Honda e:Ny1 Review

This is Honda’s first all-electric SUV for Europe, the e:NY1, and our question was: does it arrive with a quiet confidence or awkward silence? Well, we now understand what this car is all about and it’s unique, offering a familiarity that might just win over EV sceptics and possibly be a nice gateway for newcomers.

So, does the e:NY1 simply play it safe, or is there more going on beneath the surface than Honda is letting on?

Exterior Design

The Honda e:NY1 has genuine road presence, largely thanks to its bold front end. This is a striking car, especially in its glistening aqua topaz metallic blue shade—it garnered more than a few admiring glances while parked and even earned us a rare verbal compliment in a car park! The front is dominated by a large, bulbous faceplate that gives the car a distinctive, almost snub-nosed expression. It's framed by slim, angular LED headlights that sit high and wide, adding a sharpness that contrasts with the softness of the bodywork. Head-on, the sheer size and shape of the front make it difficult to take in the rest of the car—it’s as though the face demands all the attention.

But step to the side and things calm down. The less sculpted side panels bring a cleaner, more minimalist look, with gentle contours that feel modern yet understated—especially against the more race-inspired 18" HR1812 alloy wheels. Move to the rear, and there’s an unexpected sci-fi flair—almost spaceship-like in its execution—with a full-width light bar and a raised rear profile that adds character.

A nod must go to the black glossy trims running along the lower edges, which pair well with the black roof that conceals the panoramic glass. Surprisingly, they resisted the usual dust and grime buildup during our time with the car. That said, it’s easy to wonder how these will weather the passage of time—ten years down the line, will they still be shiny?

Trim Levels

The Honda e:Ny1 isn’t too complicated to configure, available in two trims: Elegance and Advance. Both share the same 68.8 kWh battery and 204 PS electric motor, but the Advance trim adds a premium edge. While the base level Elegance already includes a 15.1" infotainment system, wireless phone charging, heated front seats, and Honda SENSING driver aids, the Advance trim builds on this with a panoramic glass roof, heated steering wheel, power tailgate, a 360-degree camera, semi-autonomous parking, and an upgraded audio system with built-in navigation. It's a noticeable jump in comfort and tech for a small price of only around £2,000 more.

Interior

It’s an enjoyable place to be—impressively well insulated. Even when stationary, it’s difficult to hear someone banging on the car to get the occupant’s attention. Once on the move, wind noise is almost non-existent, tyre roar is minimal, and the overall cabin, free of a single creak or vibration, offers hush, giving the e:NY1 a surprisingly premium feel, and this at both urban and motorway speeds.

Up front, the use of soft-touch plastics and padded materials make the scratcher plastic trims rather inconspicuous, combined with the slightly elevated roof due to the panoramic glass above, provides a sense of open-air sophistication when sitting inside the Honda e:NY1. The driving position—via an electrically adjustable seat (no memory function)—is upright, as expected from an SUV, yet it doesn’t make you feel like you’re towering above the road so you cant see below you. Something about the placement of the front windscreen, side mirrors, and dashboard gives the impression of a wider visual scape, making the road more visible from both the front and side windows. The rear window, however, is less useful, though this is mitigated by the car’s camera systems.

Rear passengers found the seats to be comfortably supportive, though they did point out that the door materials feel like a downgrade compared to the front, with noticeably scratchier plastics. Headroom is more limited, especially in the centre rear seat which is slightly raised, but the cabin’s generous glazing and panoramic glass roof flood the space with natural light. This airy atmosphere helps offset the tighter height dimensions, making the reduced head height barely noticeable while travelling—it's really only apparent when entering or exiting the e:NY1. At night there are blue ambient light bars installed throughout the cabin; it looks cool and is quite soothing.

Boot space, accessed via the electric tailgate, gives the impression of being larger than it is in practice. This is due to the wide front lip, which slightly eats into usable floor depth. At 361 litres, it’s not bad, but it does fall a little short compared to rivals like the Kia EV3 and Volvo EX30. Conversely, Honda clearly understands the importance of practical cupholders, having included eight in total in the e:NY1. Each door has one, ideal for water bottles, and there are an additional two in both the front and rear centre areas—four in total—which we personally verified are sized to fit even the largest Caffè Nero cups. The door bins are all deep but quite narrow, meaning they’ll accommodate items like sunglasses or a wallet, but nothing much larger. The glove box is about adequate to carry a typical paperback book. The centre armrest offers a useful amount of covered storage to keep things out of sight—and for reference, it can fit two Canon RF camera lenses with ease.

Infotainment

It’s a good system—responsive and smooth to navigate, with support for two-finger inputs, which we found particularly helpful when both driver and passenger were independently adjusting the dual-zone climate controls at the same time. The 15.1" portrait touchscreen is split into a three-zone layout, which works surprisingly well in practice.

The top section is dedicated to navigation, the camera view, or smartphone functionality. Although both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are supported wirelessly, we found CarPlay to be our go-to interface throughout the week. It launched quickly and never dropped out once connected, though it did occasionally require prompting to reconnect when getting back into the car.

The middle section houses what are essentially apps or widgets—think radio, Bluetooth audio, trip computer, charging schedule, settings, and our favourite: a nicely animated power flow graphic that shows in real time where energy is being used or recaptured. While this area is rich with options, we didn’t find ourselves straying too far from CarPlay, aside from occasionally dipping into the power flow readout out of curiosity, it would seem like a better use of screen real estate to be able to hide the grid of Apps and expand CarPlay over this section - maybe a software update, which this car does over the air.

The lower third is dedicated to climate controls and is refreshingly straightforward. It’s always visible, and key functions like temperature, fan direction, and sync are easily accessed. While mostly digital, Honda has retained a row of physical shortcut buttons beneath the screen for demisting the front and rear windows—a practical touch we appreciated on dewy evenings.

Both the digital driver’s display, which presents key driving information such as range, speed, and lane-keeping status, and the central infotainment screen are impressively sharp—you can’t see the individual pixels, even if you try. Viewing angles are excellent, and bright sunlight doesn’t pose a legibility issue, suggesting these may be OLED panels, though Honda doesn’t specify. Either way, both displays leave a strong impression and are genuinely pleasant to interact with day to day.

Driving Range

After around 300 miles of driving the Honda e:Ny1—covering 2x 60+ mile dual carriageway round trips, local B-roads, and narrow Cornish country lanes—we recorded an average efficiency of 3.6 miles per kWh. Midway through our week of testing, the car was reporting a total range of 230–240 miles from a full charge. Initially sceptical of this claim, we kept driving—and it proved to be accurate. This result was achieved with the air conditioning on for most of the time—an essential comfort, given outdoor temperatures peaked at 18°C during the day (and with five passengers on board for all longer dual carriageway journeys). We hadn’t anticipated the real-world range to be so close to Honda’s quoted 256-mile WLTP figure, and we were left genuinely impressed.

Less impressive, however, is the absence of a heat pump. On a few cooler evening drives, we tested the conventional auxiliary cabin heater and found it resulted in a noticeable range drop—around 20 to 30 miles—based on a typical temperature target of 22°C. This is perhaps the most striking shortfall of the e:Ny1. Without a heat pump, heating the cabin is inefficient and will have significant impact on range, especially in colder weather. It’s worth noting, however, that using the heated front seats and steering wheel did not appear to affect the range at all, making them the more efficient way to stay warm when conserving battery is a priority.

Charging

The e:NY1 features a usable 68.8 kWh battery, which charges in around 6 hours when plugged into an AC 11kW home or workplace charger. If you're topping up on the go, a DC fast charger will take the battery from 10% to 80% in approximately 45 minutes, with a peak charging speed of 78 kW—not class-leading, but respectable for this segment.

Charging is done via a front-mounted port, neatly hidden behind a flap where a traditional grille might be. When plugged in the car’s front LED light bar pulses a calming blue glow, indicating active charging—a neat visual cue that can be seen from a distance. Around the charge port itself, a small built-in light helps illuminate the socket area in low-light conditions, which is genuinely helpful on dark evenings. The charging door opens electronically from the cabin or from the press of button next to the port door, but must be manually closed.

The Drive

The e:NY1 delivers a driving experience that’s instantly agreeable. It’s the pinnacle of easy motoring—effortless to operate, smooth in its responses, and designed for comfort rather than engagement. For those stepping out of an internal combustion engine car and into an EV for the first time, this will feel like a very soft landing.

The e:NY1 is built on Honda’s dedicated e:N Architecture F platform, designed specifically for front wheel driven electric vehicles, with a battery mounted in the centre portion, lower than the floor itself, which helps deliver its impressively low centre of gravity, and this gives the ride a feeling of a balanced weight distribution. Although that visible battery does mean this SUV doesn’t have as much ground clearance as some.

One of the most distinctive traits is the sound of the electric motor. Unlike many EVs, Honda appears to have intentionally let the motor’s subtle whirring come through or over empathised it. At first it’s noticeable, but as you get accustomed to it, you start to realise it’s actually mimicking engine-like cues. Lift off the accelerator and there’s a soft spool-down sound; hold a steady speed and there's a consistent, turbine-like whizz. It’s subtle, but it gives the car a sense of mechanical connection that many electric vehicles lack and could prove popular if you’ve never driven electric before.

Performance is quietly brisk. While Honda quotes a 0–60 mph time of 7.6 seconds, we managed to achieve it in just under 7 seconds in Sport mode—putting it firmly in “surprisingly quick” territory. Torque delivery is instant, making short work of overtakes and slip roads, yet it never feels unruly. Normal mode sits in the middle of the three drive modes but didn’t feel all that different from Eco, which we drove in for over 99% of our time with the car. Thankfully, Eco doesn’t water down the climate control performance—something many other EVs do. The most notable driving trait in Eco was that the throttle felt smoother than in either of the other modes.

Regenerative braking does feel slightly firmer in Sport mode, though not enough to consider it true one-pedal driving in any of the three. In both Eco and Normal, it remains mild. There are paddles on either side of the steering wheel to adjust the regen to one of three levels, but it’s a subtle effect and always reverts back once you resume driving. In practice, you drive the e:Ny1 much like a traditional combustion engine car—using the brake pedal as normal. That said, the power flow graphic on the driver’s display confirms regenerative braking is indeed being activated when you brake.

The front, reverse and 360° cameras are able to really assist, with high levels of clarity; so near object detail is crisp, there’s no lag when it comes to oncoming traffic and pedestrians, and squeezing between large tractors on the Cornish lanes was no sweat as the shadowing doesn’t obscure the view from above. The cameras auto-adjust the exposure, so you can see exactly where the car is positioned. We particularly liked the fact that we could enable the camera with just a press of the end of the left stalk, too. At night, however, we noted the cameras performed less well, with noticeable pixelation and a lack of clarity that made it hard to rely on them fully. This is likely due to the absence of dedicated night vision or infrared enhancement, these cameras depend on ambient light, which limits their effectiveness in low-light conditions. As a result, the parking sensors become the more reliable indicators when manoeuvring after dark.

The steering is light and fingertip-easy at low speeds, perfect for navigating tight car parks or winding lanes, but it weights up nicely above 30 mph, offering reassuring stability at speed. This isn’t a car you drive for thrills, though—it's a cruiser, not a corner-carver. But what it lacks in driver engagement, it makes up for in serenity. Cabin noise is impressively well suppressed. Even when travelling along rougher country roads at 40–50 mph, the interior remains calm and composed—conversations with backseat passengers are easy and uninterrupted, highlighting the car’s well-judged insulation and suspension tuning. Out on dual carriageways, the e:NY1 feels brisk and confident. It’s one of those cars that makes 70 mph feel slower than it is—refinement levels are high, and stability is reassuring. What really stood out, though, was the Adaptive Cruise Control system. It keeps a confident, fluid distance from the car in front, adjusting its speed with subtle precision to even the smallest changes in traffic flow. Lane-keeping is equally composed, gently holding position without jerks or weaving. So smooth, in fact, that passengers didn’t even realise the car was doing the driving for stretches—it simply glides along with a quiet confidence that adds to the overall relaxed experience.

Verdict

The futuristic Honda e:NY1 marks a smooth and quiet entry into the mainstream electric space for Honda. It’s an SUV with an open-airy interior feel, that is comfort-focused for back and front seat passengers alike, including a good infotainment system with either wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. It feels at home pottering through the countryside or gliding along motorways with an easy, unhurried grace, but has plenty of pep to whisk around and out of any tricky situations when needed. There’s little to complain about, but the most glaring anomaly is the lack of a heat pump.

What sets this Honda apart is how closely it mimics the feel of a traditional ICE car. There’s a subtle electric whine that mimics some of the sensibilities of an engine, but little in the way of aggressive regenerative braking—so you’ll find yourself using the brake pedal much like you would in an ICE vehicle. If you already drive an EV and are used to that one pedal driving experience, the e:NY1 might not be for you, but seems well suited as a more familiar and approachable drive for those new to EVs. In that sense, the e:NY1 is a gateway car in the best way possible—ideal for easing first-time EV drivers into the electric experience without overwhelming them with quirks or steep learning curves. Most importantly, the range is rather excellent, with us achieving 3.6 miles per kWh and 240 miles of range from mixed driving with air conditioning on most of the time.