In the field of electric vehicles, Japanese brands are the most aggressive, and the Nissan Leaf is the first electric vehicle to achieve commercial mass production. Japanese brands are the most conservative as well. After so many years, Japanese electric vehicles have not had a hit in the Chinese market.
On March 18, Dongfeng Honda officially announced that the e:NS1 officially opened for pre-sale. Honda’s official press release said that this EV is “Honda’s first pure electric model in China, and it is also Honda’s first pure electric SUV in the world”. (In fact, there have been three electric vehicles of GAC Honda VE-1, Dongfeng Honda M-NV, and Dongfeng Honda X-NV before e:NS1 in the Chinese market, but they have the GAC EVERUS (“理念”) and Dongfeng Honda CIIMO (“思铭”) logo respectively). Dongfeng Honda e :NS1 launched two versions: 420km and 510km (CLTC standard). The pre-sale price is 180,000-210,000 yuan. The new car is positioned as a pure electric compact SUV. According to the previous Dongfeng Honda plan, the new car will be officially launched this spring (or April).
At the 2021 Dongfeng Wuhan International Auto Show, Dongfeng Honda debuted e:NS1 production car, later, in 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC Honda debuted Honda e: NP1, a sister EV of e:NS1. Now, Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 is the first to be launched. In the electrification competition of Japanese brands in the Chinese market, Honda is temporarily ahead of Toyota.
Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 is built on the e:N Architecture F platform developed by Honda. The overall shape is derived from the Honda e:Prototype prototype. The new closed air intake grille and long and narrow headlights are very electric-vehicle style. The Honda LOGO in the center also adds a lighting effect, and this detail design will become the new logo of the e:N series models in the future. In addition, the headlight group of the new car can also realize the function of “Heart beat interactive light language”.
From the side, the new car adopts a relatively tough line design. Compared with the futuristic front face, the side details of the new car are still relatively traditional, but the application of 18-inch wheels still brings a more impactful visual effect to the new car. In terms of specific dimensions, the length, width and height of the new car are 4390/1790/1560mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2610mm.
In contrast, the rear design of the new car is very simple. The LED taillight group uses the popular bar-type design. The new Honda word logo replaces the H logo, which has become the unique design style of the new car.
The new interior design style changes the traditional thinking brought to you by Honda models. The instrument panel is replaced by a 10.25-inch full LCD instrument. The center console cancels a large number of physical buttons, and is equipped with a 15.2-inch vertical center control screen as well as Honda CONNECT. 3.0 intelligent guide interconnection system, providing AI voice assistant, car-home interconnection, OTA upgrade and other functions. It is worth mentioning that the new car will also provide streaming media inside rearview mirror.
In addition, the new car will also be equipped with the DMC driver status perception system, which can effectively identify the driver status and provide reminders when necessary. In terms of assisted driving functions, the new car will provide adaptive cruise, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, lane keeping function and automatic parking.
In terms of power, the new car is built on the e:N Architecture F platform, so it adopts a front motor layout. It provides two power options. The e-motor version has a maximum power of 150kW and a peak torque of 310N·m, cruising range is 510km under CLTC working conditions. The other version has a maximum power of 134kW, and it has a cruising range of 420km under CLTC conditions. The battery pack comes from a ternary lithium battery provided by CATL, with a battery capacity of 68.8kWh
