As we begin to get closer to the arrival of the Honda e in our showrooms and on our roads we hope we can answer any lingering questions, queries or doubts that you may have. Wayne Temple, a 46 year old process engineer told us his thoughts on many aspects of the Honda e after doing a lot of research and said his love for the Honda e has come from the "form, function and design".
Range anxiety
"I have a daily 60-mile round trip for work. The Honda e pretty much matches my current car’s range, of around 160 miles, which leaves plenty in reserve each day. We also use the car to go shopping, take our son to various activities and visit my parents in St Albans – a 140-mile trip each way. So, we plan a quick stop for a top-up charge on the motorway. We have a dog, and she can stretch her legs, so it actually works really well for us."
"We have a wall charger at home and it’s so convenient. The only time we visit a petrol station is to buy a coffee or a paper or grab a quick charge on a long trip. Normally we just plug in when we get home, and the car is always ready for its next journey. I have never run so low in my current car that I have gone into reduced power mode. If you’re driving a long way, it just takes a little bit of forward planning, but you could say the same of a petrol or diesel car. And the Honda e takes up to a 100kW charge, which means it could go from empty to 80% in 30 minutes."
It's a small car, but it's not short of space
"It’s smaller than my current car but that doesn’t bother me. It is perfectly acceptable for a family. We have one child, a teenage son, so I set the driver’s seat to my driving position then climbed in the back and found I could very comfortably sit behind myself. Any parent knows what’s it’s like with kids aboard, so this was important. It’s also well thought out. There is a dedicated compartment in the boot for the charging leads, whereas my current electric car has a small bag and the leads lie around in the boot and get in the way."
Would I get used to having cameras rather than mirrors?
"Within a couple of minutes I wasn’t looking for the mirrors and my eye went to the monitors. It is a new way of thinking with a great view that’s a lot clearer and virtually eliminates blind spots because there’s a wider field of view. I was totally sold on this."
The lifespan of an electric car battery
Honda are currnetly offering a 5 year warranty or up to 90,000 miles on the EV battery. The number of years and milesa person gets out of an electric car bettery often comes down to how they treat it. There are a number of things you can do in order to length the battery life of your electric car:
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Keep it cool (avoid high temperatures)
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Be careful not to overcharge
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Avoid deep discharge
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Plan ahead for extended storage
View all the latest news, information and press reviews on Honda's blog site, The Engine Room here