- The Honda e is officially being killed off for the U.K. and Europe, a year after the manufacturer stopped selling the car in Japan.
- The minuscule electric city car has been around since 2020, though only ever in Europe and Japan.
- Honda confirmed the change to TopGear.com, which reported on the news yesterday.
We drove the Honda e in 2020 and found it to be charming, adorable, and overall good to drive. However, we also came away with the conclusion that it would be an incredibly tough sell in the United States with a nearly $40,000 price tag and a real-world range in the ballpark of 100 miles.
Honda has apparently found the same thing to be true in Europe and Japan, as the manufacturer confirmed to the Top Gear website that it will close order books and end production of the city car. The brand told Top Gear that the e had fulfilled its mission, bringing “many new customers to the brand with its distinctive design, advanced technology and trademark Honda driving dynamics.”
We suspect that even though Europe has more of a taste for small, economical city cars than we do stateside, the comparatively high price and low range made it a tough sell to actual consumers there.
It’s a shame to see the e disappear, not only because of its adorable face and fun-loving demeanor but also because it was a new model, not just batteries stuffed into existing architecture. The e had its own rear-drive architecture to make full use of the packaging possibilities offered with an electric powertrain. So, even though we never had the pleasure of seeing them zipping around our own streets, we’ll still be sad to see the e go.
Associate News Editor
Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.