Honda E Limited Edition Red (1/50 in Europe)

[B21ONY]

Owned the car 6 months now and it's just about to have it's first MOT and I've got a couple of mods planned so thought it would be fun to create a forum thread and provide updates along the way.

Back in February it took 9 hours, 265 miles and 4 charging stops to collect this rare E! One epic drive to bring this car home from Edinburgh to Stoke 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 We also took my Cayman R and went the scenic route to enjoy the journey on lots of twisty A & B roads. Although it's probably going to be the furthest I'll ever go it was surprisingly pleasant and enjoyable to drive on such a long journey. Averaged around 3.6 miles per KWH & 1% seemed to equal around 1 mile so it was easy to plan stops. It's my first EV so struggled a little with some of the chargers but made sure there was plenty to do nearby. We made a YouTube video if anyone is interested: https://youtu.be/4uQ0a1oVn58?si=I5kzv0avMihdfh2p

So far I'm really enjoying the car... more than expected. It gets a lot of compliments on it's cool retro looks even from petrol heads. "I don't want an EV but if I did it would be one of those". I test drove a whole range of electric options including the Renault 5, Abarth 500e, and New electric Mini with the Honda E coming out on top in regards to fun & value. So pleased I managed to track down a red car from a private seller for a fair price of £15K. It even has a 5 year service pack.

I've since tried the A290 and Abarth 600e which are both good cars but I was always glad to get back in my Honda. In my opinion the E is an absolute bargain, prices have plummeted as with most electric cars and it has a wonderful amount of big car toys and tech with a clean and innovative interior. It's nippy, RWD, and quite lightweight thanks to it's small battery. The steering is light but feelsome and every commute is a joy. It's also rather practical with 4 doors, plenty of space for 4 adults, a huge rear, flat space with the seats folded and an app that lets me preheat or precool the cabin.

I've since bought a fun plate "EV12 NSX" because well it's Red, RWD & Honda.

Coilovers are next to sharpen up the handling and lower it a little. I also want a new set of wheels and possibly some red Type R inspired badges. Red seatbelts might also help lift the interior?

I spoke to the lovely people at Innovate composites during the annual service who have developed a bodykit for the E, they actually own 5!! I feel like the car really needs a spoiler, although their custom carbon fibre edition would set me back around £1500. It looks awesome but is a bit out of budget so I'm open to suggestions if there's a company that will develop something out of much more affordable fibreglass, to me gloss black is fine.

My most ridiculous future mod might be bucket seats, although I'm not sure this has been done before so fitment might be a pain and I do enjoy the heated cloth seats currently installed.

[Mad Maximus]

Really like these. Perfect little cars. Shame about the range and price when new but these are looking better and better as they age.

Are these batteries old school tech like the 1st leaf or do they have health management like cooling etc?

[Piginapoke]

Such a cool car. I'd have one but couldn't convince Mrs PIAP. Yours is a great colour, don't mess with it too much.

[Jobbo]

I wasn’t aware of the red edition. Looks rather nice in that colour. Even in one of the usual colours I always stop and look at an E though; such a well designed thing and very cool.

For our first EV I fancied an E but my wife fell in love with the R5 so that’s what we plumped for. In my mind Renault have far more EV experience than Honda too, so for once I trust a Renault more than I trust a Honda. But I’ll be following your updates because I still really love the E.

[r1ch]

There aren’t many cool ev’s, but this is one of them for sure.

[B21ONY]

Jobbo said:

I wasn’t aware of the red edition. Looks rather nice in that colour. Even in one of the usual colours I always stop and look at an E though; such a well designed thing and very cool.

For our first EV I fancied an E but my wife fell in love with the R5 so that’s what we plumped for. In my mind Renault have far more EV experience than Honda too, so for once I trust a Renault more than I trust a Honda. But I’ll be following your updates because I still really love the E.

Thank you! It does get a lot of compliments/attention. Most recently, from a mechanic who was working on my partner's car: "WHAT IS THAT... The interior looks like a 70s bungalow" which made me laugh.

The Renault 5 looks fab, and I think overall it's a better car for everyday. However, on my test drive, it felt a bit too normal. The E has a weird, quirky concept car vibe that I love.

My coilovers have arrived so I should have a big update coming soon

[B21ONY]

Mad Maximus said:

Really like these. Perfect little cars. Shame about the range and price when new but these are looking better and better as they age.

Are these batteries old school tech like the 1st leaf or do they have health management like cooling etc?

I must admit I had to do a bit of googling for this one! Apparently, the E has 3 liquid cooling systems. One for cabin, one for motor and one for battery. It sounds quite sophisticated and tries to keep an optimal operating temperature between 25° and 35°C. This is reassuring, but alas doesn't seem to help the range. I have noticed I get a few more miles in the summer, but this is often offset by the AC. 1% equals 1 mile.

I am not surprised Honda barely sold any at nearly 40K. It does have a lot of fancy toys and tech, and the quality seems very good but it would be an expensive car, even in today's market where an EV Mini costs about the same.

Used I think they are a bargain, I have seen a few well-used examples slip below 10K!

[Mad Maximus]

B21ONY said:

Mad Maximus said:

Really like these. Perfect little cars. Shame about the range and price when new but these are looking better and better as they age.

Are these batteries old school tech like the 1st leaf or do they have health management like cooling etc?

I must admit I had to do a bit of googling for this one! Apparently, the E has 3 liquid cooling systems. One for cabin, one for motor and one for battery. It sounds quite sophisticated and tries to keep an optimal operating temperature between 25° and 35°C. This is reassuring, but alas doesn't seem to help the range. I have noticed I get a few more miles in the summer, but this is often offset by the AC. 1% equals 1 mile.

I am not surprised Honda barely sold any at nearly 40K. It does have a lot of fancy toys and tech, and the quality seems very good but it would be an expensive car, even in today's market where an EV Mini costs about the same.

Used I think they are a bargain, I have seen a few well-used examples slip below 10K!

That’s good then so at least it’s health should be well managed even if you don’t get the longest of ranges.

Sub £10k for one of these is really very good.

[Spinakerr]

Great looking car, very much in the ethos Honda (usually) apply of style and innovation.

Is it me or is there a hint of the Ive-penned Ford 021C in there?

[MOBB]

Just washed mine for the first time since I got it, bloody brilliant little cars

[Richyvrlimited]

Ohh watching this, I swapped my GT86 of 8 years for a yellow E.

Had it nearly 12 months now, it's a great little car, just hate the wheels....

Like you though, constantly getting stopped and asked about it, everyone seems to love it.

[RenesisEvo]

Also book marked, I'm quite keen for our next car to be a Honda E. My 4 year old son has a red Matchbox toy one, I had no idea there was actually a red one sold! Looks fantastic.

I don't want black or grey, I need to convince my other half that charge yellow is acceptable.

[Mr Tidy]

As EVs go these are definitely one of the better looking ones, and I do like RWD and proper colours!

[normalbloke]

Following. I do love these, but the range wasn’t where we needed it to be, so we ended up with an i3.

[dobly]

There is a red one for sale in Japan right now - the first I have seen in this colour:

https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/HONDA/HO...

Asking price is ~21,750, about 35% more than other colours

[craigjm]

B21ONY said:

Coilovers are next to sharpen up the handling and lower it a little. I also want a new set of wheels and possibly some red Type R inspired badges. Red seatbelts might also help lift the interior?

Always liked these. It’s a shame the range wasn’t a little better but at used prices and if it meets the needs then great

I remember there being an odd option on these when new that if you specified the leather seats you got front seats in leather and the back stayed as it was

Does changing the wheels on an EV have an impact on its efficiency? Appears to make a difference when speccing an EV new sometimes

[seefarr]

These are such a great looking car. Were you not tempted to get one in the green to match your Cayman?

[Richyvrlimited]

seefarr said:

These are such a great looking car. Were you not tempted to get one in the green to match your Cayman?

That's yellow....

[Jhonno]

Richyvrlimited said:

seefarr said:

These are such a great looking car. Were you not tempted to get one in the green to match your Cayman?

That's yellow....

Looks green to me too!

[Richyvrlimited]

Jhonno said:

Looks green to me too!

you need your eyes seeing too, it's definitly Yellow

Paint code Y79M Acid Yellow/Charge Yellow

Edit my Yellow one:

Edited by Richyvrlimited on Tuesday 26th August 12:33