Honda has announced that UK order books for its compact Super-N electric car will open on 22 June, becoming the sole battery-electric car in its UK lineup, after the Honda e:Ny1 and Honda e were previously discontinued.
While its previous electric city car, the Honda e, failed to sell in large numbers in the UK, Honda will be hoping for a different outcome with the Super-N. There’s reason for optimism, as with its £18,995 starting price, it undercuts many rivals and ranks among the cheapest electric cars on sale in Britain. Its closest rival on style and price, the Renault Twingo EV, won’t arrive until later this year.
The Super-N is engineered on Honda’s kei car platform, a format that dominates Japan’s market thanks to its compact size and efficiency. That formula still pays dividends in electric form, with the Super-N weighing in at just 1,097kg, remarkably light for an EV. It’s this low weight that allows a modest 29.6kWh battery to deliver a WLTP combined range of 128 miles. That figure looks uncompetitive on paper, but given the heavier proportion of city driving this car is suited to, urban WLTP range climbs to around 199 miles.
Honda is also hoping to put the fun back into driving with the Super-N, with its light weight offering responsive handling along with a 0-62mph sprint time of 10 seconds in ‘BOOST’ mode. It has also implemented a simulated seven-speed transmission, along with an artifical engine note, to further increase the fun factor of this EV. Previously, simulated gear shifts and engine sounds have been the reserve of much more expensive performance EVs such as the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N.
Despite a footprint of just 3,599mm in length, Honda says the Super-N can seat four adults, drawing on the packaging expertise developed through its best-selling N-Series kei-cars. The brand’s folding Magic Seats system is also fitted, expanding boot space from 162 litres with seats up to 967 litres in the dive-down configuration, among the largest in the EV A-segment.
Michael Doyle, Head of Automobile at Honda UK, commented:
“Priced at just £18,995, the Super-N delivers Honda’s ‘Joy of Driving’ philosophy to more customers than ever before. Not only is this one of the most affordable small EVs available, it’s also one of the most fun. It’s been designed to embody the Japanese philosophies of Yukai and Tsukai, which translate as delight and exhilaration respectively, and as a result it delivers a sense of excitement the moment you see it. Ultimately, it’s a car that’s been developed by a group of passionate engineers that believe in Honda’s abilities to turn dreams into reality.”
