@oweneades tell me about the Honda E
These are on my radar, so please do tell!
+1
Sorry in advance for the rather long post...
The E was very much a heart over head purchase. I had it for three months and in that time I realised it was not the right fit for me. Essentially I thought the limited range and tech overload would work for me. Unfortunately as nice as the car is itself the absolute lack of range in the real world became a problem quite quickly. Whilst I only do ~30 miles a day commute, the inability for the car to do more than 50 miles radius range (the range at which I couldn't make it back home) was a major limit. This is where the heart over head came in as I didn't really think about this practicality (or lack there of) when I got it. For context range wise I had achieved an average of 5.0 m/kWh in the Kona thus was expecting to at least match if not exceed the ~125 miles quoted by Honda, I was exceeding the range quoted for the Kona and am clearly an efficient EV driver so why not... Oh how wrong could I have been. My long term average was 3.9m/kWh in the E with a real world usable range of ~100-120 miles. Any form of climate, even just fans with no heat, sapped a further chunk of range leaving that quoted range figure in some doubt. This was all in Jul - Sep timeframe so before the temperature dropped causing that range to drop even further. If my Tesla is anything to go by, the sub 0 degree weather we had suggests barely 80 miles of real world range for the E....
Then we get onto the tech. On the face of it there was a lot to like. Dual main screens with a seperate screen for Driver information, and the infamous cameras in lieu of mirrors. Unlike a lot of the reviews I found the screens clear to view and navigate. Unfortunately it kind of fell apart from there. The built in Navigation was terrible with poor visuals and, from what I could tell, no obvious way to get it to show known charging locations. Wireless Carplay was nice but would only work around 50% of the time and refused to switch to a different phone if two were present, even if you overrode the wireless feature by plugging one directly in. The cameras for wing mirrors are a cool gimmick but in dreary conditions were nigh on useless and the less said about the screen-for-a-rear-view-mirror the better. Oh and the HDMI in with a 3 pin plug is good for testing out a Xbox/Switch once but then quickly forgotten. This all pales to the major issues for me though. The complete lack of any decent EV information either when driving or charging. The ass-backwards way you schedule charging, its a wait time and not a charge timer... and the two big ones, the app completely not functioning despite multiple trips to the dealer and the screens themselves just randomly turning off mid drive and/or flashing bright white like they are at an 80's rave. The latter one is a clearly a glitch but damn was it annoying.
There were some smaller annoyances as well:
- The lights which whilst good straight ahead had seemingly no sweep to them. It's hard to describe but it felt like having two really powerful spot lights looking directly ahead and nothing else. Coming from the Kona's portable suns they were quite the let down.
- The charge port, which is facing upwards on top of the bonnet (why?!), has no drain port so in the rain it would quickly fill up. Don't worry though, Honda has you covered with the worlds tiniest rain Mack, I am NOT kidding.. The car has a little rain cover that you velcro over the charge port in the event it rains whilst charging.
- The microscopic boot which is taken up 50% by the two charging bags. The boot itself isn't the problem is the fact you have no where else to store the chargers.
- Lack of split fold rear seats. Again in isolation not an issue but compounds the boot issue.
Some highlights however:
- Interior fit, finish and general ambience were fantastic. The use of cloth on the door cards Wood effect Dash really brightens up the cabin.
- Interior was surprisingly spacious, even in the back.
- Driving experience itself was excellent. Decent punch from the ~156PS motor and being RWD it didn't have the Kona's grip problems.
- Stereo was pretty good considering the size of the car. Nice a clear without the usual overdone base.
- Very comfortable, even for longer journeys (not that you would be going far...)
Overall it was a nice car let down by its poor real world range (compared to estimate) and tech. If it had say a 40kWh usable battery, so 150-200 miles of real world range, and a more thought out approach to the tech, better Nav, information etc, then it would be a very good overall package, even if a tad expensive.
I am happy I had the experience and fortunately didn't lose much as the Tesla had dropped in price and I moved when used prices were still strong.
that should have all been sorted at that mileage.
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