- Super-One revives spirit of 1980s Honda City Turbo.
- Based on Japanese kei-car, but bulked up (sort of).
- Pushbutton Boost Mode increases power by 49%.
Honda New Zealand has revealed the price for its forthcoming Super-One city-EV. At $41,900 for the standard model and $44,900 for a dressed-up version called Kuro Edition, it will be one of the cheaper battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the market.
It will certainly be the smallest. Super-One is unashamedly a city vehicle, based on the Japanese-market N-One e, which belongs to the country's "kei" class of micro cars. The export-focused Super-One breaks out of that slightly with its flared wheel arches, but it's still less than 3.6m long.
The front-drive Super-One is powered by a 29.6kWh battery and single electric motor making 47kW. However, its party trick is a pushbutton Boost Mode that increases output by 47% to 70kW/162Nm, and adds simulated gearshifts, artifical sounds and lighting effects in the cabin.
Honda NZ quotes 253km range on its website, but that's an NEDC figure. The WLTP rating (much closer to the Kiwi 3P-WLTP standard) is just 206km. Like we said, it's a city car.
Enhanced sustainability is a key claim: discarded Honda bumpers are transformed into selected exterior components, while PET bottles become carpet fibres and factory work uniforms are repurposed as cabin insulation.
Plant-based bio-resin is used for selected interior trim, and tail light lenses from end-of-life vehicles are reborn as... new tail light lenses.
The Super-One comes in just three colours: Boost Violet Pearl, Mono Grey and Crystal Black Pearl. The Kuro Edition is available only in Violet, the main difference from the standard model being gloss black roof and exterior elements.
The Super-One is not officially available yet: Honda NZ is still calling for expressions of interest on its website.