
Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf is one of the longest-running electric vehicles on the market and is a popular option for those making the switch.
The Leaf is available for just over £27,000 while the Leaf + model can be purchased for around £33,000.
The classic Leaf is capable of up to a 168 miles of range on a single charge with the premium model said to manage up to 239 miles.
Nissan claims drivers who make the switch will also benefit from no congestion charge fees or Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates.
Nissan also states the cars are eligible for zero percent Benefit in Kind rates meaning company car owners will pay even less.
Nissan Leaf (Image: Qurren/Wikipedia)
MG5 EV
The Government has confirmed one of the most popular electric cars the MG5 EV will still be eligible for grant payments.
The model starts from just £25,495 but is capable of up to 163 miles on electric power.
However, the car is one of the best low-budget options and even has a five star Euro NCAP crash test for extra road safety.
Honda- e
The Honda-e is one of the more quirkier electric cars on the market offering a unique, compact design.
The model is one of the only cars on the market to be fitted without traditional wing mirrors in place of camera technology beamed to the cockpit.
The car is available for just £27,000 but has a small range compared to some equivalent models with just 130 miles guaranteed.
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You’re not the only one – so was I. I’m using the past tense deliberately. But when it was first shown I had some issues. It didn’t look as cool and radical as the concept. I thought a base price of £26,160 was too expensive. I didn’t think 130 miles was near enough range. I thought the camera wing mirrors were a gimmick. I wasn’t sure about the car’s whole width being taken up by screens. I feared cutesy styling concealed flimsy engineering.
Honda e Electric Car (Image: Honda.co.uk)
And now you’ve spent a few days with it?
Only one of those concerns remains: the wing mirrors. Better here than in the Audi e-tron as the screens sit in a more natural place, but still a flawed solution. And I don’t get on with the electric rear view mirror in this £29,160 Advanced version, either. Makes your eyes feel funny after a while. One flick and you’re back to a normal rearwards view, trying to see past your passenger’s heads.
Other issues have cropped up, but none is remotely serious enough to prevent this being a thoroughly excellent little electric car.
Come on, let’s get those flaws out in the open.
The biggest one is boot space. The e is powered by a single electric motor driving the rear wheels alone. That means the boot floor is high and a Maxi pack of Shreddies doesn’t fit under the parcel shelf. In fact, after bag four the rest of the supermarket shop is going on the back seats. 171 litres in total when a Renault Zoe has 338 litres – almost precisely double the size. It’s not a deal breaker, but I was surprised how often things had to be twisted, laid flat or put in the rear footwells.
Speaking of rear space, you will get four adults in, but load it up with weight and that 130-mile claimed range is going to fall significantly. Especially during winter. And it’s not like you’re going to get 130 miles anyway. Reckon on 100. Probably closer to 80 with your mates on board. This is beginning to sound bad, isn’t it?
It is. What if I drive enthusiastically?
That’s not going to do you any favours either. If you want range, go for that Renault Zoe and its 50kWh battery. On the WLTP cycle it promises 238 miles range – over 100 more than the Honda with its smaller 35kWh battery. But how often do you drive 100, or even 80 miles in a day? And do you have access to another car if that’s the case? These are the key questions you need to answer, together with resolving your charging strategy. If you’ve got off-street parking, have a charger installed – it’s only a few hundred quid. It’s a wonderful feeling to arrive home and just plug in. No off-street parking? Running a cable across a pavement is probably not an option, which means you’re going to be using charge points. Minefield.
How is the Honda for nipping around town?
Possibly the best city car there is, no matter what fuel it’s powered by. It might be heavy (1,542kg) but it’s compact – mid-way between a Zoe and VW’s Up for length and width. The windscreen is nearly as upright as a Mini Electric’s, but you sit higher and have a more commanding view out over a very stubby bonnet. It’s super-simple to drive, and snaps away from lights with real vigour.
But the best thing about it is the turning circle. This side of a London Taxi, there’s nothing to touch it. It makes parking simple, multi-storeys a doddle and odd though it sounds, it’s weirdly satisfying to have something that turns as tight as a dodgem.
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An eminently likeable and capable small car with good dynamics but a limited range and an ambitious price
What is it?
A theme common to many electric cars is that their weight and architecture lead to them feeling lead-footed and brittle. The Honda E has circumnavigated that issue. So, whatever else comes of this sub-supermini hatchback, attractive but not quite as pretty as the concept that preceded it, one of its plus points will be the way it drives.
Honda e Electric Car (Image: Honda.co.uk)
Its new platform provides allround independent suspension with a MacPherson strut at each corner; dynamically, Honda has targeted much larger cars. For rolling comfort, smoothness and refinement, the E succeeds where others have not.
There is a catch, of course. This is a compact car – 3.9m long – that can be so only because it has a small energy store. While almost every manufacturer strives to fit a capacity of 60kWh or more (the Nissan Leaf e+ has 62kWh), the E has a liquid-cooled battery pack of just 35.5kWh between its axles. Resulting range, in 151bhp form, is a WLTP-certified 125 miles on 17in wheels or 137 miles on 16in wheels. And on our cold test day, it managed even less than that.
The E comes in two flavours: the regular 134bhp model and the 151bhp Advance tested here, which respectively cost a not-insignificant £26,160 and £28,660 after the plugin grant. Both can be slow-charged at a rate of up to 6.6kW or DC rapid-charged at up to 100kW, although a 50kW fill will be almost as quick – 31 minutes from 0-80%, rather than 30. It’s like flying from Birmingham to Newcastle: no sooner than you’re up to speed, it’s time to wind down again.
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There’s no doubt that Honda fell behind on electric cars. Beat up the company as much as you like about its meager EV offerings to date.
But also consider signs that the Japanese automaker is slowly correcting its course. In addition to introducing the small Honda E in Europe next year, Honda is working on a second EV for about 2022. Other small victories include quitting diesel, putting hydrogen indefinitely on hold, and agreeing with California’s emissions standards.
In late October, at Honda’s “Electric Vision” event in Amsterdam, the company said it was “electrifying” its entire product line, which mostly means hybrids. But hold on. Tom Gardner, senior vice president of Honda Motor Europe Honda, also said, “We will bring further battery-electric products to the market.” The company is starting to talk the talk, a good first step.
The retro all-electric Honda E city car will arrive on European roads in summer 2020. Unfortunately, the $33,000 small EV with a 35.5-kWh pack (offering about 125 miles of range) is not coming to the United States.
Honda e Electric Car (Image: Honda.co.uk)
Honda will focus its EV efforts first on Europe, where electric-car demand is on the rise. Gardner told Driving.co.uk that the electric car market in the UK grew from 2% in 2015 to 7% or 8% today. “It’s beginning to be significant,” he said.
European emissions regulations are also a chief motivator. “The pace of change in regulation, the market, and consumer behavior in Europe means that the shift toward electrification is happening faster here than anywhere else in the world,” Gardner said.
