Offcial Honda Fit EV Thread (lease only)

the no option to buy after the lease is puzzling. i have not followed the Fit because i kinda sorta thought Honda would be dragging their feet on this and i figured i would look into it in a year or so but do they allow purchase as a new vehicle? or is it lease only period?

this would not bode well when determining Honda's confidence in battery longevity

They probably dont want to spend the money on supporting a long term spare parts program.. They have to meet their CARB requirements somehow.

Honda FIT tops EPA MPGe

Honda just got some good news from the Environmental Protection Agency: its 2013 Honda Fit EV has been rated by the EPA at 118 MPGe, the government’s mile-per-gallon-equivalency rating for electric vehicles. The rating is the highest so far issued by the EPA, besting the 112 MPGe of the Mitsubishi i EV.

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Lease is $399 and MSRP is $36,625.

Just as an FYI...we're going to have representation at the press review event for Fit EV in about 3 weeks. Look for a full report by the end of the month, after a couple of own own have gotten to drive it!

Herm said:

They probably dont want to spend the money on supporting a long term spare parts program.. They have to meet their CARB requirements somehow.

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Bingo. As soon as they sell a car, they are by law, on the hook for a number of years of service and parts availability. They are hedging because they have no commitment to marketing their EV.

Unfortunately, it's just a compliance car. They plan to make only 2,000 through 2015.

davewill said:

Herm said:

They probably dont want to spend the money on supporting a long term spare parts program.. They have to meet their CARB requirements somehow.

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Bingo. As soon as they sell a car, they are by law, on the hook for a number of years of service and parts availability. They are hedging because they have no commitment to marketing their EV.

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Perhaps because they have no confidence in customer demand or the stability of the regulatory landscape. Having seen Nissan twisting in the wind would do anything different if you were accountable to shareholders?

Is this car only being leased in California?

gergg said:

Is this car only being leased in California?

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It's been a long while since I met with them, but I thought they had said CA and OR.

One of the reasons I have chosen to completely ignore it. I don't believe that scam cars (of any kind) should merit any special attention... Honda has made it clear that have no immediate plans to actually embrace EVs... Even their hybrids are half-hearted...

LEAFfan said:

Unfortunately, it's just a compliance car. They plan to make only 2,000 through 2015.

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TomT said:

One of the reasons I have chosen to completely ignore it. I don't believe that scam cars (of any kind) should merit any special attention... Honda has made it clear that have no immediate plans to actually embrace EVs... Even their hybrids are half-hearted...

LEAFfan said:

Unfortunately, it's just a compliance car. They plan to make only 2,000 through 2015.

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Maybe it's because they got burned last time with battery life. The much longer life lithium titanate batteries that they're using are likely quite a bit more expensive. That's probably part of why Mitsubishi only put them in a car with a smaller pack.

mwalsh said:

gergg said:

Is this car only being leased in California?

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It's been a long while since I met with them, but I thought they had said CA and OR.

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The article says it will also be available in a handful of northeastern states next year.

Basically the same states that follow the California lead in vehicle emissions requirements...

nogajim said:

The article says it will also be available in a handful of northeastern states next year.

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LTLFTcomposite said:

davewill said:

Bingo. As soon as they sell a car, they are by law, on the hook for a number of years of service and parts availability. They are hedging because they have no commitment to marketing their EV.

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Perhaps because they have no confidence in customer demand or the stability of the regulatory landscape. Having seen Nissan twisting in the wind would do anything different if you were accountable to shareholders?

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Can't say I care very much WHY they are not marketing their car. I'm much more interested in the manufacturers that are...and I don't agree that Nissan is "twisting in the wind" at all. They seem to be selling every car they make, and are on track to expand.

TomT said:

One of the reasons I have chosen to completely ignore it. I don't believe that scam cars (of any kind) should merit any special attention... Honda has made it clear that have no immediate plans to actually embrace EVs... Even their hybrids are half-hearted...

LEAFfan said:

Unfortunately, it's just a compliance car. They plan to make only 2,000 through 2015.

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Honda's top selling subcompact car as an EV with Focus Electric room, MINI E performance, Tesla Roadster efficiency, Coda range, LEAF price. The bar rises. You kind of have to pay attention.

KeiJidosha said:

Honda's top selling subcompact car as an EV with Focus Electric room, MINI E performance, Tesla Roadster efficiency, Coda range, LEAF price. The bar rises. You kind of have to pay attention.

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If they were actually selling the car and I didn't have a Leaf, I would seriously consider it. Lease only wouldn't cut it for me.

FWIW even though it isn't available in FL I clicked through the pages on the Honda site to get updates. I figure businesses are run by numbers and if nobody even shows interest that won't encourage Honda to further commit to the program.

I talked to their North American Sales/Marketing guy on the 15th. They are having a series of press events this week 6/25-8) down in LA, and should be rolling it out to the initial markets within 2 weeks after that. That's the plan, anyway.

When they actually SELL it - not lease it or play other games with it - then I'll consider it worthy of discussion and possible consideration. The ICE Fits I have driven did little to impress me...

KeiJidosha said:

TomT said:

One of the reasons I have chosen to completely ignore it. I don't believe that scam cars (of any kind) should merit any special attention... Honda has made it clear that have no immediate plans to actually embrace EVs... Even their hybrids are half-hearted...

LEAFfan said:

Unfortunately, it's just a compliance car. They plan to make only 2,000 through 2015.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Honda's top selling subcompact car as an EV with Focus Electric room, MINI E performance, Tesla Roadster efficiency, Coda range, LEAF price. The bar rises. You kind of have to pay attention.

Click to expand...

TomT said:

The ICE Fits I have driven did little to impress me...

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People love Fits, they are todays version of the econobox station wagons of the 70s and 80s. Practical and economical.