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Quiet kick off for e:N1
Richard Bosselman
May 15, 2025
Honda NZ has made good on a promise to release its first official electric here.
PRICING revealed today for Honda first electric car, the e:N1, suggests it has taken stock of two similar Chinese models it acknowledged earlier this year were barometers.
At $52,000, the Honda four-seater - basically an electric edition of its compact HR-V crossover - will pitch slightly above MG’s MG4 and below the BYD Atto3.
These were among cars Honda New Zealand’s then managing director had said he had tried when evaluating alternates to his own product.
That acknowledgement from Nobuya Sonoda came in January. Since then has gone to new job in Australia, and replaced by Carolyn McMahon, who operates from Melbourne).
The timing of today’s announcement of the car being on sale as of today makes good on Sonoda’s promise it would be here in May.
Both the MG and BYD have, over differing periods of time, been favourites with electric vehicle buyers, though with the EV sector now in poor shape, they are now achieving very modest monthly volumes.
The state of the EV market is potentially why e:N1 (which also goes by e:NY1, depending on the market) has slipped in quietly; Honda NZ marking its entrance today with a low-key media release.
Until now, the only existing right hand drive export market for e:N1 has been the United Kingdom.
The model - whose naming to to engender impression this is an ‘electric for anyone’ - represents in 152kW/310Nm single motor front drive format, using a 61.9kWh battery (usable capacity) lithium ion battery offering 0-10kmh in 7.2 seconds and 411 kilometres range, according to the WLTP standard New Zealand asks distributors to cite. Honda New Zealand cites up to 500kms “in optimal conditions.”
BYD Atto3 has a 150kW/310Nm motor and battery sizes of 49kWh and 60kWh, with respective ranges of 345 and 450km. The MG4 spans from base Excite 51 through to Long Range 77, with 51kWh, 64kWh and 77kWh batteries depending on type, and respective outputs of 125W and 150kW, both with 250Nm, and 180kW/350Nm from the largest. Ranges of 350km to up to 530km are cited.
The Honda’s maximum DC rapid charging speed of 78kW has been commented about overseas. In optimal conditions, fully recharging the car on AC takes about 6.3 hours, but even on DC it's a 1.7 hour process. Honda NZ cites a 30-80 percent sharing phase as taking 40 minutes.
Planning for e:Ny1 has included installing electric car recharging at the make’s Honda Store in Nelson, which includes the facility where cars were once assembled. Now it is a storage hub for new product landing in NZ.
Honda NZ’s electric-involved presence has to date restricted to petrol engine-tied hybrids, some so advanced as to use the combustion element as a generator of electric feed. The Honda e electric car was availed here, but only as a private import, not a factory product.
The 4387mm long e:N1 and the HR-V petrol hybrid crossover, which has been here since last August in $45,800 Sport format, share an almost-identical body and are visually so alike it could be imagined Honda has taken the HR-V, blanked off the grille and stuffed a battery underneath in place of the engine.
However, e:N1 uses a bespoke all-electric platform, called e:N.
In respect to technology, Honda has taken opportunity to furnish the e:Ny1 with Honda Parking Pilot, which gives the car the ability to park itself.
Also, while most Honda models still come with physical controls for the air conditioning and some physical shortcuts for the infotainment system, the e:N1 does away with them.
Instead, everything is controlled through the central, vertical 15.1in touchscreen, which is split into three sections – the bottom of which is permanently used for the air-con and heated seat controls.
The configuration accepts Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with those displays smartphone mirroring on the top screen with driving data continuing in the middle.
The battery has an eight year or 160,000 kilometre warranty and the car itself has a warranty of up to five years. This is not bound to mileage and is transferable.
Interestingly, the model only avails in two colours, white and blue.
