Honda e:Ny1 Review (2023-present)
Honda e:Ny1 cars for sale
2.0
Expert review
Pros
Finance deals can look attractive
Compact dimensions
Good visibility
Cons
Disappointing real world range
Small boot
Expensive to buy outright
The CarGurus verdict
Despite being perfectly comfortable and pleasant in many ways, the Honda e:NY1 is not even the bridesmaid of the electric family car class – it’s down in the kitchen cleaning the dishes. In fact, we'd only really recommend choosing it over rivals if you can find a huge discount or a finance deal to shame everything else.
For anyone who isn’t a retail buyer paying monthly, or if you can’t get the sort of price that justifies the Honda’s numerous shortfalls, there’s a host of other electric vehicles that offer longer ranges, better practicality and overall better value.
What is the Honda e:Ny1?
Honda has been slow to join the electric car race. It started with the fantastically cool yet short-range and slow selling Honda e back in 2020. Now, with the e having been axed, Honda is hanging its electric hopes on the slick-looking, family-friendly e:Ny1.
The e:Ny1 is just under 4.4m long – that’s a touch shorter than a Nissan Qashqai, yet a fraction longer than the Honda HR-V that you may also be tempted by if you’re in the market for an efficient family crossover. The e:NY1 is only offered with one powertrain, which consists of a 201bhp electric motor and front-wheel drive, and manages a 256-mile WLTP range from its 61.9kWh (usable) lithium-ion NMC battery. Total battery capacity comes in at 68.8kWh.
There are only a couple of trims, so it’s a simple lineup to navigate, if not a cheap one. Prices start from around £45,000, which puts the Honda up against a whole raft of other electric SUVs and hatchbacks, including the Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq, Toyota bZ4X, Hyundai Kona and Ioniq 5, Kia Niro EV and EV6, Volvo EX30, VW ID.5, Renault Scenic E-Tech, Peugeot E-3008, Volkswagen ID.3 and more. It’s not without competition, let’s put it that way…
How practical is it?
There’s no easy way to put this: the Honda e:NY1 is not as practical as it should be. Sure, there’s decent rear passenger space - although you’ll have more in the Renault Scenic E-Tech. The real problem is that the boot isn’t big enough for an electric family crossover like this. In fact, with only 361 litres to its name, it has less boot space than in a VW Golf. It’s also a shorter boot than you get in the Kia Niro EV, and is vastly smaller than what you’ll find in the Skoda Enyaq and Tesla Model Y.
There are also no clever tricks with the Honda’s interior – no sliding seats, not even 40/20/40 split folding rear seats or a through-loading facility. This is likely to be a deal breaker for quite a few family buyers who might be tempted by the Honda’s styling and tech but will be disappointed by the luggage space and shortage of interior versatility.
There’s plenty of space up front even for tall drivers, and visibility is decent all-round (which is a rarity in most modern cars), although a bit more lower back support for the driver wouldn’t go amiss.
What’s it like to drive?
The Honda e:NY1 is fast enough on paper, with a 7.7sec 0-62mph time. But when we pitted the Honda against the Kia Niro EV, it was noticeable that the Kia – which gets an identical power output – felt more muscular and also had better traction. The Honda is a bit prone to scrabbling its front wheels in damp or wet conditions, even though its performance is adequate rather than scorching.
Still, steering weight is good and makes the Honda feel easy to place on the road, while brake regeneration is controlled via paddles on the steering wheel and can be toggled from heavier settings to virtually off.
There are drive modes, including Sport, but don’t be fooled: this Honda is about as sporty as a custard cream. Ride comfort is fine, though – spongy yet well-controlled enough to not feel floppy and boat-like, even if you’ll still feel the sharper-edged potholes and ruts around town.
Overall, the Honda e:Ny1 is somewhat uninspiring to drive, even by the relatively low bar set by other electric crossovers.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
The Honda e:NY1 gets a huge 15.1-inch colour touchscreen in the centre of the dash, the top half of which is for the satnav and infotainment readout while the rest is for shortcuts, menu navigation and climate control. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and It’s an impressive-looking screen with big shortcut icons that are easy to prod precisely when you’re driving. There’s also a 10-inch driver’s readout, and a whole suite of safety features including a semi-autonomous drive mode, emergency brake assist and more. The top-spec Advance model also gets a semi-autonomous park assist system that’ll steer the car into a space for you.
You also get a panoramic glass roof, a heated steering wheel, and a 360-degree reversing camera on Advance, but the price really is hard to justify. We say stick with entry-level Elegance as it still gets heated seats, synthetic leather upholstery, electric front seat adjustment, wireless phone charging and more. It is a great standard specification.
Honda e:NY1 running costs
We’ve already covered the fact that the Honda is expensive on list price, not to mention overrun with rivals – which is why we were going to give it two stars, here. However, most will buy on monthly PCP finance and Honda is already heavily discounting the e:Ny1, so you don’t need a huge deposit or price trade-in car to get monthly costs of £350 and under.
That is competitive and is rivalling MG for costs, so while we’ve been harsh on the Honda given its list price, if you can get the right finance deal, opting for this left-field model in the electric family crossover class could save you hundreds per month over some of the rivals we’ve mentioned. And at that point, its comparably middling range and small boot will be easier to justify.
As a cash purchase or company car, though, the Honda is straight up unjustifiable. And it’s not the most efficient, so we’d estimate that it’ll average around 3.0 miles per kWh over the year, meaning that electricity costs will come in at around 10p per mile if you’re paying the current electricity price cap of 29p/kWh. A more efficient EV that averages 3.5m/kWh will cost 8p per mile.
At the time of writing, Honda was also throwing in five years of servicing for free on the e:Ny1, but on a more routine basis expect it to cost roughly £400 for a three-year fixed price service package.
Honda e:NY1 reliability
Honda came a very decent 6th out of 32 brands included in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, when rated as an overall manufacturer, while the e:Ny1 itself is too new to have been rated. It comes with a five-year, 90,000-mile warranty while the battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles. Those are good numbers, even if Kia offers a longer warranty at seven years and 100,000 miles. By any standard, the Honda is very likely to be a dependable and hassle-free family car.
- One of the chief problems with the e:Ny1 is its range. With an official combined WLTP of 256 miles, it falls short of the vast majority of its rivals. The cheaper Niro EV, Kona Electric and Tesla Model Y all manage nearly 290 miles – or 331 miles if you can stretch to the Model Y Long Range (which may be just as attainable as the Honda given the Tesla’s very competitive finance deals). There are also alternatives like the Renault Scenic E-Tech, with its 379-mile range and lower price than the Honda despite a similar equipment list. More than that, on the road we found the Honda fairly inefficient in mixed cold weather running, where it only managed a real world range of 167 miles.
- Rapid charging speeds max out at 78kW, so you’ll get a 10-80% top-up in around 45 minutes. Unfortunately, while that’s on a par with the Kia Niro EV and Hyundai Kona Electric, it’s way off the speeds of most rivals that the Honda competes with on price, most of which manage something closer to 150kW, or a half hour 10-80% top-up. Or, of course, there’s the Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, which all manage the same top-up in under 20 minutes. Top up at home from a 7kW home charger and the Honda will have a full battery in around 10 hours. The Honda’s charging point is also on the nose of the car, so you’ll have to drive nose first into public charging bays – this could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preferred parking method, but we generally find charging ports that are at the back of the car easier in most situations.
- The Honda e:Ny1 Advance trim has a glass roof over the rear seats as well as the front, but in the back it has twin sunshades that are manually removable. Yes, you read that right - you have to unclip the shades and take them out of the roof, and then you are left with two panels with nowhere obvious to store them. It’s an incredibly weird and clunky solution, in a world of cars that have the convenience of electric blinds or even glass that turns opaque at the touch of a button.
- If you want the best value: Go for the cheapest trim – the Honda e:Ny1 Elegance. It gets just about everything, including heated seats, adaptive cruise and keyless entry, and it’s usefully cheaper than the Advance trim.
- If you want the best company car: We’d still stick with the Elegance. The chief perks to the top-spec Advance model are the sunroof with its comically impractical, removable blinds, and a powered bootlid, and while Benefit in Kind tax remains super-cheap until April 2025, it’s going up after that and the extra kit on the Advance isn’t worth paying extra for.
- If you want the best high mileage commuter: We’d advise against the Honda altogether, really. Have a look at the Tesla Model Y or Renault Scenic E-Tech instead.
- If you want the best family car: Again, stick with the cheaper yet very well equipped option, and go for Elegance. If you have a dog to worry about, as well as children, Honda does an official boot liner accessory that keeps your boot floor tidy and also rolls out to cover the rear bumper so that the dog doesn’t damage the car when it jumps in.
