19 November 2020
Review

Welcome to a good old-fashioned review of two very new-fashioned cars.

One is thHonda E new Honda E. A loveable small electric car but with also quite a small range. It costs £28,660 (after government grant) and has 151bhp from its electric motor, which is good for 0-62mph in 8.3sec and a top speed of 90mph. Its WLTP range is 137 miles.

The other is the Mini Electric. It costs £24,400 (after the government grant), has 181bhp, can do 0-62mph in 7.3sec and has a top speed of 93mph and has a WLTP range of 144 miles.

They're both, though, rather good fun to drive. Join our tester James Disdale as he puts the two head-to-head to see which comes out on top.

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MrJ 26 November 2020

Neither of these is suitable as a primary car, only as a second vehicle for short local trips.

The wood on the Honda dash looks like a bit of 1970s-era Fablon.

I'll stick with Tesla, which makes real EVs.

 

Overdrive 20 November 2020
So the Mini is faster, roomier, better, to drive and has the longer range, but the Honda has more shiny screens and looks cuter, so it's the one to go for. That's the verdict, right?
si73 19 November 2020
I too would probably go for the honda as I really love the look, and that blue is a lovely colour, of course fiats 500e is similarly priced and with a better range again, so with regard to trendy city EV cars, it'll be interesting to see how the 500 compares.
nimmler 19 November 2020

si73 you don't know what the price for the 500e is yet because it has not been announced plus the Made in Japan build quality Honda E will be far better than anything the Italians with their trademark crap build quality on top of stretching out the ancient 2007 500 platform.

Also you have no idea what the official range is because it has not been officially verified yet. Also does Autocar do real any car journalism or just copy paste press pack garbage? The Honda E base price starts from £27710 NOT £28660 .

Seeing that you are comparing the Advance E version which is 29660 where did you get 28,660 from?! Also you should be more clear that you are comparing the higher spec loaded spec Honda E to the poverty spec mini with its typical BMW penny pinching offing joke low spec bait-and-switch cars to groom people into showrooms but no one buys...

Try to compare like for like and be more transparent so you don't confuse and mislead potential buyers. There is MORE to buying EV’s than max range

si73 20 November 2020
Agree that the review has some accuracy issues but regarding the 500, it's a new platform and is bigger than the ancient current car, and prices have been released according to Autocar news stories, low range entry models from £20k rising up to £28k for the nearly 200 mile range higher spec versions and possibly more still for the cabrios.
The Apprentice 20 November 2020
500e base 24kw is 22950,  mid spec 42kw Icon is 27940, up spec 42kw prima is 29940. cabrios are 29595 to over 32000.