The ‘baby’ Honda e is a cool, clever and cheap electric car

BRITAIN has been screwed by the EU since 1973.

Finally, just as we’re about to leave, their meddling has worked in our favour.

2019 MARTIN BRENT

Because of crippling CAFE regulations (Corporate Average Fuel Economy), many car firms have their backs against the wall. They need to sell electric cars in bulk to bring their CO2 average down, or get clobbered with huge fines and penalties.

But their pain is our gain.

When the Honda e was first shown in 2017, bosses privately admitted it would be expensive — as in £35,000 expensive, like a BMW i3 — because it was stuffed with next-gen tech.

Now the price has been cut to £26,000.

Which can only mean Honda is taking a bath on this car to help meet the 95g/km target for 95 per cent of its sales.

Which means the winner is YOU.

The Honda e is now competitively priced with the Renault Zoe, the upcoming Mini Electric and the Vauxhall Corsa-e — but here you’re getting more car. Much more.

That’s obvious the moment you climb inside and count not one, not two, but FIVE display screens running across the full width of the dash.

WATCH A MOVIE

Ask your passenger to set the satnav and swipe it right to your infotainment screen. Gimmick, yes, but also cool.

And it has door cameras instead of wing mirrors.

And a rear-view mirror that switches to a live feed.

And an HDMI port to plug in a games console or watch a movie when the car is parked or being charged.

And it looks and feels as relaxing as a John Lewis lounge with comfy, sofa-like seats and lashings of wood.

I’m not done yet . . . And it’s retro-cool and classless.

And it’s dinky and drives like a dodgem.

And it’s rear-wheel drive and out-turns a London taxi.

2019 MARTIN BRENT

And it will park itself at Tesco.

And it has many brake regeneration modes — adjusted by flappy paddles, hurrah — and a “single pedal” button that lets you drive using only the throttle if you’re good enough at anticipating traffic flow.

NANA’S COMMODE

But there are downsides.

All of the cars mentioned above will go much further on a charge. The Honda e has a 35.5kWh battery and a range of 137 miles.

So it’s nothing more than a city car or a school-run car.

Actually, that’s not quite true. My old girl lives out in the sticks, miles from a petrol station, and she only does a handful of miles a day. Plus she’s got a driveway. So this car would suit her as much as a city person. Or maybe even more.

How are you going to charge your electric car if you live on the 37th floor in Laaaandan?

Note. Charging takes four hours with a 7kW wall box at home. Or 80 per cent juice in 30 minutes at a public rapid charger. That’s good.

What’s not so good is the size of the charging flap on the bonnet. It looks like the lid on Nana’s commode.

Other downsides. The boot is tiny at 171 litres, it doesn’t have split rear seats and who decided that we needed three different indicator sounds?

That’s just answering a question no one was asking.

We’re going to be flooded with 20 new electric cars this year but the Honda e will stand out most.

It’s cool, clever and, thanks to CAFE, a serious contender for your cash.

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