August update: my Honda e advance

For those who fell in love with the Honda Urban EV in 2017, it has been a long wait.

When this concept car was first unveiled at Geneva Motor Show in March 2017, it created quite a stir. Some thought the styling of the 3 door Honda Urban EV looked retro. Its simple lines were partly driven by aerodynamics. The designers were keen to minimise its drag coefficient. Its looks made a statement. This was a battery powered vehicle designed from the bottom up, not an electric conversion of an existing design. A radical styling departure from any other in the Honda family.

The more we learned about the car, the more the desire to own one. This will be a classic, a milestone. The first of a new breed of Honda battery powered electric vehicles.

And so we waited. And waited. Until March 2019 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where the Honda e Prototype was launched. Now a 5dr car, trying hard to conceal the rear doors, flush door handles, 17inch Gas Burner wheels and neat pods on the doors that house the rear facing cameras. More aerodynamic that traditional wing mirrors, these pods project less than the flared wheel arches needed for the wide tyres. Although promoted as an City car for urban use, it was soon clear that 150 bhp motor would make this a fun drive on English rural B roads. We were sold. It was green, it is the future. 

Driving electric had come a long way from the Honda Insight and the Honda EV Plus.

In May 2019 Honda were accepting Reservations. Deposit paid, the next milestone was September when it was converted to a firm order for the Honda e Advance.

The cheaper, basic version would not be launched for another year. At this point it was assumed that UK deliveries would be in the Spring – March 2020. In time the UK launch of the production car would slip to June, and yes you guessed it, we are still waiting.

Back in March this year, e’s were pounding the streets of Valencia. Enthuiastic bloggers uploaded tempting videos of the car in action, complete with edited clips of computer-generated visuals from the Honda PR machine. These were left-hand drive vehicles, not suitable for the UK.

Of course June soon came and went, and the world was immersed in the Covid19 pandemic. Although Honda Dealers in the UK were able to unlock their doors on 1st June, Honda UK had furloughed their staff, and were still enjoying their “paid leave” care of the UK taxpayers.

I don’t know exactly what happened between March and June, because Honda UK have made no attempt to keep their customers informed, either directly or via their website. Although I can Login to “My Account” the information there has remained dormant since September 2019.

To say that I am disappointed, feel let down, annoyed or angry would be an understatement. 

I am LIVID. Because despite all the best endeavours of my local Honda dealer, and others sharing their enthusiasm for this cute car on social media, Honda UK have been silent. In an induced coma during Lockdown.

But there is worse to come. Much, much worse.

While their Japanese parent company were able to build the cars on time and ship them to Europe, and the build the right-hand drive versions for the UK market and ship them to the UK by June. Honda UK has failed to deliver.

UK Honda dealers have been advised that they cannot register their Honda e demonstrators. Although ‘e’s have been distributed to dealers across the UK, most are just sitting inside their showrooms. Yes, I went to Salisbury this week to sit inside one, which was nice, but I had expected, not only to be test driving one, but to be the Registered Owner. Driving it away on my Birthday to my garage, which has been empty since 15 June, when I sold my last ICE car.

Honda UK say we must now wait until August for delivery, because the cars require a software update. Of course this is another excuse, and not the main real reason for the delay. No, it’s not even due to Covid19.

The reason we are all waiting, Customers and Dealers alike is that Honda UK were asleep on the job. Despite having 3 years to get to their act together, there is a problem. A reason why these cars cannot be Registered and sold to customers. 

It is called the Plug in Car Grant or PiCG for short. Which was worth £3500, when we placed our firm orders for the car, but it has since been reduced to £3000. Yes, the Honda e Advance is NOT yet on the Approved list of Electric powered vehicles that qualify for the PiCG.

I await a personal apology from the CEO of Honda UK, before he or she does the right thing and “falls on their sword” for letting us down. Yes, they blame Covid19. They blame their recent global cyber attack. But until they tell us more, I can only assume they were asleep on the job.

We are now learning (via Social Media of course, not Honda) that the software update may be related to Fast Charging / Battery Management issues. Although they claim the car could be Fast Charged in 31 mins to 80%, in practice some cars are limiting the charge rate at intervals at far lower percentages. Although this is good, in that it protects the battery, the charge rate slows down as soon as it reaches 30 – 60%

3 years is a long time to wait, and we are still waiting.

But maybe that’s the true cost of Honda e ownership – we have to learn to wait.

I wrote the above back in July, nearly one month on, it’s time for an update. Yesterday Thursday 30 July was a The Day. I finally got behind the wheel of the demonstrator! And, if that wasn’t exciting enough, there it was in my Dealer’s compound. My car, the 3 year wait was nearly over.

The Test Drive soon confirmed why the Honda e is the one for me. I could not believe the quality of the ride. Despite having ‘lowish’ profile tyres at 45mm, the ride was smooth. I didn’t notice the bumps, and imperfections of a typical British road, post austerity.

And it was so easy to drive. No gears, no shift. Just the odd switch from Normal to Sport mode, and a chance to try out the paddles behind the steering wheel, that adjust up to 4 levels of regeneration braking. The motor delivers powerful torque to the 17″ wheels, and Michelin Sport tyres. It took no effort to increase speed, although the display in front of me kept flashing 30, 40 or 50 to remind me of the limits. Once on the open road I was exceeding 60mph and the car just floated along. Not too much tyre noise, and of course no sound of an ICE power train.

So soon I was back in the showroom, signing my life away. Since my September order was placed, the residual value has increased by nearly £2000, so the finance deal was even more competitive, despite the PiCG grant dropping from £3500 to £3000.

In less than a week, I will be back to collect my Honda e advance and driving it back home. My empty garage won’t be empty much longer.