Range anxiety, cost and charging network are top 3 EV adoption hurdles. The first is addressed by a larger battery pack which in turn help address the cost via economy of scale. Giving the rate of lithium battery cost reduction, the same price point of 35kwh pack you can buy 60kwh in 2 years. In other words, for $35000 you can buy this E with 120 mile range or another EV with 60Kwh with 240 mile range, which majority of the buyers will choose?
Also EV efficiency matters - Tesla is the current king of efficiency. My Fiat 500e can have the same 120 mile range with a smaller 28kwh battery, which means Honda E is less efficiency or have a poor battery management system (BMS). This brings up the next point.
> This car is designed from the ground up as an EV, it is not an ICE car where the gearbox has been replaced with batteries - that is what the e-Golf is.
That's simply not true. If this car weren't designed as a compliance car why doesn't Honda bring it to the North America market or sell globally? Having 50%-50% weight distribution and strong torque are native characteristics of an EV, having less to do with redesign EV platform.
Honda/Toyota are known to be the two major Japanese auto makers that are EV holdouts. They poured billions of dollars to bet on fuel cell and hydrogen cars and invested heavily on hybrid technologies. Honda have never been fully onboard with 100% Battery Electric vehicles (yet) and NEVER develop a EV native car platform like VW Group's MEB[1] or BMW's i-Series[2]. Their last attempt was a compliance car Honda Fit EV in order for them to give emission credit in California.
I think you misunderstood what I was saying about the e-Golf thing being a compliance car, which it is, they have literally shoved a few batteries where the gearbox goes and called it a day.
The Honda EV is not a compliance car. Honda don't have to make compliance cars as they are the only ICE manufacturer that hits all emission targets and doesn't have to cough up for not meeting targets.
As for your car, lovely that it is, that most definitely is a compliance car and FCA have a true rogues gallery of far from efficient vehicles, even with the FIAT stable!
The Honda EV is best understood by watching the Fully Charged Show from a year or so ago when they were lusting over the prototype shown at the car shows. What the concept was turned out to be remarkably similar to the announced car, quite unusual for concept cars.
It does have doors for getting into the back seats. I can imagine being able to get a childseat in there. At 50cm or so longer than your cute 'n' silent Fiat, I think it is on a par for efficiency. There is also the matter of numbers, are you, FIAT, Honda or anyone else quoting WLTP figures?
According to Wikipedia:
The 500e is powered by a 111 hp (83 kW) and 147 lb⋅ft (199 N⋅m) permanent-magnet, three-phase synchronous-drive electric motor, and its 24 kWh liquid-cooled/heated li-ion battery delivers a range of 80 mi (130 km), and up to 100 mi (160 km) in city driving according to Chrysler.
Sounds like yours is an update of that, however, numbers aside, there is a different philosophy to it. The Honda gets 30 minutes quick charge time and it really is supposed to be light rather than dragging around a massive battery everywhere.
They know what they are doing and they have created a truly cool car. It has its own design and I think that is important to the desirability of an EV. I don't think people want an ICE car in EV flavour unless it is something retro cool like a refurbished VW bus.
As for not selling it in the USA that is because of the philosophy. It really is a city car. For people who live in typical European cities and Japanese cities as secondary market. London is an exception and even then the Honda E is as good as it gets for London. They say 'good to go for 125 miles' and I would be happy with that. In fact I would want this car, although cycling is what I do.
I would not dismiss Honda as an 'EV holdout'. Honda did make the original California electric cars, as per the EV1 era and they were first with the hybrid Insight. Honda factories are also 'zero waste'. So nothing comes out of a Honda factory to be landfilled.
You do know that your car as well as the BMW and VW ones are all the same Bosch technology under the hood?
It is like electric bicycles, quite a few of them from different makes have the same Bosch bits, others have Yamaha, others have Shimano and that is what you get - Bosch, Yamaha or Shimano.
So VW have just shoved the same Bosch bits under the hood rather than poured billions into it. BMW have invested in making carbon fibre bodies for their EV cars, but they too have the same Bosch bits as your car. Think of it like tyres, some cars of different makes have Pirelli, some have Michelin.
I would say Honda have done plenty of R+D beyond the needs of compliance. With the Honda E they did what everyone else is doing and went to Bosch. Then they made a well designed city car around the available tech. There is no need to do them down as an 'EV holdout', the stop-gap hybrids have done the job that BMW's M-sport cars haven't.
Range anxiety, cost and charging network are top 3 EV adoption hurdles. The first is addressed by a larger battery pack which in turn help address the cost via economy of scale. Giving the rate of lithium battery cost reduction, the same price point of 35kwh pack you can buy 60kwh in 2 years. In other words, for $35000 you can buy this E with 120 mile range or another EV with 60Kwh with 240 mile range, which majority of the buyers will choose?
Also EV efficiency matters - Tesla is the current king of efficiency. My Fiat 500e can have the same 120 mile range with a smaller 28kwh battery, which means Honda E is less efficiency or have a poor battery management system (BMS). This brings up the next point.
> This car is designed from the ground up as an EV, it is not an ICE car where the gearbox has been replaced with batteries - that is what the e-Golf is.
That's simply not true. If this car weren't designed as a compliance car why doesn't Honda bring it to the North America market or sell globally? Having 50%-50% weight distribution and strong torque are native characteristics of an EV, having less to do with redesign EV platform.
Honda/Toyota are known to be the two major Japanese auto makers that are EV holdouts. They poured billions of dollars to bet on fuel cell and hydrogen cars and invested heavily on hybrid technologies. Honda have never been fully onboard with 100% Battery Electric vehicles (yet) and NEVER develop a EV native car platform like VW Group's MEB[1] or BMW's i-Series[2]. Their last attempt was a compliance car Honda Fit EV in order for them to give emission credit in California.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_MEB_platform
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_i