Honda N-One e: Unveiled – Kei EV with 270 KM WLTP Range

The Honda N-One e: was unveiled as the production version of the Super EV Concept, featuring up to 270 km of WLTP range.

Remember the cheeky and quirky Honda Super EV concept unveiled earlier this year? Turns out Honda has just unveiled the production version of said concept, now known as the Honda N-One e:. This is essentially an all-electric city car that fits within Japan’s kei car regulations, featuring up to 270 km of WLTP range while retaining the same quirky design seen on its concept twin.

As its name suggests, the N-One e: is basically the fully electric version of Honda’s current kei hatch, the Honda N-One. From its design, we can see that this kei EV stays true to its concept twin, with key design features including its cutesy front face with rounded LED headlights, a trademark black mask, and two charging ports. 

The retro-inspired front face is accompanied by its compact five-door hatch bodystyle, rectangular LED taillights, a redesigned tailgate with a lower-mounted license plate holder, and 14-inch six-spoke alloy wheels the kei EV rides on.

Although no exact dimensions were shared by Honda, we’ve been told that the N-One e: measures less than 3.4 metres in length, making it smaller than even some of the smallest non-kei EV hatches out there.

On board, the N-One e: gets a pretty minimalist cabin, which apparently looks more barren and simpler than the already simplistic cabin of its ICE-powered twin. Up front, it gets a straightforward flat-front dash setup with square air vents and no floating central display like most EVs typically get, although you can get a nine-inch Honda Connect infotainment screen as an option.

Instead, the only display that comes standard here is its small digital metre cluster that hides behind its two-spoke steering wheel. The conventional gear shifter has been swapped for a cleaner button drive selector, while there are some dedicated buttons and dials for the climate control.

Despite its small stature, the N-One e: promises some good degree of practicality, where its rear seats can be folded flat with a 50:50 split, while the bright two-tone colour for its recycled upholstery and its boxy greenhouse also help to alleviate any claustrophobic feeling inside this small hatch.

As of now, Honda has yet to reveal all the juicy details regarding the powertrain setup on the N-One e:, but we’ve been told that it will boast a WLTP range of up to 270 km, making it more usable than most kei EVs out there. Befitting the kei car regulation, we can expect its motor setup to produce no more than 63 hp, which is enough for such a small car.

Again, no details were shared on its battery setup, but we can expect it to get a similar battery setup as the N-Van e:. For context, said kei EV van is juiced by a small 29.6-kWh battery pack that can support up to 50 kW of DCFC. That said, Honda does say that the N-One e: will support both Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H).

While the N-One e: is already confirmed for Japan, Honda does say that the original Super EV Concept will spawn yet another EV hatch catered for overseas markets like Europe and even Southeast Asia, too, given the concept’s appearance at this year’s Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS).

Should this be true, we can expect this upcoming EV hatch to boast a peppier motor setup and a larger battery for better range and possibly feature a sportier and bigger facade than its kei car counterpart. So, fancy a Honda-badged EV hot-hatch in the future?