Electric vehicles are coming at us at a remarkable velocity.
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Yet for countries like Australia, the key buyer resistance points remain price (too high), recharging time (too long), recharging points (too few) and driving range (too short), all technical obstacles which are changing faster than an Elon Musk tweet.
Resistance, as the Borg reminded us, is futile.
But consumers are a fickle and complex lot and we always want more for less.
So for EV sales to genuinely accelerate in Australia - they currently make up around 1 per cent of the market - not only do all these issues need resolution but the market needs greater diversity.
We need EV sports cars and SUVs, utes and campervans, mini-cars and 4WDs, all fashioned and priced to suit consumer wants and whims.
And we also need more EVs with that "wow" factor.
Enter the Honda e.
But first a warning: the e is not being officially imported by Honda Australia.
And since it's not part of the company's plans, this opens the door for low-volume private importers like ION DNA, a Canberra-based EV company, to sell it here.
Drive one and you may never look at a Tesla Model 3 in quite the same way again.
Built by the car company which 20 years was right up among the world's automotive innovators and was often described as "Japan's BMW", the Honda e is how a fallen corporate hero claws back respect.
Fiscally flogged after falling from its lofty heights in the Japanese asset bubble economy collapse of the very early 1990s, Honda became sadly, somewhat predictable.
While the company never lost its reputation for technical excellence, the rest of the automotive world accelerated right on by in the excitement stakes, leaving Australians with more anodyne, risk-free Hondas like the HRV, the Accord and the Odyssey.
Ironically, its engines still power some of the world's top Formula One cars.
But stand ready because the Honda e is right out of the same innovative and funster mode as the original Civic three-door was way back in early 70s.
Why? Because its retro-inspired design chic and everyday utility is amazing.
The turning circle is an astonishing 4.3 metres, the car capable of turning back on itself it like a London black cab. Ease of parking is a joke. You may never kerb an alloy wheel again.
Voted the world's best urban car of the year in 2021, Germany's car of the year and the best new energy tech by the world's oldest and most respected car magazine Autocar, the Honda e is powered by an ultra-compact, water-cooled 35.5kW battery which sits under the cabin floor.
All the battery weight is down low and evenly distributed in the chassis so the rear-wheel drive Honda handles like a sports car with just 110kW of power and 300Nm of torque. The suspension is all independent.
The e has been designed from the ground up as an EV so all those packaging advantages are passed on.
The cabin, too, is brilliant, with dual LCD touchscreens which span the central area of the dashboard, tiny little side camera mirrors with images projected at each edge of the dash.
The e is so uncommon on our roads that when you drive one, pedestrians' heads swivel like the carnival clowns at the Royal Canberra Show.
One chap glanced up from his phone, his jaw dropped, and he half-raised a hand as we drove by as to say "wait, I want to see more". People stop and ask: "Is that what I think it is?"
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Driving range is around 220 to 240km, and recharging to 80 per cent happens in about half an hour.
Priced between $62,000 to $65,000, the e rivals the Tesla Model 3 on price.
If you want to stand out from the EV pack, it's near-e-resistible.
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