Honda Super N Review: Fun Electric Car with a Range Problem

[00:00] a boost button. Oh yeah, I can't wait to press it. This is the new Honda Super N, little bit like a bonsai tree because it's Japanese, it's small, and it's

[00:13] green, even though this one's actually purple. Anyway, in this video, I'm going not buy it. Confused? You will be. I am.

[00:26] Is this car's name a complete lie? The N Sport. Is it truly sporty? Gonna find out by launching it. We've got a single electric motor driving the front wheels with 64 horsepower. I'm in sports mode, especially ting gear. It's going to time

[00:39] it from naugh to 60. 3 2 1 Come on. I don't want to run out of road.

[00:53] It's not that sporty. Listen carefully. You might be noticing something. Come impressive, there is a way to make it more impressive because I forgot about

[01:05] something. The boost button. All right, then. I'm now going to press this boost button. And instead of 64 horsepower, we now have 95.

[01:22] Probably make a difference. Let's go. Oh, yeah. I'm feeling that. I think Can you hear that? Can you hear that? This is more like it. 8.8 seconds. That's like old school hot hatch quick.

[01:37] That is actually pretty good. And it feels sporty. I like it. It's nippy. But does it stop? Well, let's find out. Brake test from 60 mph. A decent number is 35 m. Anything under that. Oh, is that baby pheasant? Like the baby is

[01:53] phasant. Oh no, here comes a bus. Here's a reason to actually stop. 33 m. That's good. And I'm all away from the bus. There are two main reasons why

[02:06] Look at Yokohama. Proper Japanese tires. Also, it's light. It weighs under 1.1 tons. And that's because it's so small. It's actually based on a Japanese K car,

[02:19] with small engines, called the N1. But here for the N. No, it's not the N >> The Super N. They have made it about that much wider and about that much

[02:33] longer. But it's still dinky by European standards. So look, I can step the full width of the car quite easily. It's about 1.5 m wide. But how many steps for the length of it? You ready? Biggest steps ever.

[02:46] Can I do it in two? Just 3.6 m long. There's something like Japanese anime character about it, isn't there? I love the headlights. And then you got some big vents down here. And these

[02:59] vents do stuff. See that? That's a real vent. This is a real vent to help cool the battery. Moving down the side. I love this. The wheel arches. They remind me of the wheel arches on a Group B rally car. Just looks so so good.

[03:11] Wheels. They're dinky. 15 in. I mean, certain cars like Bentleys and Audi's and stuff, they like have up to 23 in. Just 15 here. But they fill the arches proportioned. Looks good. It looks sporty. It looks squat. Looks

[03:28] ground. More air vents there. Once again, doing real stuff, not fake. More flared wheel arches. And then here around the back, this big roof spoiler.

[03:40] across the roof. You can also get a black roof. But those are the only There is one thing to note and it's this here. Reminds me of the rain lights on a

[03:53] Formula 1 car. It's actually the fog light. Reason being that it's there not in the light cluster is because in Japan you don't have to have a rear fog light, but you do in Europe. So, they've had to fit that to make it compatible with EU

[04:05] and UK laws. Overall, I love the look of it. This thing turns head as you will see when I take it for a drive. People just Apart from this blue flash and this LED strip here on the dash and the cool

[04:21] looking seats, a little bit bland and plasticky, a bit kind of budget. And check this out. Come look at this. [laughter]

[04:33] WHAT? WHAT? Lisa's steering wheel feels nice and the switches are quite nicely damped. Another thing I like is this. Hallelujah. Uh, physical climate control climate stuff apart from one thing. What's missing? Oh, the heated steering

[04:50] wheel, which is down here by your knee. Yeah, by your knee. What's all that about? Now, the rest of the car is pretty logically laid out cuz there's and dingy, but you have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto while, but you can

[05:05] car in reverse for the reversing camera. There we go. see low definition. Same with the driver's display, but it does show quite a lot of information on it.

[05:18] can scroll through and see all these different layouts and information. That is actually pretty good. I like that feature. Terms of practicality, it's so down here, which is quite deep so bottles don't fall over. But my favorite

[05:35] bit, you have a cup holder there and it's right in front of the air conditioning, which can be a good or a bad thing when drink cool. But if you got coffee, you won't want to put it there cuz then

[05:48] makes sense. Now, you do have some storage on here, this tray, and that's for your mobile phone. But if you accelerate hard, your mobile phone will dangling down here, which is good. There is a 12vt socket down there as you can

[06:05] see. Glove box. It's It's fine. It's fine. Another practical feature of these massive sun visors with big vanity mirrors, which is good. The only thing that I'm finding a bit awkward are the seats. These bolsters grab my bottom a

[06:20] me the camera. I want you to sit in there. Tell the truth. Don't try and think I'm quite slimly hipped. I might have a fat bottom as well.

[06:32] >> Okay. Yeah, exactly. [laughter] Exactly. So, it is for petite Japanese people, I the back seats. So easy to get into the back of this car

[06:45] cuz the rear doors open to almost 90° and the opening is huge. Look, that is impressive. What's also impressive is knee room, there is a solution, and it's this. going to recline on my friend.

[07:03] Oh my goodness. Why do you need cars to be bigger than this now? Because the great under thigh support, but it's not bad. And you can put your feet under the seat in front. Also, you got a bit of storage. There's door bin there for a

[07:18] bottle and another bit of storage there. However, there are no USB ports anywhere in here. It's a bit annoying. So, too is this one. Three windows are big and they're nice, but they don't quite go all the way down. Ah, what I can't for

[07:30] angle points are easy to get to and there is enough space even for a bulky rearfacing seat. So, that is all good. Is the boot good though? Let's find out. The boot capacity is60 L, which isn't loads, is it? At least

[07:45] there's no load lift. There's a bit of storage underneath there. How much can you fit in there? Let's find out. Put the seat in its more upright position. Give it a chance. Right, let's put some suitcases in. Here is one suitcase. How

[07:58] am I going to do these? Can't do it that way. Can I even do it that I can't even do it that way. That won't shut. Oh. Um. Uh. Yeah. Let's try that way.

[08:13] Is this going to shut? >> A person who thinks all the time has >> Let's try one more. Actually, no chance.

[08:26] Not even close. Two suitcases. Oh dear. Yeah, a Renault 5 has a bigger boot. That [snorts] height adjustments, it goes up and down. It doesn't have reach, so you won't go

[08:42] in and out, which could be problematic depending on your ratio of arm length to not, it is this purple, which is sort of limiting because [music] most people

[08:54] from the UK would rather have a more sedate gun than this purple. And then you have to pay an extra £700. The door handle is built into the armrest. So when you want to rest your arm on the armrest, it goes into that door handle

[09:09] and it ain't comfy. I hate Honda's drive select [music] because these buttons are Let's go. Pull to drive like in a normal automatic, but no, it's this button I'm going to press the one towards the back.

[09:26] Why Honda? Why? The quickest the Super N can charge is a mere 50 kW, which means it only adds about 2 1/2 miles [music] per minute charging at its very best,

[09:39] which is slow by modern standards. However, it's not all bad though because people are going to charge this at home [music] and you just drive it your driveway to your charging station and plug it straight in. Not having to

[09:52] up, lock it in place. Lift it up, lock it in place, and then you can walk that feature. It's so you can carry taller items just in this part of the

[10:08] car there. Makes it for the small boot. Unlike with an overpriced car from Porsche, you get a Bose sound system as standard in the Honda. There's even a subwoofer in the boot. See these paddles on the steering wheel. Look. Now, unlike

[10:22] regenerative braking. Oh, no. They're actually fake gear changes. [music] So, interruption in torque, so you get a jolt. It feels like you're changing

[10:36] gear. There's even a rev counter and some fake engine noise. The super end is good for virtue signaling because you see this panel on the front. This is actually made from the recycled covers over other cars to tail lights. But

[10:49] that's not all. This material on the seats is made from recycled Honda factory worker [music] uniforms. This part it's from their skin. It's it's not fully vegan friendly. I tell you what's also good. The price. The Honda Super N

[11:06] cost just £19,000. It's not bad, is it? Thing is though, you could have a nearly new Renault 5 for the same money through Car Wow. It's what about this up GTI I found on CarWow? Regardless, one of the problems

[11:23] with buying a used car is the fact that you don't know fully what its history every used car you should do that because here's a VW up with a dodgy

[11:35] Probably won't want to buy that, would you? H thing is though, does this drive as good as a VW up GTI? Let's find out. I'm going to come right out and say it. I absolutely love driving this little car on the twisty roads around where I

[11:50] picking up the keys for. It is so much fun. It really is just a great little thing to drive. makes you so happy. Well, it makes me happy. And you know

[12:02] what? There's something about it. You can tell that at Honda, the engineers love driving cars, and they set them up in a way that would please them and would please other people that love driving cars. You can also tell it's a

[12:15] company that isn't governed by the accountants nor the marketeteers. It's the engineers that drive things forward. It is such a fun little car. The controls just so precise, so in tune with your brain. The throttle response

[12:29] is on it. The brake field is lovely. The steering is just nice. You don't even have to drive very far to tell this is a really well setup car. It's perfect for will love how this car drives. And then there's the fake gears. Yeah, the noise

[12:46] is artificial, but as electric cars go, this just adds another dimension. It really does. It just makes it even more fun. There is one thing that would make it even even even more fun though. Imagine if we had the turbocharged

[13:00] engine, the 660cc turbocharged engine that they get in Japan in the K version of this car and a manual gearbox. Why don't we have it? Because of European rules. In fact, European rules made worse by Brexit. Because when Europe

[13:14] said, "Oh, we want all cars to be electric by 35 all new cars." Great you. We're going to do it 5 years sooner cuz we're idiots. Meanwhile, the their country?" Anyway, rant over because I'm just going to enjoy this car

[13:33] electric. You're not heat cycling an engine when you just take it for a little short drive. It's really low maintenance. You don't have to take it good. I am seriously considering buying one of these for me. But should you buy

[13:51] it for you? Now, that is a completely different proposition. I'm going explain why in a bit. Before we get into that though, I need to allay your fears about something. So, you might be thinking, well, obviously this car's sporty to

[14:04] drive and it handles really fl, you know, that's great, but doesn't that mean the suspension's too firm? Well, no, it's not. It's fine. It does have a firmish edge to it, but just in a sporty kind of way. It never feels

[14:16] going over bumps and stuff. Can't complain about it. And also around town, this feels very, very compact cuz it is compact compared to all the SUVs driving around town in these, not SUVs. And visibility is great. Huge window,

[14:35] pillars aren't too fat, big door mirrors, great big back window. It's just so easy. And the steering nice and light in town. Another thing I like boost mode like that. Look, it's so quick. Thought I was going to crash into

[14:50] which is perfect for pulling out of junctions. It really is. You're not left it. Eco. It's much slower, but it's not bad. If

[15:04] around like that. I'm going to be in boost mode. That's what the fun is. is that? Where the compact dimensions really help out is parking. I don't

[15:18] think I'm going to fit in there, but I might be able to fit in this one. Will I fit in that one? Let's have a go. Reverse.

[15:30] I just remembered I'm rubbish at parking. So, whatever you see me do here, you'll be able to do twice as well. It's parking sensors.

[15:49] And we're in. Let's see how close I am to the curb. Not bad for someone who can't park. Have a look around here. Now, I could get you come back out here, I'm actually not sticking out further much than this. And

[16:07] very similar to the van. Wonderful. But we need to test something else. Actually, do you know what? I'm going to put it right.

[16:21] there. James, can you get the car out? >> Thanks. Just let James do that. You got loads of room. More. More more. More more more. Stop. Reverse

[16:36] >> Many, many minutes later. Right, that's it. Now, reverse up and put the car there and I'll get back in bit further back. Stop. Thanks, James. Appreciate

[16:49] it. >> I'm such a diva. Well, that is great. There is one thing that isn't quite as good as I expected for such a small car, and that's the turning circle. So, it's 10.6 m, which is okay, right? But for a

[17:03] round here. But if there's another car there, I'd be scuppered. That's fine, but it's not as impressive as I'd expect for a car this tiny.

[17:16] Hardly a deal breaker, but that brings me on to the area where this car struggles and this could make or break it. Okay, so now we come to the problem motorway. You think it's going to be a bit slow, but it's not. You put in boost

[17:31] mode and this is the pickup from 40 to 70. 3 2 1 go. For a small car, this isn't too bad. getting to 70 witches. Nah. Also, the

[17:43] noise levels. Yeah, there's wind noise and there's road noise, but not bad for a car of this size. Absolutely fine. You know what the issue is? It's the range. completely empty. And it did 120 mi. That's all. Now, it's supposed to do 128

[18:02] town, it will do like almost 200 miles. But you don't need that extra range when you're close to your home and you're always going to just be charging it up,

[18:15] thing that makes it great to drive is also the thing that makes it not great to own. You see, its battery capacity of about 30 kW hours keeps this car nice

[18:27] feel to it. But it means your range is no good. And couple that with the fact that it's really slow at charging, even on DC current. If you want to do a long stopping regularly and you won't be able to go to some places if the charging

[18:45] infrastructure just isn't there. And this just means it has a very narrow remit this car. And this brings me to the problem with this thing. It's not the problem with this car in particular. It's the problem with our rules. And

[18:57] mandate, which means that car manufacturers have to have so much of their fleet as zero emission electric vehicles. Otherwise, if they produce too much internal combustion engine cars, they'll get a fine. But imagine now if

[19:11] Honda bought this thing in with a little threecylinder turbocharged petrol engine, it would be a car that would suit so many more people. And wouldn't it be better if a lot of people were willing to switch from normal cars into

[19:25] something small and highly efficient? Yes, petrol, but still the overall effect to the country's CO2 emissions could be reduced more so than just making this little car electric cuz ultimately not many people are going to

[19:39] buy it. It seems backwards thinking really. So instead of going on about this no internal combustion engine cars sold new from 2030, maybe we should implement something like the Japanese have in terms of a K car category where

[19:52] you get tax breaks, you get price reductions on cars that are below a certain size, engine capacity, and fuel consumption. I think that would be a better way to get people out of big cars into cool stuff like this for most

[20:07] little journeys and help reduce the overall carbon output of the country. But no, we're not that clever, are we? And so we end up with a car that is brilliant but massively compromised for most people. So then what's my final

[20:22] verdict on the new Honda Super N? Should you avoid it, consider it, shortlist it, or just go right ahead and buy it? Well, even though I love it and I think it's dinky dimensions, the issue is the range. It's just going to be hard to

[20:39] recommend it to many people because this is less of a car and more of a toy. And if you can afford a toy at 19 grand, go for it. But if you need a car, I wouldn't recommend you get this. Do you agree with my verdict, though? Let

[20:54] agree with my thoughts about the Renault 5 not being as cool to look at nor quite the video. If you did, give it [music] a like and I'll see you next