Honda is finally getting serious about the booming European EV market. The e:Ny1 is a purely electric crossover and, along with the ZR-V and CR-V hybrids, one of three electrified SUVs heading to the continent this year.
Of those three, it’s the e:Ny1 that’s the most interesting. We got a preview of its HR-V-style design earlier this year, though the electric SUV rides on an entirely different EV-specific front-wheel drive platform to the combustion HR-V. Called e:N Architecture F, the new platform has been designed with a focus on stiffness (the body is 47 percent high-tensile steel), a low center of gravity and meaningful underfloor aerodynamics.
A single motor in the nose generates 201 hp (204 PS / 150 kW) and 229 lb-ft (310 Nm) of torque, and is paired with a 68.8 kWh battery that charges from 10-80 percent in a leisurely 45 minutes and gives an electric driving range of 256 miles (412 km).
Though the SUV proportions don’t suggest that the e:Ny1 is packaged any differently to a combustion car, Honda says the positioning of the electrical powertrain and hardware delivers strong interior space. We’ll have to wait to try that out for ourselves, but we can see from the pictures that Honda has devoted plenty of interior space to its infotainment system.
Related: Honda Previews New Electric SUV With e:Ny1 Prototype, Confirms America’s 2023 HR-V For Europe
The large portrait touchscreen measures 15.1 inches and stretches from the top of the dashboard where a freestanding tablet would be located on something like the Civic, right down to the main console on the transmission tunnel. Unlike cars such as the Civic, the e:Ny1has its climate controls housed within that screen, which looks cool but will be less user-friendly.
The portrait screen orientation also means the e:Ny1’s interior design is very different to the little Honda e’s, which features digital screens stretching across the dash, and has camera-based door mirrors that you won’t find on the e:Ny1.
When the e:Ny1 hits European roads later this year it will go into battle with SUVs like the just-refreshed Peugeot e-2008 and Hyundai Kona Electric, and will be similarly priced, so expect it to cost from around £32,000/€36,000.
