- The Honda e made its debut in Europe this week, but this scrappy little city car is not destined to come to the United States.
- The base model of the new electric car has about 137 miles of range on the European cycle.
- It’s a rear-wheel-drive car with 50:50 weight distribution, a low center of gravity, and a “loungelike” interior, so what’s not to like, America?
This week, the Honda e has been making news as it makes its European debut. The overall gist is that the cute-as-a-button EV is fun to drive, wonderfully designed, full of cool and weird tech, although it’s pricey for the amount of range you get. It’s what I expected to learn about the tiny piece of nostalgia that I want in my garage. No wait, I need in my garage.
Honda e Urban EV Is a Recipe for Fun
Honda Resurrects S2000 for 20th Anniversary
Honda, VW Making Wildly Different Bets on EVs
I’m smitten with this vehicle. It’s hard to look at the Honda e and not feel like it brings back a bit of the whimsy that Honda has lost in the past few decades. Recently the automaker has been working toward bringing us cars that don’t look like beige bricks on wheels. For example, I really like the Civic Type R, but it also looks like it’s going to shank you in a back alley if you don’t give up your lunch money. The Honda e is inviting—a cuddly companion that says, “Hey, friend, let’s go pick up some tacos and ice cream and head to the beach to stare at waves. Maybe we’ll see some dolphins!”
Even if we don’t see mammals frolicking in the sea, the Honda e’s dual-screen infotainment system has the Aquarium mode shown in the tweet above. Does it make sense? No. Do I want to stare at digital fish while recharging my car? Yes.
For Europeans, this friendly EV is a reality. For the U.S., not so much. “The Honda e will not be coming to the United States” is what Honda has said again and again. The company has made that very clear both in its launch messaging and in reply to numerous emails, phone calls, and in-person grillings.
I sort of get it. traditional small cars don’t sell here. The Honda Fit’s sales numbers are dwarfed by those of the CR-V. But the Fit is not the Honda e. The little EV is something new and different, and its size might be its advantage. In a world of large SUVs, there’s always a group looking for something different.
In 2002 we saw the dramatic rise of the large SUV. The locomotive-sized Hummer H2 debuted on American roads, while the Cadillac Escalade was inching toward 50,000 units sold annually. Gas was cheap, the lanes were wide, the country wanted vehicles the size of a studio apartment, and manufacturers responded in kind. In the middle of all this, BMW dropped the Mini on U.S. shores, and what shouldn’t have sold sold very well.
A mix of nostalgia and good marketing made the Mini Cooper a phenomenon: a tiny car that didn’t line up with what automakers thought they knew about what drivers wanted. The Mini became so difficult to purchase in California without being gouged by a dealer that I had friends who bought their Mini from a dealer in Kansas to save money on the markups that came with demand.
The Honda e could generate that sort of buzz and demand here, too, but only if Honda is willing to take a chance. The love affair with the SUV isn’t going away any time soon, but there is a subset of buyers who desire something different from the glut of large boxes on wheels.
Honda is using reason to make its decision. On a spreadsheet, the Honda e’s size, price, and range don’t make sense for the U.S. market. But we don’t buy vehicles based on logic. Or at least I don’t. The range isn’t an issue, because it’ll be my second car, and the most I drive in a day is 40 to 50 miles. The price, the equivalent of nearly $34,000, isn’t ideal. But the tax incentives can bring that well below $30,000. So, yes, it’s pricey and doesn’t have the best range, but it’s a small rear-wheel-drive EV that tugs at the part of me that cares more about joy than good sense when I’m behind the wheel.
If we used only logic to buy cars, there would be no need for the Porsche 911, Ford Mustang, or Honda Civic Type R.
But we’ll never know if it’ll be a success because Honda won’t take a chance and bring it to the United States. Instead, we get the Clarity EV: a boring sedan with a nice interior that shares its platform with a fuel-cell vehicle and a plug-in hybrid. It’s the four-wheeled equivalent of a yawn.
There is one automaker bringing a small, midrange EV to the United States: the Mini Cooper SE will be available in dealers in March. To be frank, it’s not as cool as the Honda e. It’s not even close. But at least BMW is once again giving U.S. drivers an option.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
