Frankfurt motor show: Honda E finally makes it into production

Honda’s electric city car is coming but will not land in Irish showrooms until 2021

The new Honda e: arriving in Ireland in 2021 with a range of 200km on  a single charge and a price tag we can guess will start close to €30,000 depending on grants
The new Honda e: arriving in Ireland in 2021 with a range of 200km on a single charge and a price tag we can guess will start close to €30,000 depending on grants

One gets the feeling that Volkswagen might just be trolling its rivals at Honda, ever so slightly. Honda has just revealed a modern, expensive, small electric car — the Honda E — that can be driven for around 200km on one charge of its batteries. Meanwhile, VW has just revealed an expensive, small car that can be driven for around 200km on one charge of its batteries. But it’s not modern at all — instead, it’s one of the most iconic cars of all time. The Beetle has gone electric.

Honda has announced prices for the Pikachu-like Honda e at Frankfurt, staring €29,470 in Germany. That means it might just sneak under the €30,000 barrier here after grants, but we won’t know for a bit yet – Honda Ireland confirmed to The Irish Times that the e won’t arrive here until 2021.

Neil Briscoe

Neil Briscoe

Neil Briscoe, a contributor to The Irish Times, specialises in motoring