Honda e

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ray B
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Homer Simpson, Pluto, Daffy Duck, Goofy?

The frontal lobes of my brain suggest "Curious George", but my hindbrain refuses to agree that's what it reminds me of. The subconscious is a strange and wonderful thing, but often quite frustrating!

curious-george.png
 
Sorry, many here know that I've written countless letters to American Honda, begging them to bring the Honda e to the US. Hence @Ray B's opening, "I hate to torment @insightman but..."

When Honda said they absolutely were not going to bring the Honda e to North America, I felt they'd abandoned me. I've been buying nothing but Honda cars (and lawn mowers, snow blowers, etc.) since my 1986 CRX Si, but now if I want a small, sporty electric car, the MINI Cooper SE will be the only game in town, er, North America.

So after driving a gen-1 Honda Insight (two of them, actually) for 20 years, I sold it and placed an order for the electric MINI. The MINI will be faster and less expensive, but I really wanted a Honda e. My "protest" will be my way to let Honda know that their long-time Insight promoter was forced to go elsewhere to buy his next car. I'm certain it will result in high-level meetings in Torrance where they change their minds and decide to bring the Honda e to the US.

It won't be long and there will be head-to-head tests of these two small-range BEVs, one a converted ICE vehicle and the other a ground-up design.

I'm sure once the see the error of their ways, they will ship you one for free. Seriously, that sucks and I can;t fathom the lack of foresight regarding electric cars. It's got 50% more range than the Clarity electric.

P.S. how can a car half the size and with half the engines of the Clarity cost nearly as much?
 
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And, quite possibly, it is half as comfortable. So one could potentially be 3-4 times more miserable once reaching their destination.

It definitely has a short wheel base, but at least it has independent suspension. Super short turning radius, which is great for maneuvering.

Perhaps they will consider the possibility of leasing in the US, that might be acceptable if they don't want to sell it in the US.
 
My 1981 Honda Civic.
 

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I don't have a photo of my intensely yellow 1977 Honda Civic CVCC hatchback, but here is what they looked like:

8HrHtExDl_Y3yF9zye96o9JjLpwHv4bhJXk8tVnp9LepNeu200KDJC9fgi9zR-IafDNOcchWQ3wgmk77me9IXEl5TsV2K4AvmsqOGY1vt_zTSr16vx7vNg

I had a 1983 in Red,. it was a great used car I picked up for $850 in 1992. I had it for a few years, then someone gave me a SAAB 900. So I sold it to a friend of mine for $500.00 who then drove that Civic to California (from RI) and drive it there for another dozen years!
 
Perhaps they will consider the possibility of leasing in the US, that might be acceptable if they don't want to sell it in the US.
Honda was willing to sell an average of 2K gen-1 Insights/year for 7 years, but that's evidently not in the cards for the Honda e. Honda's US dealers (and sales staff) didn't respond well to Honda's Clarity PHEV. They much prefer to move Pilots and Passports rather than tiny electric cars that rarely return to enrich their service departments.

Leasing wouldn't make the car any more attractive to US dealers. Perhaps if the MINI Cooper SE proves to be a popular car in the US and Canada, Honda will reconsider their decision to deny the Honda e to North America.

I wonder if Honda will let the Honda e design team create any more good-looking cars or did the reigning designers get them fired for not sticking to the beautiful lines of the Civic, Accord, and Clarity?
 
Not sure it's positive or negative news in for the Honda e, but they have discontinued the Clarity BEV. Their official position is something like "we remain dedicated to the electrification of our fleet, but have decided to include hybrids in that category and focus our efforts in that area."
 
Not sure it's positive or negative news in for the Honda e, but they have discontinued the Clarity BEV. Their official position is something like "we remain dedicated to the electrification of our fleet, but have decided to include hybrids in that category and focus our efforts in that area."
The Clarity Electric was sold only in the US and the Honda e will not be sold in the US, so it doesn't seem the end of the 89-mile BEV will affect the Honda e at all.

It's funny how Honda wiped the Clarity Electric off its Clarity Series web page with such haste that they didn't even take the time to center the images of the Clarity Fuel Cell and the Clarity Plug-In Hybrid on that page. There's just empty white space to the right of the persisting Claritys.
 
Honda initially considered selling the Honda e in the US, but decided that there wasn't much evidence Americans will continue buying cars, much less a tiny electric car that can go only 125 miles on a charge. The way Honda's Canadian branch treats its Clarity customers makes it clear they're not into plug-in cars, either. Europe, Britain, and Japan will be the only markets receiving the Honda e.

I wish it was available in Canada and dealer here in Sudbury does not stock the Honda hybrids or Clarity.... When I was there last ask about the Clarity and was told that electric is a waste of time and only way there be a Clarity ordered if customer orders it.
 
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