Despite not being known for an affinity toward EVs, Top Gear host Chris Harris recently drove the new all-electric Honda e and has, well, a mixed review.

The e is Honda’s next-generation, cute-as-a-button entry into the electric vehicle market. While it is available in Europe and Japan, it will reportedly not be offered to customers in North America.

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Honda e Features

Via: YouTube

According to Honda, the e embodies the brand’s “vision for simplicity in urban mobility.” A contemporary exterior design and a modern, minimalist interior are clearly its selling points. Inside the cabin, there are full-width LCD touchscreen displays that offer quirky modes like a ‘fish aquarium’ screensaver.

Other innovative features on the car include pop-out door handles and a side camera mirror system which replaces conventional side-view mirrors with cameras and display screens. Connectivity features abound, including a smartphone app with a digital key for locking and unlocking doors. A voice-recognition assistant is built in to the car. Driver aids and safety features such as a camera-based collision avoidance system are also present.

Driving Impressions

Honda e
via TopGear

Even Harris heaped accolades on the car’s styling and driving character. “It’s like the original Mini,” he said. “Except here, Honda has taken that tried-and-tested less is more approach, and really run with it.”

He also reported that the car is fun-to-drive. “It feels agile, the steering is really quick, and like all electric cars, it manages to feel quicker than the numbers suggest. It punches out of corners with all that torque. It’s great,” he said.

Unfortunately, clean design and sporty feel wasn’t quite enough to win over Harris. The car’s modest 138 miles of range raised a few questions.

Honda e
via Honda

“It turns out that less than one percent of journeys in the UK are more than 100 miles. So, Honda says, there’s no point in lugging around a bunch of heavy an expensive batteries that 99 percent of the time you don’t need.”

But, given its relatively high price, Harris questioned the car’s value proposition.

“It’s just that £26,000 is a lot of money for an electric car that, aquariums aside, isn’t bringing anything new to the party,” he said. “It’s really lovely to be in, it’s lovely to drive, but it's just a lot of existing technology wrapped in fancy clothes.”

Source: YouTube

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