With an average attendance of almost 230,000 people, the Ideal Show has been running for 112 years and will take place at Olympia from 27th March to 13th April 2020. Honda was today announced at the official automotive sponsor and the Japanese manufacturer will be keen to show off its latest advanced in the electric car market. WhichEV checks the details and compares the strategies of Far East auto makers.
With a 35.5kWh battery, the new Honda e is expected to give drivers a range of nearly 140 miles with a top speed of 90mph and a 0-60 of just under 9 seconds. To put that acceleration figure into context, the Honda e will be fast enough to put an entry-level A-Class Mercedes in the shadows by almost 1.5 seconds. If you're paying 14p per kWh, then you can refill the Honda e at home, in the evening, for less than £5.
At first glance, you'd have to say that it will be a Marmite car, with retro East German external looks combined with a futuristic interior and surprisingly spacious passenger zone, You'll love it or hate it.
The colour options are limited, but interesting. Opt for ‘Charge Yellow‘ and you'll certainly have no trouble finding it in a crowded local supermarket car park.
“We created the Honda e by questioning everything: Can we have different headlights and rear lights? Where do we position the indicators? How can we improve the aerodynamics? This unique car is the product of all these answers – the perfect form. Fun to drive, safe and appealing to the eye“, according to Honda.
Given that no one has a petrol station at home, but everyone has electricity, maybe it's no surprise that they've chosen to debut the Honda e at a show where everyone is planning their next living space. For many of us, that space will include car charger installation and a lot of thought about energy systems/delivery. Honda will also be showing off its latest home charger technology, which should be interesting.
It's not all electric cars for Honda, who will also be showing off the Small Miimo, an autonomous robotic mower with advanced features to help you keep your garden looking smart. When we say ‘smart', we mean that it can be controlled by Alexa for voice activated mowing. If electric robotic mowers are your thing then, apparently, you can get up to £200 off at the show when buying from a Honda representative. Quite how much a lawnmower has to cost in order to be able to offer a two hundred pound discount, we're not sure, but it's bound to have a market.
Giles Perry, Event Director for the Ideal Home Show's organisers said, “We're excited to see the Honda e. This is exactly the kind of technical innovation that we’re looking to champion at this year’s show, especially when it will have such a big impact on sustainability efforts – a key focus of ours”.
Nissan has a solid strategy for electric cars and an interesting ‘Second Life' programme in place for retired batteries.
What's a little more confusing is Toyota's belief that the world wants to use Hydrogen that's been compressed to as much as 700 times the Earth's normal atmospheric pressure.
Honda's decision to pull in its roadmap for EVs by three years is something that we applaud and we can't wait to see the next six cars that they launch.
Full details on the Ideal Home Show are available here.