Honda E First Drive – Quirky Mini EV!

The Honda E is a quirky £30,000 Mini EV which bills itself as “Honda’s first all-electric urban car”. It offers up to 137 miles of WTLP range, a nippy 8.3 second 0-60 time from it’s 136PS electric motor (and a whopping 315 Nm of torque!), all from a tiny 5 door shell.

The driving feel is great, it’s a playful car with plenty of go under your right foot. It offers an insanely tight turning circle for those tight city streets and car parks, and a dynamic feel on the road. Despite it being an EV and therefore being relatively heavy – 1,500 kg key weight – it doesn’t feel it on the road. The suspension is still relatively soft without too much body roll or diving under braking, and the rear wheel drive gives it just a bit more fun if you do get more out into the country.

With that said, it’s maximum 137 mile range won’t let you go too far – and remember that EVs are less efficient on motorways than around town, so you are more likely to get less on a single longer journey. It’s a pretty small battery pack at 35.5 kWh, but that does mean it can charge quickly. You either have up to 6.6 kW using an AC source like a home wall box, or up to 50 kW on a DC fast charger meaning from the low battery warning to 80% is only 31 minutes.

As far as a city runabout goes, it mostly ticks all the boxes. I was surprised to find that the boot space is rather minimal, although you do have a full rear seat area if you are going for the weekly shop rather than just the milk and eggs. You can fit people in the rear seats, but with a taller driver up front knee room is limited. As a second car, I think it’s pretty much perfect.