What We Know About the 2020 Honda e Urban Electric Car So Far

author: Manish Kharinta   

The Honda e urban electric car.

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co has its eye set on electrifying its entire European car portfolio by 2025. A testament towards this objective is the new Honda e urban electric car, which was unveiled this month at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in its production-spec avatar. 

The car was showcased alongside other electrified Honda models, which also included some sporty versions.

Honda says that its new "e city car" represents the highest build quality out of all of its offerings. The electric Honda e embodies a retro modern design language both inside and out. In the small electric vehicle segment in Europe, the Honda e urban EV closely resembles the compact Volkswagen Up city car.

Inside the cabin, the Honda e offers a features such as a side camera mirror system, which comes standard. The cameras relay video feeds across 5 displays, which include an 8.8 inch TFT instrument display that sits in front of the driver, as well as two 12.3 inch LCD touchscreen infotainment units.

A center camera mirror system displays a feed from a central rear facing camera and two small screens located on the sides.

The Honda e center display is big.

Honda officially announced the pricing of its premium electric hatchback and it is competitive to say the least. In Germany, the Honda e starts at $37,300 for the base model and $40,519 for the advance version that is before taking into account the €4,380 (~$4,825) incentive offered by the German government.

The top-of-the-line model comes equipped with a 113 kW electric motor instead of the standard 100 kW unit. Both motors manage produce around 232 lb-ft of torque. The rear-wheel-drive powertrain also includes a 35.5 kWh liquid cooled battery pack manufactured by Panasonic. 

Honda says its e city car will offer around 136 miles of all-electric driving range.

The electric powertrain is mated to an all-new EV platform allowing the Honda urban EV to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 8 seconds. The all new electric vehicle architecture also suggests that other battery-powered models might soon join the company's electric car portfolio.

The battery pack accepts fast charging and can be charged to 80% in under 30 minutes.

Honda confirmed that it received over 40,000 "expressions of interest" for the compact urban EV. The automaker is currently accepting orders across multiple European countries, however it won't be available in the U.S.—at least for now. Honda currently has no plans to offer Honda e in North America.

Deliveries in Europe are schedule to begin in the summer of 2020.

Manish Kharinta

Manish Kharinta is a automotive writer based in the Los Angeles area. He has worked for automotive industry websites TheSmokingClutch.com, CarDekho.com and CarBikeindia.com. His experience ranges from covering auto shows, to car reviews and breaking automotive news. Manish aims to bring forth his unique perspective on automotive design and technological innovations in the automotive industry.