Sad news alert: Honda is killing off the cute all-electric Honda e in Europe and the UK. Oh, no!
Honda confirmed to Top Gear that it wouldn’t be taking any more orders for the adorable EV in the aforementioned markets, its mission clearly having been accomplished. Honda said it brought “many new customers to the brand with its distinctive design, advanced technology, and trademark Honda driving dynamics.”
It also “spearheaded [the brand’s] strategy to electrify 100% of Honda’s mainstream European line up by 2022.” The stupidly named albeit highly competent e:Ny1 is its indirect replacement.
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So why has it been canned? We suspect the little car was just a bit too pricey (north of £37,000 or around P2.6 million for basics) and too limited in range (220km officially) to justify costs to punters, and so lack of demand has curtailed production.
The Honda e’s main problem seems to be that we all want to drive SUVs. No, not you. Not us, neither. But the majority of ‘us,’ which goes some way to explaining why Honda’s revised strategy, pushing the aforementioned e:Ny1 (an SUV), the ZR-V e:HEV (also an SUV), and the latest-gen CR-V—yes, indeed, an SUV which comes as both hybrid and plug-in hybrid—is now the name of the game.
The Honda e really is a bit special—so special, we made it our City Car of the Year back in 2020. We’ll be sad to see it go, though current Honda e drivers should delight in the boost to their car’s value now that it’s well on its way to becoming a future collectible.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
