Offcial Honda Fit EV Thread (lease only)

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muus

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
186
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada
From the following article, it looks to be lease only???? Cost is quoted as being $36,625 and lease of $399 a month. "Honda will monitor market acceptance but expects early volume to be approximately 1,100 vehicles over the next three years." Meaning they will only build 1,100 vehicles over the next three years. Nissan sells more Leafs in one month! What a joke! I was hopping Honda would surprise us with an aggressive roll-out of the Fit EV to compete with Nissan but it looks like Nissan will have the EV market all to itself for the foreseeable future.

Other interesting info:

range of 198 km (123 miles) - yeah right
battery, 20 kWh
motor, 92 kW (123 HP)

http://www.autos.ca/general-news/plug-in-honda-fit-reaches-customers-next-year
 
Yes, it is hard to measure actual demand when you have artificially limited the market... Of course, I guess Honda can then say that there was no demand for it and move on to other things...

muus said:
From the following article, it looks to be lease only???? Cost is quoted as being $36,625 and lease of $399 a month. "Honda will monitor market acceptance but expects early volume to be approximately 1,100 vehicles over the next three years." Meaning they will only build 1,100 vehicles over the next three years.
 
From below the EPA range should be 76 miles although Honda is stating a maximum range of 123 miles (at what 20 MPH??). So a smaller battery than the Leaf but more range. Interesting.

Other information, charging takes as little as three hours so it must have a larger charger like the Focus EV (about 7kW). Batteries under rear seat. Smartphone application available like Leaf but also has an interactive remote (I like).

All in all, it looks to be a very competent car. Too bad they wont be building many.


http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/11/2013-honda-fit-ev-at-the-2011-la-auto-show.html
 
The difference may be that the Fit is a little smaller and has lower total drag? Or it may turn out that the number is simply not accurate. Who knows at this point...

The remote control concept seems a little odd to me... You have to be within 100 feet of the vehicle to use it so what is the point? One assumes that if you are going to preheat or cool the car, you would simply use the web or phone app instead... Maybe it is the same idea as those aftermarket remotes that let you warm up your ICE from inside the house...

muus said:
From below the EPA range should be 76 miles although Honda is stating a maximum range of 123 miles (at what 20 MPH??). So a smaller battery than the Leaf but more range. Interesting.
 
TomT said:
The remote control concept seems a little odd to me... You have to be within 100 feet of the vehicle to use it so what is the point? One assumes that if you are going to preheat or cool the car, you would simply use the web or phone app instead... Maybe it is the same idea as those aftermarket remotes that let you warm up your ICE from inside the house...

I don't own a smart phone (don't want one) which is why I like the remote. There is a large aftermarket demand for remote car starters in Canada because no one likes to get into a car which is below freezing. Many new cars now come with remote car starters built in (my parent's Journey has it).
 
You know what's really funny, I remembered that back in June 2010 it was reported that Honda spent $13.8 million dollars to buy EV credits from Tesla. That was for 368 cars with "an agreement to exchange credits for another 287 vehicles" (as per autoblog green). For $13.8 million, Honda could have GIVEN away 377 Fits at $36,625 each! So Honda paid more per EV credit than the retail price of their own EV. :eek: Boggles the mind!

http://www.green.autoblog.com/2010/...s-13-8-million-worth-of-plug-in-credits-from/
 
muus said:
From below the EPA range should be 76 miles although Honda is stating a maximum range of 123 miles (at what 20 MPH??). So a smaller battery than the Leaf but more range. Interesting.
The EPA rating for the Fit EV is 123 city / 95 hwy unadjusted, 76 miles adjusted.
Compared to the LEAF's 106 city / 92 hwy unadjusted, 73 miles adjusted.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/11/16/honda-fit-ev-available-in-2012-for-lease-only-399-per-month/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://automobiles.honda.com/fit-ev/?from=fitev.honda.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Fit EV is using Toshiba's SCiB batteries (like the iMiEV) which are very, very durable. Apparently more durable than AESC's batteries in the LEAF. They claim to be able to utilize nearly all of the pack's capacity without significant effect on lifetime (supposedly 3500 cycle lifetime using 100% charge/discharge cycles), so that combined with the fact that the Fit appears to be a bit lighter and overall more aerodynamic is how they are able to slightly beat the LEAF in efficiency and range.

Honda must not be that confident in the car or is losing a lot money on each of them if they are only willing to lease 1100 over 3 years - Nissan sells that many LEAFs a month! It appears that Nissan has produced over 15,000 of them already.
 
muus said:
From the following article, it looks to be lease only???? Cost is quoted as being $36,625 and lease of $399 a month.
That cost is after $7500 tax credit.

Suggest changing title to $399/month.
 
muus said:
From the following article, it looks to be lease only???? Cost is quoted as being $36,625 and lease of $399 a month. "Honda will monitor market acceptance but expects early volume to be approximately 1,100 vehicles over the next three years." Meaning they will only build 1,100 vehicles over the next three years. Nissan sells more Leafs in one month! What a joke! I was hopping Honda would surprise us with an aggressive roll-out of the Fit EV to compete with Nissan but it looks like Nissan will have the EV market all to itself for the foreseeable future.

Other interesting info:

range of 198 km (123 miles) - yeah right
battery, 20 kWh
motor, 92 kW (123 HP)

http://www.autos.ca/general-news/plug-in-honda-fit-reaches-customers-next-year

It's a bit small and the interior's a bit on the low tech side.

Honda Fit EV pics in the wild:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43375161@N00/sets/72157627674326212/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
drees said:
Honda must not be that confident in the car or is losing a lot money on each of them if they are only willing to lease 1100 over 3 years - Nissan sells that many LEAFs a month! It appears that Nissan has produced over 15,000 of them already.

17,000 LEAFs sold through September, IIRC. and by the time Honda produces a (few?) thousand Fits, Nissan will probably have produced several hundred thousand LEAFs.

Looks like the US Fit will have no DC fast charge capabiltity. Wikipedia reports it will also be sold in Japan. You suppose it will have CHAdeMO port ONLY for the Japanese market?

Toyota and Honda both belong to CHAdeMO. I seem to recall specs of a Japan market RAV 4 EV, with CHAdeMO port, but believe it will not be on the handfull of US spec cars sold, either.

Am I paranoid to suspect an ulterior motive to Honda and Toyota USA, in their token EV production efforts?
 
Well it would be safe to say that whatever "strategy" Honda and Toyota are using, it has not been going so well. Their business has been in steady decline for awhile now. Nissan, on the other hand is doing very well. Go figure.
 
TRONZ said:
Well it would be safe to say that whatever "strategy" Honda and Toyota are using, it has not been going so well. Their business has been in steady decline for awhile now. Nissan, on the other hand is doing very well. Go figure.
We don't know how much of the decline is because of the tsunami. Atleast Toyota has PIP - Honda has nothing. Honda also recently lost their long held #2 position in Japan to Nissan.
 
edatoakrun said:
Looks like the US Fit will have no DC fast charge capabiltity. Wikipedia reports it will also be sold in Japan. You suppose it will have CHAdeMO port ONLY for the Japanese market?

Toyota and Honda both belong to CHAdeMO. I seem to recall specs of a Japan market RAV 4 EV, with CHAdeMO port, but believe it will not be on the handful of US spec cars sold, either.

I haven't seen the specs for the JDM RAV4EV, but there are no plans for CHAdeMO on the US model.

Yes, the FitEV will have CHAdeMO and the US version won't.
 
mwalsh said:
Yes, the FitEV will have CHAdeMO and the US version won't.

Given the handful of US market Fits planned, I expect it will cost Honda more per car produced, to delete the DC port.

I guess the "lease only "plan will also effectively prevent US Fit drivers from adding CHAdeMO to their cars.

Well done Honda!

Another nominee for the “Lamest USA EV introduction, designed to slow EV market segment growth” award.

But the stiff competition from GM, Ford, and Toyota, may still beat them out...
 
i never expected Honda to approach the EV market at all so a token entry i can accept.

this has been discussed a lot, but over time i think we begin to evaluate Nissan's commitment to EVs to be less and less of a gamble than it really is.

Nissan is bucking technology, perception and Big Oil. other than Tesla and Mitsubishi, there is no other real player. Coda could be there, but Nissan is already gambled billions on the Leaf's success.

if not for them, we would be essentially nowhere for at least another year. it would be like when i first came here after the pre-reg for the Leaf when all one could do is talk about it.

both Honda, Toyota , VW, etc. they all have a perfectly good EV ready to roll but it wont roll until well after the EV charging infrastructure and many of the EV myths have been dispelled. a bump of a buck or two in gas would only push them towards hybrids.
 
Drive review of the Fit EV;

http://www.plugincars.com/first-drive-honda-fit-ev-combines-power-and-practicality-110736.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-honda-fit-ev-electric-first-drive-review

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20111206/CARREVIEWS/111209926

1,100 cars is a disappointment. But I only need one. It has everything on my checklist. (Hatchback, 6.6kW L2, Strong regen, SOC meter, small footprint). Lease price is in my ballpark and it has an availability date six months sooner than Smyrna LEAF .
 
KeiJidosha said:
Drive review of the Fit EV;

http://www.plugincars.com/first-drive-honda-fit-ev-combines-power-and-practicality-110736.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-honda-fit-ev-electric-first-drive-review

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20111206/CARREVIEWS/111209926

1,100 cars is a disappointment. But I only need one. It has everything on my checklist. (Hatchback, 6.6kW L2, Strong regen, SOC meter, small footprint). Lease price is in my ballpark and it has an availability date six months sooner than Smyrna LEAF .

Sounds like a "perfect Fit" for you, Kei. :D

I'm jealous of the Sport mode.

I'd go for it if I were you. Too bad the pack is only 20 kWh.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
i never expected Honda to approach the EV market at all so a token entry i can accept.

They may not have the capacity to make many more, and its a lot more expensive than a Leaf.. a lease makes it more palatable since they can adjust the terms.
 
There's an interesting first drive review of the Honda Fit EV at plugincars.com:
http://www.plugincars.com/first-drive-honda-fit-ev-combines-power-and-practicality-110736.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brad makes a number of comparisons to the LEAF (he owns one) and it appears to have a number of the features some of us have asked for in the LEAF.

Some notes of interest:
-- "The Fit EV has a 94-kilowatt electric motor compared to the Nissan LEAF’s 80-kW motor."
-- "The Fit EV comes with a 6.6 kW charger—meaning a relatively speedy charge from empty to full in as little as three hours."
-- "The U.S. version will not be available with a DC quick charger."
-- "The state of charge meter is offered with about 100 hash marks, in essence giving both a graphical and numerical representation of energy in the batteries. That works for me, and is a lot better than the 12 hard-to-decipher illuminated bars found in the LEAF."
-- "Drop it into B gear, and the regen grabs hard enough to make the brake foot pedal irrelevant, except for unplanned safety stopping."
-- Limited lease-only production for 2012: only 1100. And California only. (Just a "CARB play"?)
 
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