Journalist buys Honda e!

All Honda E related discussions
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rickwookie
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Post by rickwookie »

My thoughts on Honda's responses:

Firmware and software updates – when will they happen? Will they be over the air, like a Tesla?

Yes, over the air.


Clearly not though - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=772&p=8761#p8516

What is the car’s gross versus usable battery capacity?

The Honda e’s battery capacity is 35.5kWh.

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What is the Honda’s e’s overall efficiency figure, in either miles or kilometres per kWh?

The efficiency is not currently standardised in homologation procedures and is therefore not communicated. It would not be comparable to any other figure from another car brand.

They literally do communicate it though, both via the brochure and the website. What they don't so however is provide any indication of how they reached the figure they communicate.

What about range and efficiency figures for the car in winter?

The driving range of all automobiles can be significantly affected by environmental and usage factors, including low ambient temperatures. For electric vehicles in particular, low temperatures can affect driving range significantly.

Honda internal testing shows that a selection of EVs experience a reduction in driving range at low and sub-zero temperatures. This is due to a number of factors, including:

Increased energy consumption to maintain battery temperature in the operational window.
Likely increased use of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to maintain cabin temperature.
Shorter daylight hours and poor weather in winter could potentially increase energy use for other functions, such as headlights and windscreen wipers.
Low ambient temperatures can also have a noticeable impact on charging, increasing the length of time for the battery to be fully charged.

Like all EVs, it is normal for Honda e to see increased energy consumption in colder temperatures. The Honda e may experience reduced vehicle range if operating in low ambient temperatures. To maximise the range, Honda strongly recommends your car is plugged in as much as possible before departure to use energy from the charging system, rather than the battery.

What I presume they mean in this last point is that they recommend that you do all your heating before a journey while the car is still plugged in - which is good advice.

It seems hard to achieve four miles per kWh consumption without an extreme driving style.

For electric cars, consumption is the opposite to petrol cars. In city usage with a lot of recuperation, consumption is much less than on motorways, where there is added air resistance.

Petrol cars tend to have best consumption per driven distance at around 90kph [56mph], since the engine is operating in its best efficiency area. For electric cars, the minimum can be achieved in city driving, where deceleration energy is being recuperated to a large extent. Also, the electric motor is not changing its efficiency when operated at low speed, which is the case for combustion engines.

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Honda e owners seem to love their cars. The only real complaints are about the range, which does not measure up to even the lower figures that Honda quotes, and the MyHonda App, which is troublesome.

We are delighted that owners are loving the Honda e. The range is governed by the physical capacity of the battery and the need to make it reliable. Our assurance of 70 percent battery capacity after eight years is conservative, we believe.

Pretty much confirming here that they nobble the battery to cover their arse, and that the promise of 70% is meaningless if we're no allowed to know what it's actually 70% OF!

The range of the Honda e was also defined by the car’s design, connectivity
??????, dynamic performance and quality. We didn’t sacrifice those values just for the sake of range.

The MyHonda App is currently undergoing significant upgrades to enhance usability and customer satisfaction.

No indication of when we might seen any improvement though. This decade?

How about an Economy Driving mode that would help owners get better mileage?

The Honda e does not feature an economy driving mode at present. Owners can, however, specify different settings through regenerative braking and the Sport mode if required.

Again...

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The Renault Zoe with a 40kWh battery has a range about 50 percent greater than a Honda e with the 35 kWh battery. What creates this difference?

This is down to the philosophy of defining the lower limit of the battery capacity. Going into limp mode (the turtle icon on the display) does not mean the battery is physically empty. It simply means that the system is managing the battery to maintain its lifetime and durability.

Confirming the battery nobbling once again.

The Honda e was originally advertised as being capable of 100kW CCS charging. This does not seem to have been carried through to the cars delivered.

The Honda e is capable of using 100kW CCS charge points.yeah, and 350 kW charge points too, so what?! The maximum charging power depends on the maximum charging current, which again is limited by battery condition, temperature, state of charge and so on, to maintain durability.

In the real world, charging power might reach a maximum of 60-70kW, but only for a short time. The car will, on average, be charging at around 50kW.

Where are the receipts Honda??? I've yet to achieve more than about 37 kW peak. 50 kW AVERAGE is a bold claim!!!

Are special precautions needed to stop the 12v battery going flat? A few owners report this.

If the vehicle system is not switched on, the 12v battery is not charged by the high voltage battery. To make this happen, ignition must be on (the car saying ‘READY’) and the seatbelt fastened. This prevents the system shutting down and the 12v battery is charged by the high voltage system.

If only the ignition is activated, the 12v battery is not charged by the high voltage system and might run flat. The car will therefore ask to shut down the system to save battery power. However, if this is rejected and the Auto Power Off mode is cancelled, the 12V battery power is consumed without being charged and will go flat after a while.

Well, I have to concede this seatbelt on info is good to know! Perhaps there should be some sort of indication on the driver's display when the 12 V system is and isn't charging then. I'll certainly make sure the seatbelt is clipped in from now on when I'm stationary but have the car (what I previously thought was) switched on.

Sometimes the handbrake comes on automatically when I switch the car off, other times it does not. Why is this?

If Auto Brake Hold is engaged, the parking brake will be activated when the car is switched off. If Auto Brake Hold is not selected, the brake won‘t be applied until the driver presses the switch.

Good to know.

Cordless phone charging – it’s a surprise that this isn’t offered?

Cordless charging is not available on the Honda e.

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Is it safe to store the charge leads under the bonnet?

We don’t recommend storing the leads under the front bonnet.

I expect they also don't recommend storing your sandwiches under the front bonnet.

What’s happening with e:Progress and other Honda home charging systems? They seem to be delayed.

Honda has confirmed a revised timescale for the introduction of its first energy services under the e:Progress brand. The first e:Progress services for the UK will come to market by the middle of 2021.

Not interested in their overpriced EVSE to be quite honest.

What about paint colours, new apps and new versions?

We can’t comment on future plans at this stage.

Unsurprising.

What is the drag coefficient of the Honda e?

I’m afraid we can’t disclose this information.

They totally could disclose this information if they wanted to, but I expect it's embarrassingly poor.

What about the four-star Euro NCAP safety rating for the Honda e? Five stars is the expectation these days.

Safety is the number one priority for Honda when engineering any new car. Providing the most comprehensive suite of advanced safety features and driver aids in its class, the car performed exceptionally well under the latest Euro NCAP testing regime, which features new evaluations for crash avoidance, post-crash safety and the impact of larger vehicles on smaller ones. The Honda e’s safety rating is competitive against other small EVs.
Fair.

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FDAD
Posts: 492
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:55 pm
Location: Porto, Portugal

Post by FDAD »

My 12v never got flat, or had any issues, the car never charged at more than 45kw in the summer (using 50kw points) the connectivity is 0 as my Honda app is unavailable to me, I also bought it V2G in mind, best is 17.5kw/km usage in summer 22+- winter. Updates OTA are real as it seems to be vaporware so...
Honda E advance [Modern Steel Metallic] 8-) [DELIVERED JULY 2020] - 85 000Kms + ✌️🎂
Number5
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2020 8:55 pm

Post by Number5 »

It seems hard to achieve four miles per kWh consumption without an extreme driving style.

For electric cars, consumption is the opposite to petrol cars. In city usage with a lot of recuperation, consumption is much less than on motorways, where there is added air resistance.

Petrol cars tend to have best consumption per driven distance at around 90kph [56mph], since the engine is operating in its best efficiency area. For electric cars, the minimum can be achieved in city driving, where deceleration energy is being recuperated to a large extent. Also, the electric motor is not changing its efficiency when operated at low speed, which is the case for combustion engines.

Recuperation (regen) does not improve range, is all down to not having to move so much air as at lower speed. Regen will incur mechanical, electrical and heat losses, driving a steady speed will alway win.

What about range and efficiency figures for the car in winter?

The driving range of all automobiles can be significantly affected by environmental and usage factors, including low ambient temperatures. For electric vehicles in particular, low temperatures can affect driving range significantly.

Honda internal testing shows that a selection of EVs experience a reduction in driving range at low and sub-zero temperatures. This is due to a number of factors, including:

Increased energy consumption to maintain battery temperature in the operational window.
My Kona battery warranty is equal to the e and does not appear to throw loads of energy into the battery in winter.
Nissan also have a similar warranty on a passive battery, also perform better in winter months
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