Honda e Review 2023

The Honda e meets a very specific set of requirements. If you regularly cover more than 100 miles a day, searching for public charge points could soon get tiring, and rivals are able to travel further between charges. It’s also woefully impractical with a tiny boot and rear seats which are suited to occasional use only. 

On the plus side, it’s got more showroom appeal than any of its competitors. It combines retro looks with an incredible, tech-packed interior and loads of standard equipment. It’s also great to drive - fun, while also feeling more grown-up and refined than competitors. The biggest issue is the price. It’s expensive and, even on the used market, will remain that way for the foreseeable.

The standard Honda e isn’t going to leave you wanting. It comes loaded with technology and looks every bit as upmarket as the more expensive Honda e Advance model. It’s down on power slightly, but it’s certainly not slow, and the difference is marginal in the real world.

That said, the majority of new buyers are expected to splash out the extra £50 a month in finance for the Honda e Advance. That’s likely to hit the used market, too, with more Honda e Advance models trickling through to second-hand buyers. Features like the digital rear-view mirror and Honda’s Parking Pilot system are a bit gimmicky, but they do add to the Honda e’s ‘car of the future’ vibe. The extra power could come in handy if you’re planning to venture out of town, too.

The MINI Electric is a similarly fashionable electric car and probably even more fun to drive, albeit more conventional in its approach while if you like the retro appeal, there's the Fiat 500 Electric. You should also be considering the latest Renault Zoe and Peugeot e-208 - both of which are great little electric cars that are more practical than the Honda.

The Volkswagen e-Up, Skoda Citigo-e iV and SEAT Mii Electric all do a similar job to the Honda but a fraction of the price. Despite their compact dimensions, they’re very practical choices but lack the Honda’s wow factor.

If you need a longer range, consider Korean alternatives in the form of the Kia Soul, Hyundai Ioniq and the Kona Electric. These are pricier than the Honda e when new but used examples are tempting thanks to their long warranties.

You should also be considering EV stalwarts like the Nissan Leaf and Volkswagen e-Golf. They might not be as trendy as the Honda e, but you’ll get more for your money.

While the Honda e’s cabin has been cleverly designed, it could so easily have been let down in its execution. Japanese - and particular, Honda - interiors aren’t often known for being plush and premium in their approach.

Fortunately, the Honda e’s very good in terms of quality and finish. The wooden dash trim is surprisingly tasteful, while everything you touch feels like it’ll last a lifetime. Even the buttons feel slicker to use than those we’d normally expect to find in a Honda.

The interior does an excellent job of having the wow factor and, pleasingly, you’re not going to find any flimsy materials which’ll make you doubt your decision. Even at a few years’ old, it ought to still feel fresh in there. OK, it’s not quite as upmarket inside as the MINI Electric, but you can tell its significantly more expensive than a Skoda Citigo-e iV.

The Honda e is a car created for the iPhone generation, with a huge dual-screen display running along the entire width of the dashboard. An 8.8-inch digital display acts as the instrument cluster, while additional small screens on each side of the dash display images from the camera door mirrors.

This entirely digital setup will take a little while to get used to and, if you favour the simplicity of physical buttons and a CD player, you should probably be searching for a 10-year-old Honda Jazz instead.

That said, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included as standard. These make things a little easier, as you can simply mirror apps from your phone onto one of the car’s many displays. Use Google Maps to navigate and Spotify to stream your favourite playlists without having to negotiate the Honda e’s many infotainment menus.

The displays aren’t quite as crisp as we’d like and responses can be a little tardy, but it’s still a solid effort from a brand that has previously given us woeful infotainment systems like those used still in the Civic and CR-V, amongst others.

There are plenty of USB ports and even an HDMI port which can be used to plug a Chromecast or a games console of your choice. Perfect for passing time while you wait for the Honda e to charge.

The Honda e feels so grown-up in some respects, it’s easy to forget that it is in fact a small city car. At 3894mm long, 1752mm wide and 1503mm tall, its dimensions are smaller than a Ford Fiesta, yet its price tag means you could easily be comparing this with bigger used electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Volkswagen e-Golf.

Those in the front seats of the Honda e ought to be perfectly happy with the space on offer. A flat floor without a physical divide between the front-seat passenger and driver makes for an airy and spacious feel, also helped by the relatively large windows and thin windscreen pillars.

Headroom’s pretty generous, but the Honda e is let down slightly by stowage space. There’s a handy storage area in the centre console as well as a pop-out cupholder, but the door bins aren’t very accommodating and the glove box is small.

With only two seatbelts in the back, this isn’t a car for carrying all the family, but a pair of adults can fit in the back seats at a push. It’s pretty cramped back there - adults will find their knees digging into the backs of the front seats and there’s not much in the way of foot room.

Isofix points are fitted to the rear seats meaning you can fit child seats fairly easily and, being a five-door, access is easier than in something like the MINI Electric.

The boot is so tiny it’ll barely carry an overnight bag, never mind the weekly shop. By positioning the electric motor in the back, there are just 171 litres left for luggage. That’s considerably less than rivals like the Volkswagen e-Up (with 250 litres) and Renault Zoe (338 litres). 

If you don’t need to carry passengers in the rear, the back seats are easily dropped to provide a flat boot space capable of lugging up to 861 litres of luggage.

The standard Honda e uses a 100kW (136PS) electric motor, providing 315Nm of torque and 0-62mph acceleration in 9.0 seconds flat. The Honda e Advance ups the power to 113kW (154PS), shaving 0.7 seconds off the 0-62mph time - taking 8.3 seconds to reach 62mph.

The difference between the two is negligible, really, with both models considerably quicker than other electric city cars like the Renault Zoe and Volkswagen e-Up (although not quite as rapid as the MINI E).

If you haven’t driven an electric car before, you’re sure to be impressed with the Honda e’s turn of pace. As soon as you hit the accelerator, it’ll surge forwards with little in the way of noise. There’s no delay while you wait for the gearbox to drop down gears or for the engine to build revs… it just goes. Even if you’re heavy with the throttle in sports mode, you’ll struggle to overwhelm the rear wheels - all that weight over the rear wheels prevent them from spinning up, even in wet weather.

There are many (almost too many…) brake regeneration modes to choose from. Essentially, when you lift off the accelerator, you can use the paddles behind the steering wheel to control how much the car uses the electric motor to slow down, pumping energy back into the battery.

Hit the ‘single-pedal’ button and, with some careful driving, you can pretty much avoid using the brake at all around town. It’s the equivalent of extreme engine braking, slowing down with enough force as soon as you lift off the accelerator to bring you a halt entirely. It sounds a bit odd but you’ll soon get the hang of it.

If you find city driving a stressful experience, it probably isn’t too much of an exaggeration to say an electric car could change your life - a serene cabin, no gears to change and instant acceleration make the Honda e an absolute pleasure to pilot.

Of course, that could also be said for most of the Honda’s electric rivals. Despite being a lot of fun to drive, the Honda e manages to feel like a much more grown-up electric city car than a lot of its contemporaries. The independent suspension ensures it travels down the road in a much more refined manner than cars like the SEAT Mii Electric.

Noise levels are good. You obviously don’t have a petrol or diesel engine to hear, yet that means wind noise is slightly more noticeable at speed. Things like the fancy, aerodynamic digital door mirror help to reduce this, though.

Honda says the introduction of a new high-definition and camera and radar set-up means the e has improved awareness of its surroundings compared to other Honda vehicles. That means it’s packed with clever features to prevent you from having a crash.

New functions of Honda’s Sensing package include a lead car departure notification system (it’ll notify you when the car in front starts moving in traffic), a collision mitigation throttle control (preventing sudden acceleration when starting if there’s an obstacle in the way), and a low-speed brake function which applies the brakes if it detects a potential collision at low speed.

Other highlights include a collision mitigation brake system, which can apply the brakes if it detects a collision at higher speeds. This now has improved night-time operation to detect pedestrians and cyclists when there is no street lighting.

Further handy safety tech includes adaptive cruise control, automatic high-beam headlights and traffic sign recognition. The lane-keep assist system will keep the E in the centre of the lane at speeds above 44mph, while a range of connectivity services will alert emergency services if you’re involved in a crash.

The Honda e was awarded four stars when it was tested by Euro NCAP.

The first question many electric car buyers ask is, “how far will it travel between charges?”. And that’s one area where the Honda e performs pretty poorly. Officially, under WLTP tests, both models will return 136 miles between charges. In the real world, you’re going to be getting pretty anxious about finding a charge point after 100 miles - even less in winter.

Honda has an excellent reliability record, and we have no reason to suspect the Honda e will do anything to damage that. Electric cars are generally very reliable, thanks to a smaller amount of moving parts compared to a petrol or diesel model. A new Honda e comes with a three-year manufacturer warranty, while its batteries are covered for eight years/100,000 miles.

The Honda e is in insurance group 25 while the Honda e Advance is in 29. That’s surprisingly high for a tiny city car but, in our experience, electric cars often cost more to insure than petrol-powered alternatives. This ought to be changing as they become more widespread, but we’d recommend seeking out a few quotes before you part with your cash - especially if you’re a relatively new driver. There are a number of companies that specialise in insurance for electric cars.

A perk of an electric car is you won’t pay any car tax. Nil. Ever.

It’s also exempt from London’s Congestion Charge and the Ultra-Low Emission Zone.

The Honda e line-up is pretty simple. There’s the standard Honda e, and the Honda e Advance.

The standard specification list on the Honda e is pretty extensive. It comes with the fancy dual screen providing access to DAB radio, Bluetooth, navigation and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. There’s even an HDMI socket so you can connect a Google Chromecast, for example - or a games console of your choice.

It also comes with the futuristic digital door mirrors (a similar set-up is an option on the much more expensive Audi e-tron). Parking sensors are included, as is a rear-view camera.

Getting comfortable is easy thanks to manual height adjustment on the front seats and lumbar support for the driver. As you’d expect, there are electric windows in the front and rear, and climate control air conditioning.

The Honda e comes with 16-inch alloy wheels shod on 185/60 tyres at the front and 205/55 at the rear. A tyre repair kit is included - there isn’t a spare wheel available.

Highlights of the pricier Honda e Advance include such luxuries as a heated steering wheel and front seats. There’s also Honda’s Parking Pilot which, at the touch of a button, will find an empty spot on the street or in a car park and reverse into it for you, taking the hassle out of parking.

The Honda e is available with optional 17-inch alloy wheels. We’d look for one with the standard 16-inch rims to avoid the range penalty provided by the bigger wheels.