Small club

[bogga]

Looks like we're always going to be part of a really small club:

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/16/th ... auto-show/

"Honda has a European goal of only 10,000 sales of the Honda e. That’s enough to prevent paying a fine to the EU for non-compliance with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation, but not much more."

Might end up being a classic...

When I had my Smart Roadster, I thought it was part of a small club (43,091 built)....

[iHansz]

I knew that. And out of those 10000 this year (because that's it, not the whole total production of the e) there are 2000 available for Germany and for the Netherlands 450 (this year) I was told by someone from Honda Benelux. But with covid19 it may turn out differently (less?) and the numbers of Japan also have to be added.. In any case, Honda will come with an electric SUV next year, next to the e. Probably the HR-V.

P.S. I worked at smart for several years.

[eread]

I hope that the demand for the E suddenly spikes and drives up more sales than there is of stock it would be pretty neat for it to become popular. It might promote them to invest into a facelift/revisied/2nd generation with a slightly longer range - or maybe the Honda E Type R which may come as a result of some battery advancements. I would be buying a Type E Honda R instantly no hesitation, no question.

"Well, this new platform, the motor and tires can all take more [power]," Shinya explained, clearly itching to tell me things he wasn't supposed to. "What I can say is we love Type R, it's such a strong halo brand for us. As engineers, we want to make Type R of every model, but it's whether the customer wants it that matters." This suggests a high-performance Honda e is technically possible, but there needs to be enough customer demand to make a business case for it.

[Electra]

I hope that the demand for the E suddenly spikes and drives up more sales than there is of stock it would be pretty neat for it to become popular. It might promote them to invest into a facelift/revisied/2nd generation with a slightly longer range - or maybe the Honda E Type R which may come as a result of some battery advancements. I would be buying a Type E Honda R instantly no hesitation, no question.

"Well, this new platform, the motor and tires can all take more [power]," Shinya explained, clearly itching to tell me things he wasn't supposed to. "What I can say is we love Type R, it's such a strong halo brand for us. As engineers, we want to make Type R of every model, but it's whether the customer wants it that matters." This suggests a high-performance Honda e is technically possible, but there needs to be enough customer demand to make a business case for it.

The range is bad enough on the existing model, without hanging a pointless wing on the back of it.

[eread]

I hope that the demand for the E suddenly spikes and drives up more sales than there is of stock it would be pretty neat for it to become popular. It might promote them to invest into a facelift/revisied/2nd generation with a slightly longer range - or maybe the Honda E Type R which may come as a result of some battery advancements. I would be buying a Type E Honda R instantly no hesitation, no question.

"Well, this new platform, the motor and tires can all take more [power]," Shinya explained, clearly itching to tell me things he wasn't supposed to. "What I can say is we love Type R, it's such a strong halo brand for us. As engineers, we want to make Type R of every model, but it's whether the customer wants it that matters." This suggests a high-performance Honda e is technically possible, but there needs to be enough customer demand to make a business case for it.

The range is bad enough on the existing model, without hanging a pointless wing on the back of it.

That's actually also my biggest complaint (don't see the point in adding more drag to a car designed for minimal drag) but everything else looks rather tidy on it but that's why it would be better to wait for them to have some battery/range advancements that can get up into 200+ mile range before they would realisitcally sit down and dream up one. At the same time if the sales of the baseline first generation model are less than desirable it could sway them to drop the model entirely

[bogga]

If they are unable to sell 10,000 of them, they will be either paying the fine, or reducing the cost to get rid of them....

[keithr]

When I had my Smart Roadster, I thought it was part of a small club (43,091 built)....

I was part of that club too! I had a smart roadster Brabus for a while. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to find others that are interested in the Honda e have also had small cars in the past (I had 3 smart fortwo's too, then a Toyota iQ).

[Electra]

When I had my Smart Roadster, I thought it was part of a small club (43,091 built)....

I was part of that club too! I had a smart roadster Brabus for a while. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to find others that are interested in the Honda e have also had small cars in the past (I had 3 smart fortwo's too, then a Toyota iQ).

I’ve had two 850 minis, a Ginetta G15, and two of the original lhd Smarts.

[iHansz]

When I had my Smart Roadster, I thought it was part of a small club (43,091 built)....

I was part of that club too! I had a smart roadster Brabus for a while. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to find others that are interested in the Honda e have also had small cars in the past (I had 3 smart fortwo's too, then a Toyota iQ).

Oh wow a Brabus, lucky you! When smart stopped with it, I hoped that a manufacturer (read Honda) would adopt the concept. But that was not necessary, because see this (yes, I know it's a kei car and therefore smaler, but I fit in!). It's a Honda S660.

[bogga]

..and I was this close > < to importing one............. but then I got environMENTAL and thought I should go electric!