Honda announced its second electric vehicle for Europe and it’s causing a serious case of deja vu. The e:Ny1 crossover may look like an HR-V, but it’s part of a tide shift in the places automobiles are sourced from. Yes, Honda’s latest EV for Europe was originally born for the hottest EV market in the world — China.
See, the e:Ny1 is essentially a Chinese-market e:NS1. Same architecture, same massive 15.1-inch infotainment screen, same sheetmetal. The biggest difference, really, is the badge.
You might also notice that the e:Ny1 looks very similar to an HR-V, except not the HR-V sold in America. See, pretty much everywhere in the world except North America and China get the Vezel as the HR-V, a small, Fit-based crossover with hidden rear door handles and all that jazz. The American HR-V, a Civic-based C-segment crossover, is sold elsewhere as a ZR-V. It seems like Honda’s used to this game of playing hot potato with model names. What Honda’s cleverly done with the e:Ny1 is take the bodyshell of an HR-V and slap it over a new set of bones.
Instead of a 1.5-liter gasoline-powered engine like you’d get in a standard European HR-V, the e:Ny1 gets a 150 kW electric motor driving the front wheels. This electric motor is fed by a 68.8 kWh battery pack good for an estimated 256 miles of range on the optimistic WLTP cycle. That’s a little ways off of the 304 WLTP miles the second-generation Hyundai Kona Electric is expected to offer, but it’s still competitive within the segment.
On the inside, the e:Ny1 looks like a Honda with a Burger King drive-thru menu board sticky-tacked to the dashboard, meaning there’s a heavy dose of familiarity to the cabin. Anyone who’s driven a Clarity or current Odyssey will totally understand the Bop-It-rivaling electronic shifter of switches and buttons, while steering wheel controls aren’t much different than what you get in a Civic. The window switches, hood release, and even the fonts on the new infotainment system won’t scare off existing Honda owners with difference for the sake of difference, so this electric crossover looks like it should stick its target market.
As it stands, the Honda e:Ny1 seems to be part of a larger trend of Chinese EVs making it to Europe. While Chinese brands like Ora and BYD have been making inroads in the West, automakers familiar to many Europeans have also been experimenting with Chinese imports.
The Dacia Spring is a re-worked Chinese-market Renault City K-ZE, and it’s a big deal because it’s cheap. In France, it starts at €20,800 including VAT and import duties, and €5,000 in incentives can be slapped on the Spring to theoretically bring one out the door for €15,800. That’s basically Versa money for a brand new EV. Mind you, the Spring does have some limitations. It has a top speed of about 78 mph, a range of around 140 miles on the optimistic WLTP cycle, and optional DC Fast Charging is only capable of drawing a maximum of 30 kW from the grid. Still, this is a cheap EV that Europeans are actually buying — with 14,066 Springs finding homes in the first quarter of 2023, it was the fifth-best-selling EV in Europe.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tesla imports cars from China for sale in Europe. Model Y crossovers built in Shanghai are now on sale across the continent, and they’re coming to North America as well. Since Canada doesn’t have vehicle assembly location requirements attached to its federal EV rebates, Tesla is now offering Canadians a base-spec version that’s built in China at a considerable discount.
Of course, the other way of looking at the e:Ny1 is that Honda needed a more mass-market EV immediately and this just happened to fit the bill. While the Honda e retro-styled hatchback is cuter than a basket of hedgehogs, it’s an expensive niche product, and crossovers are a big deal right now. Still, it’s hard to ignore the wave of Chinese-sourced electric vehicles coming to everywhere that isn’t America. Between the market’s EV dominance and the potential for cost advantages, don’t be surprised to see more Chinese EVs of all stripes making their way west soon.
(Photo credits: Honda, Dacia, Tesla)
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I kind of like the way it looks actually. The details are much less tortured than some Hondas in recent memory. That metallic teal color is sweet too, and the factory alloys aren’t hideous, which is nice for a change.
I don’t know why people like/want that color-changing LED strip around the interior… I’ve seen it on otherwise reasonably tasteful late-model Benzes and Audis and whenever I do, it makes the interior seem a bit trashy (IMO). But we have it in this car too.
Not that WE get it of course (us in the States). Which is a shame, since it’s much easier on the eyes than the latest Niro/Kona EVs. The fact that it was built for the Chinese market doesn’t bother me at all… it’s still a Honda and not a Vinfast.
I do wish Honda would make it available in the States. Same for Ford and the E-Tourneo Courier. Not ALL Americans want Humvees and F-150s!
I like this quite a bit and it’s one of the better executed 2 door handled but with 4-doors our there.
Side profile seems to be aping styling from the Ford Edge or 2nd gen Focus though.
That Dacia Spring is kinda cute, NGL. We need more cars playing around with neat accent colors. (And colors in general, but fun accents can dress up an otherwise pretty generic car pretty easily.)
I love that Dacia just seems to go whole-hog on “we’re the cheap cars” as their brand, too. I really need to drive one someday ’cause I’m kinda curious.
looks like a Dodge Hornet to me. stellantis should have come out swinging with a French EV drive train optional on that little pile.
I think the E was set up to fail from day one. it looks great, it was put in Europe first where hot hatches are still somewhat fashionable, yet it is slow and has terrible range. Fix those two things and we might look past the price, but probably not.
Looks decent. Name sucks though
Anyone
I think it would make more sense if it were called the NE:1.
The way e:ny1 looks in type makes me think it rhymes with “penile.”
I thought they were pointing out that it was very small, as in the “eeny one”. The next size up would be “me:n1”, of course, then “my:n1″ and finally just “moe”.
I think someone at Honda accidentally pasted their password into the “Model Name:” field
This is nothing new for Honda. 25 years ago a friend bought a brand new Honda Passport. He looked real sad when I pointed out that it was just a rebadged Izusu Rodeo.
Man that is a nice looking car with the exception of the giant tablet jammed in the dash. Replace that with the infotainment currently available in the hybrid Accord and you’d have a winner here in the US. I like the pictured color too
No worries. If they sell them here they will come in all 50 shades… of grey.
Zing. Winner.