HONDA SUPER-N

Forthcoming funky electric city car reveals itself in prototype form

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Honda's UK boss Rebecca Adamson says the new Super-N is not intended to be a successor to the handsome yet short-lived E - despite the obvious visual and conceptual links.

She acknowledges that it's still a "very funky, cute Honda" but insists it's not based on the E "in any way". Instead, Honda's second take on a quirky electric city car for the UK is a hot version of the N-One E it sells in Japan - a model that's based on the petrol-powered N-One kei car. The long and (very) short of it is that the Super-N measures just 3.4m long, weighs a little over 1300kg, seats four and looks oh-so-adorable, even in the feistier performance garb it will wear in the UK as part of a raft of export-focused changes that include simulated gears and a fruity 'engine' note. The spirit of the City Turbo II lives on.

The key differentiator between the Super-N and the E, though, is that the new car really must get to work bolstering Honda's EV sales mix. The E was a halo product - a premium-leaning, tech-heavy flag-bearer for the Japanese firm's bold electric age that was pitched well clear of the mainstream at an eyebrow-raising £37,000 despite having a shorter range than nearly any other electric car on the market.

The plan, then, is for the Super-N to appeal as much to young drivers in the city as it does to existing CR-V and HR-V owners, for example, who need a smaller station- or school-run conveyance. The car is still half a year from showrooms so Honda won't give even a rough steer on pricing, but given that the Super-N is more upmarket than the £15k Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03, a start price of just under £20,000 seems likely. That would line it up neatly against the incoming Renault Twingo and Volkswagen ID 1 and means it could cost just a little over half the price of the car it replaces. If so, following a go in a near-ready prototype, the Super-N could be punching above its weight.