83-Mile Range, $18K Price: Honda’s Funky New EV Could Become a Kei Car Favorite

The N-One E debuted earlier this week as a Japanese domestic market car. Priced at a little over $18,000 (2.7 million yen), the car goes on sale in Japan on September 12. Honda based the E on the gas-powered N-One, which features retro styling, four doors, and a surprisingly spacious hatchback cargo area.

Honda equips a 29.6-kWh battery pack, which it says offers “class-leading range” of up to 295 km, or 183 miles, beating the N-One E’s closest competitor in Japan, the Nissan Sakura, by more than 70 miles. The shorter range and super-compact size makes the car perfect for Japan’s extremely tight urban areas.

Inside, the car features folding rear seats, and Honda reconfigured the gas car’s steering column to provide more front legroom and a more stable driving position. And, while it carries a battery pack under the floor, it retains the overall height of the gas model, making it easier to park and see while maneuvering.

It took some fiddling to fit a battery pack in such a small car, with Honda noting that it had to engineer a thinner battery pack to avoid cutting into interior space. The battery is a modified pack from Honda’s electric van, and it sports the same capacity with a much thinner footprint.

Pint-sized kei cars aren’t ideal for America’s wide-open interstates and highways, but they’re wildly popular in Japan, where millions of people are packed into sprawling urban centers. Electric kei vehicles make up 40 percent of new car sales in the country, and Honda believes the N-One E is positioned to be a top choice.