Honda E Technical Details

Faults and Technical chat for the Honda E
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Rob
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Post by Rob »

Honda has not revealed any specifics in regards to powertrains or expected range so far, but we’re betting on a range in the region of between 100-200 miles from a single charge is likely, as the diminutive dimensions and low asking price will probably limit what is reasonably at the Urban EV’s eventual price point.

It should measure 3.9m long with Honda saying it’s 100mm shorter than a Jazz, but 350mm longer than the original Civic. VW’s Up occupies 3.6m worth of road lengthways for comparison.

During the Frankfurt motor show Honda explained the Urban EV Concept marked the first act in its electrification strategy: by 2030 Honda plan for two-thirds of sales to consist of electrified vehicles.

DaveD62
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Post by DaveD62 »

When did the information on this vehicle start? It seems like this has been a long time coming. I have seen some information dating back to like 2013 and it seems to be the same concept.
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rickwookie
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Post by rickwookie »

DaveD62 wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:29 am When did the information on this vehicle start? It seems like this has been a long time coming. I have seen some information dating back to like 2013 and it seems to be the same concept.
As far as I know, the original Honda Urban Electric concept vehicle (that the Honda e is based on) was revealed at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show. It was allegedly the hugely positive reaction to that, that encouraged Honda to go on to make the Honda e production car - Honda's first ever fully electric vehicle!
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RAL7004
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Post by RAL7004 »

Look at these amazing pictures (credits to https://www.instagram.com/jonnycarpervert/ ) enabling the wonderful turning circle:

81911716_638372593635975_8144583691624660600_n.jpg

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Post by rickwookie »

Not sure I'm loving that HUGE bonnet gap though.
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keithr
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Post by keithr »

RAL7004 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:44 am Look at these amazing pictures (credits to https://www.instagram.com/jonnycarpervert/ ) enabling the wonderful turning circle:
I'm a little surprised that people think it has an amazing turning circle. It's good, but it's exactly the same as the Nissan Micra I owned over 20 years ago, so not that impressive really. :|

At 9.2m it's not as good as a smart forfour (9.05m) let alone a smart fortwo at 6.95m. I used to have a Toyota iQ that had a turning circle of 7.8m.
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rickwookie
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Post by rickwookie »

keithr wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 2:40 pm
RAL7004 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:44 am Look at these amazing pictures (credits to https://www.instagram.com/jonnycarpervert/ ) enabling the wonderful turning circle:
I'm a little surprised that people think it has an amazing turning circle. It's good, but it's exactly the same as the Nissan Micra I owned over 20 years ago, so not that impressive really. :|

At 9.2m it's not as good as a smart forfour (9.05m) let alone a smart fortwo at 6.95m. I used to have a Toyota iQ that had a turning circle of 7.8m.
I keep pointing this out, but no one seems to care. Fully Charged (and now Jonny Smith independently) explicitly state the car has a turning circle tighter than a London Taxi, and then quote 4.3 m. This is mainly due to Honda not stating this is the radius (deliberately vague I'm sure), and also that this is not "kerb-to-kerb", but it should really be obvious that the car couldn't possibly turn in such a small space!

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keithr
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Post by keithr »

rickwookie wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 4:58 pm I keep pointing this out, but no one seems to care. Fully Charged (and now Jonny Smith independently) explicitly state the car has a turning circle tighter than a London Taxi, and then quote 4.3 m. This is mainly due to Honda not stating this is the radius (deliberately vague I'm sure), and also that this is not "kerb-to-kerb", but it should really be obvious that the car couldn't possibly turn in such a small space!
Actually Honda do state a "turning radius of only 4.3m" in the brochure, along with a diagram clearly showing the radius of a circle being 4.3m, so it's not their fault. The problem is that different manufacturers choose different measurements. Most choose the diameter but some choose the radius. What's more confusing is when a manufacturer states the "turning circle" when they've clearly specified a turning radius, such as Toyota who specified a turning circle of 3.9m rather than 7.8m for the iQ. At least Honda specified it clearly as a turning radius. What is silly though, is that they say 4.3m is the radius measured at the centre of the wheel, meaning if you tried to do a U-turn on a road 8.6m wide you couldn't do it, as the whole wheel would ride over the curb. Much better is the "turning circle kerb-to-kerb", which should be the standard IMO, or perhaps the turning circle measured at the car body (which Honda specify as 4.6m, which is wider than kerb-to-kerb). It's difficult to sompare when they're stating different measurements!

I agree that it should be obvious that the car can't do a U-turn in 4.3m. The car is 1752mm wide, so twice that is 3.5m which leaves a gap of 0.8m, or about 31.5 inches. It's obvious that the car can't turn in such a narrow gap. Even if the car could pivot around it's centre point (like a train on a turntable) it would still require a minimum width of the length of the car - about 3.9m. A more realistic value is at least 2.5 times the length of the car - the Honda e can do it in 2.33 times it's length, so it is better than most, and good for the size of the car, but it's still not the tightest turning car available.
Last edited by keithr on Sun Feb 23, 2020 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rickwookie
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Post by rickwookie »

Actually, if it could pivot on it’s centre, it would still need a gap as wide as it’s diagonal (that’s incidentally 4.3 m), not it’s length, as a physical minimum, to avoid having all four corners rounded off in the turn! :lol:

I think you’re being over generous to Honda to point out they’ve put “radius” in the brochure. Far fewer people would see that these days than see the spec published on the website, which makes no reference to radius or diameter. Also, the image they use is a blatant misrepresentation since it clearly depicts a 4.3 m radius circle completely outside the cars bodywork.
Image
My understanding of “wheel-centre” is directly between the two front wheels (although considering the difference is only 300 mm, perhaps it means at the centre point of the outside wheel?). What they’ve illustrated in that image should be labelled 4.6 m.

I agree though that kerb-to-kerb or wall-to-wall are the only useful figures really, and should be a standard.
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keithr
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Post by keithr »

rickwookie wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:12 am Actually, if it could pivot on it’s centre, it would still need a gap as wide as it’s diagonal (that’s incidentally 4.3 m), not it’s length,
Well spotted! That definitely makes it obvious that it can't turn in 4.3m.
rickwookie wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:12 am I think you’re being over generous to Honda to point out they’ve put “radius” in the brochure. Far fewer people would see that these days than see the spec published on the website, which makes no reference to radius or diameter.
The specification page on the website says "Turning Circle - at Wheel Centre (m)" and "Turning Circle - at Body (m)", so I agree that is ambiguous - I think most people would assume a turning circle is the diameter of the circle that the car can turn in. The website is not the best - it also specifies "Tread Front (mm) 1513-1523", but I presume that should be the track width!
rickwookie wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 10:12 am My understanding of “wheel-centre” is directly between the two front wheels (although considering the difference is only 300 mm, perhaps it means at the centre point of the outside wheel?). What they’ve illustrated in that image should be labelled 4.6 m.
More ambiguity! I assumed it meant the centre of the width of the tyre, and that they specified the centre of the wheel because of the variation in wheel and tyre sizes (the 17" wheels being 20mm wider), although thinking about it I don't think that the different wheel widths affect the turning circle as the wheel hub is in the same place, and the outer edge of the tyre will be in the same position. In any case, the main point is that it has a better turning circle than my current car, and that is one of the things that I like about the Honda e. :)
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