Hi from Switzerland

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5dmyoo
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:37 pm

Post by 5dmyoo »

Hi,
I wanted to introduce myself since I have been lurking the forums for a few weeks learning more about the Honda e. And I think I'm going to be a new owner.

So I tested the car for 2 hours going back and forth from home in the mountains about 1000m up high. I did the run twice first using the zigzag road and then the second time using the much easier slow road. Then midway I went back and forth up another zigzag road.

I also did a test charge from a wall socket to see how many kWs it was using for a few minutes. I have a small solar panel installation by the way.

I'm planning to use it during non-snow months for the occasional commute down to the city where I can take the train. Occasionally I also plan to replace the train travel if I am not alone.
Goal is to also to charge it ideally only with power generated by the solar panels. And later if the battery has enough juice, use it to power the home during the evening. I usually use public transport to commute so the car can charge during the day most of the time


Things I've been happy about:
- instant torque no lag
- so nice looking car interieur and exterior.
- designed from ground-up as an electric car
- so much fun driving down the mountain with the one-pedal mode

I was less happy about:
- suspension stiffness slow to react during turns on the mountain
- pedal to the metal at some point doesn't have effect anymore
- speed counter doesn't increase incrementally. it just jumps to a high number when pressing the "gas" pedal.
- leather seats partial on the back seats

The local Honda garage told me:
- the leather seats are re-done by another company in the EU. The car by default ships with the textile seats from Japan.
- You can charge up to 100% instead of 80%, battery management is done by the car thanks to the Honda engineers..


Anyway I hope I can participate more in the forums soon.


Have a good weekend.
Lloyd

ZoeDave
Posts: 146
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2020 9:26 pm

Post by ZoeDave »

Hi Lloyd,

As you might expect, I would urge you to buy one! I know it's not cheap, but if you appreciate the design, interior, and that it has the tech from a typically much bigger car, then it isn't too bad a deal. I agree with all of your plus points, and will try to answer your negatives:

I bought the car with the 16" wheels, even though 17" were standard. I did it for the slightly better range and feel that the all black wheels worked better with the white paint, but equally haven't been annoyed by the ride, so that might be an option for you.

Not sure about the "pedal to the metal" not having an effect, but if you haven't driven an EV before, given that it is a single-gear with a lot of torque, it will feel very quick at slower speeds and not so much when going faster.

I think the speedo jumping up when accelerating is to avoid the numbers changing so quickly as to become unreadable. If you haven't had a car with a digital speedo (and I avoided them for years), then it takes a little bit of adjustment, but now I prefer them.

As for the leather, I'm not convinced that the work is done outside of Japan, mainly because the leather pack includes (at least for me) the door armrests. Seems like too much work and risk taking out four door cards without problems. What does make more sense is the explanation I had that due to the rear seats being a bench, it would be too large a single piece of leather and would sag or deform too much. I like the leather, and find the leather seats more comfortable, but still love the base fabric, so the combination is perfect for me.

As for powering your home, I'm not aware of an option for vehicle to load from the charging port, so you'd be limited to the plug on the dashboard. It's definitely high output, but maybe not enough to start and maintain all the appliances in a whole house.

All the best,

David
5dmyoo
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:37 pm

Post by 5dmyoo »

Hi Dave,
Thanks for your input on the car. I am leaning more on the 16" wheels for a little extra range and for the look.

I saw on Engineering Explained channel that there are tires made now explicitely for EVs since they have more weight and are more quiet: stronger sidewalls to distribute weight more evenly on the road surface, and polyfoam to absorb sound from the road. Could be marketing but I am interested in exploring and studying this option...

There's a company in Switzerland that allows loading energy from your car to your house: https://sun2wheel.com/en/home/. From what I saw they already did a large scale v2x testing with a fleet of 50 rental cars. I have yet to have talked to actual customers but I am interested in this solution as well. Their solution only works with mostly japanese cars but they told me VW is planned for next year. Ioniq 5 can only do monophase so not appropriated for homes.

best,
Lloyd
MaXPainT
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2022 6:34 pm

Post by MaXPainT »

I would go with 16" myself if I'd had the choice. The ride is smoother and more efficient. Altough, if you are planning to zigzag a lot, you might not like the added mushiness of the 16" tyres.

With tyres it is usually a tradeoff. You lose something to gain something else. There is a video I'd recommend watching before considering low rolling resistance tyres:

Me personally not a big fan of using vechicle batteries in a V2H or V2G manner on a constant basis. This would introduce additional degradation and I don't think that batteries that are designed to be portable should be wasted in such a manner. There are plenty of dedicated solutions for that. But if this will save you enough money to get you a new battery then sure, go ahead :)
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hondaeboy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:42 pm
Location: NL

Post by hondaeboy »

5dmyoo wrote: Sat Apr 15, 2023 10:09 am There's a company in Switzerland that allows loading energy from your car to your house: https://sun2wheel.com/en/home/. From what I saw they already did a large scale v2x testing with a fleet of 50 rental cars. I have yet to have talked to actual customers but I am interested in this solution as well. Their solution only works with mostly japanese cars but they told me VW is planned for next year. Ioniq 5 can only do monophase so not appropriated for homes.
The Honda e is only monophase as well.

Also, the cheapest V2G from them is 13 freaking thousand euros. How would that ever be interesting for any regular household?
2021 Honda e Advance on 16" RC30 wheels with Goodyear 195/55 & 205/55 tyres.
Wrapped in Red metallic with full black and cinnamon leather interior.
5dmyoo
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:37 pm

Post by 5dmyoo »

Thanks MaXPainT and hondaeboy for your opinions.

Indeed the V2X station is expensive. It could be spent on a battery instead. But I understand that new tech can be costly. Specially if there's no competition.


About degradation from V2G, from what I've seen I don't use that much kWh during the evening so I'm inclined to test it if it were possible. Or, just turn of the water heater during the evening.
I've seen somewhere that electric cars from Japan are obliged to provide V2X capability. So I'm wondering how much of V2X is used over there....
5dmyoo
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:37 pm

Post by 5dmyoo »

Hi,
So I received the car a few days ago.
Only drove it a couple of times but enjoying the smoother ride compared to my Subaru WRX.

Felt boring to drive it the first few times to be honest. No motor sounds, less precise steering. But slowly getting used to it. I'll probably hate the Subaru when I drive it again.

Glad to have this forum since I found answers to my questions here: charging schedule, setting home.


I wanted to get charge status updates via the Honda app but it is very slow. Can the car be connected to the home-wifi when at home?

Car is black with 17" wheels. No leather seats as I wanted originally.

Have a good evening.
lloyd
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EEEE
Posts: 519
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:33 am

Post by EEEE »

5dmyoo wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2023 4:55 pm
Felt boring to drive it the first few times to be honest. No motor sounds, less precise steering. But slowly getting used to it. I'll probably hate the Subaru when I drive it again.
It is quite boring in that sense - it doesn't really reward fast or spirited driving (although reasonably capable - weight considered). I'd say the e is fine for commuting, but not for 'driving driving'. If I fancy a 'drive', i'll jump in the prelude which is much more engaging/rewarding.
'21 e Advance - Charge Yellow - E1702RR alloys
'17 Civic Sport CVT
'00 Prelude 2.2VTi
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Highanddry
Posts: 85
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2021 8:03 am

Post by Highanddry »

A belayed welcome on Swiss roads :-)

The V2G solution I would order in a hard beat if they price is not so absurd.
With solar panels on the roof and clouds praying on them, there is always a good moment to take advantage.

But what a fantastic car it is, that we can even use it a battery!
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hondaeboy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:42 pm
Location: NL

Post by hondaeboy »

EEEE wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 1:45 pmI'd say the e is fine for commuting, but not for 'driving driving'.
I just did a 2000 km roadtrip over the weekend. This car is surprisingly good for driving driving. I would even go so far as to say it forces you to be better at driving driving. Normally, I would be completely nackered after such a long stretch, but I came home without the usual tired, and burnt-out feeling, and didn't need a week to recuperate.

Only issue for me was the incredibly shit show of charging apps. It's incredible to me that literally each one of them is horrible at most things, and good at almost nothing. I really don't get it.
2021 Honda e Advance on 16" RC30 wheels with Goodyear 195/55 & 205/55 tyres.
Wrapped in Red metallic with full black and cinnamon leather interior.
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