You're spoiled for choice if you're in the market for a small, fun electric car – there's now the Honda Super-N to consider, too.
The Honda Super-N is now on sale, and its price makes it one of the cheapest electric cars you can buy.
Prices start from £18,995. We're delighted to see that the vibrant Boost Violet Pearl purple is the 'free' paint colour. If you really want, you can choose a blue shade or three monochrome options for an additional £675, or add a contrast roof to a purple car for £300.
There's only one trim level: the Advance trim, which is Honda's top trim on its other models. Standard equipment is generous, including heated front seats, a heated steering wheel upholstered in leather, keyless entry, a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, LED lights, adaptive cruise control and an eight-speaker Bose sound system. Small car, big equipment list.
And doesn’t the Honda Super-N look fantastic? It’s unapologetically sporty, with a widened stance, broad arches containing four-spoke 15-inch alloys, clear tail-lights and a cute little tailgate spoiler. There’s even an F1-inspired low-mounted brake light.
The Super-N sits on Honda's 'kei' car platform – a small class of Japanese cars that prioritise space and clever thinking in compact proportions. It's incredibly light for an EV, tipping the scales at just 1,097kg.
Honda says that the Super-N offers 199 miles of 'city' range, which is a little bit cheeky because stop-start driving is more efficient for electric cars than more varied driving.
Unfortunately, the proper range figure is just 128 miles, which is no improvement on the Honda e – and that was a sales flop partly due to its short 124-mile range.
For context, the new Renault Twingo achieves 163 miles, the Fiat 500e tops out at 199 miles and the Hyundai Inster charges ahead with a 228-mile range – although the Hyundai is considerably more expensive.
Longer journeys are possible with a bit of planning: the Super-N can get back to 80% charge in half an hour at a 50kW charger.
The Super-N's electric motor will offer between 63hp and 94hp, with the latter accessed by pressing the purple Boost button on the steering wheel. This reduces the 0-62mph time from 14.5 seconds in 'normal' mode to 10 seconds exactly.
The Boost mode also introduces fake gearshifts and exhaust notes. It’s like a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N that’s been on a hot wash. The result, Honda says, is a “sense of excitement and enhanced driving engagement that is unique to a vehicle of this size”. Drive with a sense of excitement and that 128-mile range could go down even more quickly.
Inside, the Super-N has a horizontal dashboard design and sporty blue accents across the dash and on the seats. The cabin is clean and uncluttered, with a bank of buttons for the climate control and some for driving controls on the steering wheel. The infotainment screen is modestly sized, but will feature the must-have phone connectivity features – and, as mentioned, a treasure trove of convenience features.
From Honda's new photos, we can see that the Super-N will benefit from the brand's clever Magic Seats, with flip-up seat bases to enable you to carry awkwardly sized items. The boot measures 162 litres with the seats in place, or 967 litres with the seats down – and its very low load lip improves versatility.
The UK is one of the only countries that the Super-N will be launched in – a wider European launch isn’t planned at this time.
Hunt out your Honda
Can’t quite wait for the Super-N to launch? (Us neither!) Read our Honda reviews or browse our superb used Honda cars for sale.
