Video Transcript
Automakers across the globe are racing to make electric vehicles (EVs) that are more cost-competitive with gasoline-powered cars. Some, including Tesla, have targeted a price tag of around $25,000, but Honda is aiming to best that number by around $10,000 — in its native country, at least.
The automaker recently announced that it would begin selling a new compact electric vehicle in Japan this fall.
The new N-VAN e is the electrified cousin of Honda’s small, boxy N-VAN, a gasoline-powered model classified as a “kei car” — a Japanese small vehicle category with restrictions on size and power output.
The electric version offers the same high ceiling and low floor, as well as a large, passenger-side opening to accommodate both commercial and recreational functions. But it also includes new features, such as a quiet cabin and the ability to output power.
The new e-van is available in four different trims, and the lowest-cost one starts at north of 2.4 million yen — or around the mid-$15,000 range.
The lower cost, predictably, comes with some downsides beyond the horsepower and size limits already imposed on kei cars. It also offers a range of a little over 150 miles per charge. Tesla’s Model 3, by contrast, can reportedly go more than double that on a charge.
Honda, however, suggested that range level would accommodate its use in a delivery fleet — or perhaps a weekend camping excursion.
Although the N-VAN e is tailored to the Japanese market, Honda hasn’t forgotten about North America. The company recently announced plans to spend tens of billions to roll out EVs across the globe through 2031.
