MOTORS: Honda e:Ny1 is impressive but also frustrating
It’s probably the daftest name ever conceived for a car, with the possible exception of Toyota’s electric bZ4X.
The gossip is Honda’s e:Ny1 was never meant to be called that but it was down to an administrative error.
The story goes that someone within the depths of Honda’s HQ accidentally copied-and-pasted part of a secure password onto the online trademark application. By the time it was noticed, it was too late to be changed.
Whatever the truth, Honda’s second venture into the electric car arena has a distinctive tag, which is only a slight departure from its CR-V, ZR-V and HR-V brothers.
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When I got hold of the e:Ny1 I put aside all thoughts of its name and looked in more detail at the impressive package.
Like every other Honda, the build quality is first-class with some attractive styling which isn’t common in cars from the land of the Rising Sun.
There’s increasing competition in the electric car market in all segments and in this case it’s up against similarly-sized models from Hyundai, Kia, Nissan Peugeot, Renault, VW and Volvo.
What it offers apart from Honda’s superb reputation for reliability is a stack of equipment as standard and a more conventional package than their first EV venture, the Honda e city car which was discontinued at the start of this year.
It was quirky with among other unique features, door-mounted rear-view cameras rather than traditional door mirrors.
But it failed to capture buyers largely because it was pretty expensive and had a low range of only just over 100 miles on a full charge which would have been fine for urban commutes but not much use for longer journeys.
The e:Ny1 is slightly better on range but the claimed 256 miles is pretty optimistic unless the weather and conditions are just right and you don’t need to switch on the lights or wipers or cool down with the aircon or turn up the heater all of which do a fine job of draining the battery’s reserves.
Having said that, the regeneration system does well to keep the battery topped up when decelerating and braking so if you drive sensibly you should get the most from the technology.
Because of its bigger battery, the charging time is quite good too, taking about 45 minutes if you can find a rapid charger and about six hours through a domestic wallbox.
The test car was the top spec Advance model which as well as a comprehensive list of standard equipment, including 18-inch alloys, synthetic leather seats and a rear-view camera, adds a panoramic roof, heated steering wheel, additional parking sensors, powered tailgate and a higher quality audio system which I found particularly good.
I was impressed by the car’s performance on the road with great stability and firm ride thanks to the weight of the underfloor battery and like all EVs, the power to the front wheels is instant and seamless to accelerate to 62mph from a standing start in just seven-and-a-half seconds.
I kept it in Eco mode for most of the time for efficient performance and that was quite sufficient for everyday use on a range of roads and surfaces.
There’s plenty of storage space and leg and headroom for everyone board even with the panoramic roof.
The rear seats fold flat for extra storage as the boot isn’t the biggest in its class but it’ll still hold most of what you’ll carry during the week.
I was impressed with the car but once again got frustrated at all the controls being contained within the 15-inch central touchscreen, even if it is split into three sections, with the lower one only for the air-con and heating.
I know it’s to save space and clutter on the dash but means a bit of fiddling just to do simple tasks and I worry that’s creating a distracting safety hazard.
Honda e:Ny1 Advance
PRICE: £42,195 (£42,845 as tested)
ENGINE: Electric Motor with 68.8 kWh battery, front wheel drive
POWER: 204 PS
TORQUE: 310 Nm
TOP SPEED: 99mph
0-62mph: 7.6 secs
RANGE: 256 miles
CHARGING TIME: 45 mins (rapid charger) 6 hours (home wallbox)
