Honda e

[Discombobulate]

Luke. said:

The i3's easily one of the best cars I've ever had. It's a modern classic and almost as innovative as the Mini was back in the 60s.

Bought ours as white goods for commute but have fallen in love. Head over heels. Great little car.

[Maracus]

SWoll said:

Terry Winks said:

I did look at the I3’s and they were way ahead of their time, but yes have also read some horror stories about motor mounts and the likes, not even a cheap one I was offered a few weeks back made me take the plunge on one.

Let’s be honest though, the biggest draw to the Honda is the way it looks, something I cannot get past right now.

The rex models are where the problem lies, the pure BEV models are fine as far as I am aware.

Maracus said:

Terry Winks said:

Let’s be honest though, the biggest draw to the Honda is the way it looks, something I cannot get past right now.

Have to agree with you here, they just look so good IMO.

It is cool, but if it can't do the basic practicalities for an owners needs then all rather pointless and unlikely to last long in your ownership?

Seats in the back were ok for occasional adult use, but fine for kids without full car seats when we looked at them. Small rear doors, but more practical than the i3 doors. Friends of ours have had theirs since 2014 and the fact that the front door has to opened to access the rear is the biggest negative - but they knew that when they bought it.

[Terry Winks]

For us, its very rarely going to have four adults in it, and its very rarely going to leave the boundaries of the city either. Its is going to be used for what it was designed to do a city which also currently I think is the only real application that works for an EV.

[SWoll]

Terry Winks said:

For us, its very rarely going to have four adults in it, and its very rarely going to leave the boundaries of the city either. Its is going to be used for what it was designed to do a city which also currently I think is the only real application that works for an EV.

I imagine those with 300+ mile range EV's that will charge at 300kWh would disagree. The Honda E though, definitely.

As I mentioned, I'd just make sure you are able to do what you need with it as whilst it's very cool it's also particularly impractical due to the tiny boot and lack of split fold rear bench. The only less practical EV are the 2 seat Renault Twizy or Citroen Ami.

Maracus said:

Seats in the back were ok for occasional adult use, but fine for kids without full car seats when we looked at them. Small rear doors, but more practical than the i3 doors. Friends of ours have had theirs since 2014 and the fact that the front door has to opened to access the rear is the biggest negative - but they knew that when they bought it.

Could be awkward in very tight parking spaces, but we had one as our only car for 12 months with tall teenagers and found it did a great job and is certainly a lot easier from an access perspective than 3 door options like the Mini E or Zoe.

Edited by SWoll on Sunday 5th March 09:29

[andy43]

e isn’t as impractical as you’d think, I’ve had four dining chairs in ours with the passenger seat down. Boot floor is high, rear seats are fine for adults but not exactly spacious, and there’s no fifth seatbelt. An advantage of the fairly boxy design is with the seats folded down it’s a half decent load space, but not as good as the i3 I wouldn’t have thought, as that seemed to have a higher roofline.
We tried the e, a Mazda thingy which was actually very impressive and came in as second choice but my god it was ugly, Mini (been there done that and a top spec 3 was too hard to find), two i3s and I did look at a Zoe briefly I think but I must have fallen asleep because I can remember nothing about it at all.
i3 dashboard seemed to be made out of recycled bottles and finding one with a decent spec seemed impossible when we were looking. And the comedy BMW salesman saying the omission of parking cameras was ‘a chance to hone our driving skills’ was honestly too much to deal with.

[SWoll]

Are parking cameras really considered an essential on a 4m long car with a flat rear and tiny front overhang?

The impracticality question with the E is going to come down to young kids. No split fold option and a tiny boot will be a challenge with a child in a rear facing seat and needing to carry a pram, buggy, pushchair of any decent size. I was genuinely surprised when I read that they don't offer a 60/40 split as hugely useful IME and can't remember the last hatchbck I drove without it.

And if we're talking about dashboards..



Mental.

Edited by SWoll on Sunday 5th March 12:32

[leglessAlex]

SWoll said:

And if we're talking about dashboards..



Mental.

Best part of the car. Feels fresh, new, and all the important stuff like volume or HVAC controls are on actual buttons. A way better implementation of big screens than loads of other cars/manufacturers (ahem, VW).

[andy43]

SWoll said:

Are parking cameras really considered an essential on a 4m long car with a flat rear and tiny front overhang?

Yes. 360 cameras are really useful. Same as wireless CarPlay, heated seats, glass roof, USB charging points, an aquarium, an 3 pin electric socket and a fake teak dashboard.
Ok, you got me. The i3 is a better car.

[Terry Winks]

Well I am trying to find one to test this week so I can take the plunge, the i3 may well be the cheaper car, but sometimes its about what you want and that hopefully being workable.

[SWoll]

Terry Winks said:

Well I am trying to find one to test this week so I can take the plunge, the i3 may well be the cheaper car, but sometimes its about what you want and that hopefully being workable.

Enjoy. Just make sure you turn up with the child seat, buggy and associated junior gubbins to ensure they will actually fit.

[Terry Winks]

Luckily we have a push chair that was bought to get into a much smaller boot than the Honda