Offcial Honda Fit EV Thread (lease only)

dtomko said:

Good to know. I don't have enough experience at night to do a comparison, but the headlights alone light up two lines on the Accessories meter.

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All " Electricity Consumption Indicators" lines are not equal. Upper “Heat & A/C” lines show High Voltage battery load that is significant to range. Representing maybe 500-1,000 watts per line. Lower lines are 12 volt “Other System” load, and indicate maybe 50-100 watts per line. A small impact, but it gets your attention that the headlights or seat heaters are on and drawing a load from the 12 volt battery.

I agree with you that brighter/more efficient headlights would be a plus.

[/quote]The new lease price is very good though. Probably a substantial loss for Honda. It's enough to make me think of visiting a dealer for a test drive.[/quote]

Good luck. Few if any dealers have any to test drive. They're trickling in about one every other month or so with waiting lists. $259 a month, free maintenance, free roadside, free home charger, collision insurance included, unlimited mileage. I wish it weren't just a compliance car, but the deal was too good to pass up, and it's really a great car.

I'm getting some cold weather experience with Fit EV now in the northeast. So, with temperatures dropping into the 20s at night (my car is not garaged), I'm seeing range drop down to the low 50s on average. Lowest I saw was 39 miles on the GOM, but that was after a day of driving without preheating. Lowest temp I drove in was 15 one morning and made it the 35 miles to work with 12 miles remaining. In the cold weather, regen doesn't kick in until battery warms up a bit, which for me is about 2 or so miles. Preheating is key and the Fit stays pretty warm after you preheat. For some reason, no matter what you leave the climate setting on, when you preheat it heats the cabin to about 80! Heated seats are quite warm; low setting is warm enough.
Downsides: like several other FEV owners, my bluetooth died - apparently it's a faulty module. Also it stopped communicating with the app, also happening to others. I brought mine in to dealer yesterday. Also a rock cracked the windshield and Honda has to approve who works on it, so dealer will either send it out or tell me where to take it.
Still really enjoying it and the savings in gas covers the monthly lease price. I will let you know how it does in the snow, whenever we start getting any.

Drew

So the Fit seems to suffer from diminished range in the winter much more than the Leaf. I've seen the GOM go as low as 21 miles on a full charge (100% - no setting for 80%). Others have seen range estimates as low as 15 miles. In the summer my GOM was showing as much as 116 miles. There's a lot of unhappiness among some leasers here in the northeast. Also regen is not nearly as good - I assume that's reduced for all EVs in the cold. Disappointing, but it's still been a blast to drive, when I can make it to work.
Drew

Does the FitEV have any sort of pack heater(s)? I thought no... but to me it seems like a no-brainer to use *some* heating measure while charging/connected to at least keep the pack temperatures up somewhat.

No heating, no cooling. Those with heated garages are doing OK, but those of us leaving it outside are hurting in the single digit and sub-zero temps.

JeremyW said:

Does the FitEV have any sort of pack heater(s)? I thought no... but to me it seems like a no-brainer to use *some* heating measure while charging/connected to at least keep the pack temperatures up somewhat.

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No pack heater, only air cooling. FEV range suffers from small battery (~18kWh usable at 70°), resistive heating element, and reliance on efficient regen that is absent in colder temps. Not much of an issue in California target market, but a real handicap in cold Northeast.

Drew, where in the NE are you? Could you list it in your settings?

Glad to read this, might have considered a FEV, if they ever sell them here. Maybe newer models will be better.

Just did. I'm in Orange County, NY.

All in all I love the FEV, but the range loss has been disappointing. One owner reported that his dealer said there is some kind of battery insulation that will be installed in a recall in the spring. No confirmation on this, though. I'm happy to be a guinea pig in the cold weather! I couldn't resist the lease deal and I got in before the waiting lists got insane. Hopefully, Honda is serious about EVs, although that's questionable, and we're not even going to see the Fit hybrid in the US. It's only a 3 year lease and I expect the EV choices should be interesting when my lease is up.

Drew

KeiJidosha said:

JeremyW said:

Does the FitEV have any sort of pack heater(s)? I thought no... but to me it seems like a no-brainer to use *some* heating measure while charging/connected to at least keep the pack temperatures up somewhat.

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No pack heater, only air cooling. FEV range suffers from small battery (~18kWh usable at 70°), resistive heating element, and reliance on efficient regen that is absent in colder temps. Not much of an issue in California target market, but a real handicap in cold Northeast.

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Things do not look good for the i3, which was designed similar to this... well there is TMS but how good will it keep out the cold!? The BEV version has a heat pump (standard in the US I think?) but the Rex version doesn't...

KeiJidosha said:

JeremyW said:

Does the FitEV have any sort of pack heater(s)? I thought no... but to me it seems like a no-brainer to use *some* heating measure while charging/connected to at least keep the pack temperatures up somewhat.

Click to expand...

No pack heater, only air cooling. FEV range suffers from small battery (~18kWh usable at 70°), resistive heating element, and reliance on efficient regen that is absent in colder temps. Not much of an issue in California target market, but a real handicap in cold Northeast.

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This was surprising to me, but I have suffered less, relatively, in the cold weather with my higher percentage of highway commuting than those with short, stop and go commutes. The regen gets crushed in the cold weather.

By the way, it was fun confusing the GOM when we had a day of warm weather after a real cold snap. One day I started with 37 miles on the GOM and after a 35 mile commute, saw the range increase to 38 miles!

Drew

So is this it? No more Honda Fit EV?

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090533_2014-honda-fit-ev-model-year-ends-early-as-last-cars-are-built" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whats next for Honda? Are they going to follow Toyota and go down the FCV route?

This is so sad...

But even with healthy demand, Honda had no intentions to produce any more Fit EVs than are required under California's zero-emission vehicle requirements.

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palmermd said:

So is this it? No more Honda Fit EV?

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090533_2014-honda-fit-ev-model-year-ends-early-as-last-cars-are-built" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Whats next for Honda? Are they going to follow Toyota and go down the FCV route?

This is so sad...

But even with healthy demand, Honda had no intentions to produce any more Fit EVs than are required under California's zero-emission vehicle requirements.

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Yes, Honda and Toyota will both be introducing their next generation FCEVs here in 2015.

Here's another article talking about the demise of the Fit EV. It's interesting that they will stop selling (I should say leasing) the Fit with no replacement planned even though dealers have long waiting lists. They only moved a few FCX yet plan on bringing a successor hydrogen car in the next few years.

I guess Tesla will have a customer for their ZEV credits in the future. It's too bad, from what I read, the Fit EV is (or was or could have been) pretty much the only true competitor to the Leaf.

http://www.dailytech.com/RIP+Honda+...ity+Killed+Due+to+Poor+Sales/article36304.htm

Honda has never been much in to electrification... Even their hybrids have been, and are, mediocre.

muus said:

It's too bad, from what I read, the Fit EV is (or was or could have been) pretty much the only true competitor to the Leaf.

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Via GCC:

Honda introduces new lease options for existing and prospective Fit EV lessees

Honda is introducing new lease programs for both existing and prospective Fit EV customers in the US. For current, eligible Fit EV customers, Honda is offering a two-year lease extension that includes a lower $199 monthly payment (previously $259) and extends the unlimited mileage, routine maintenance and collision coverage that were included in the original lease.

The reduced lease price and matching two-year terms will also be available to new customers interested in driving a used Honda Fit EV.

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Full article here: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2015/03/20150323-fitev.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Similar articles at ievs.com, GCR etc.

Those of us leasing have gotten the lease extension notice, which is good news as it buys more time until other options are out. Honda says they will have a next generation BEV, but who knows.
A very cold winter in the northeast has been brutal for range, really my only complaint about the Fit EV. Although some have gotten decent range by not using the heat and only intermittent defrost, I'm not that hardy a soul!
Drew

I have now seen 3 Honda Fits. The utterly bright blue makes this car a non lease item for me. I like the Fit's profile but please, I do not want a car that screams look at me, I am greener than you!

The Mercedes Benz in its German video with blue trim and a door sticker would completely turn me off. On my current car the only indication is the Electric Drive sticker and the ugly aerodynamic wheels. I can live with that.

The Honda Fit EV, like the Fiat 500e, Chevy Spark EV, Kia Soul EV, and probably the Ford Focus Electric are only distinguishable as electric vehicles to us EV nerds. And small cars do tend to be offered in bright colors.
That a similar screaming Blue as used on the Subaru WRX STi
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/2015-subaru-wrx-sti-coupe-what-should-have-been-built-74879.html
and VW GTI,
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2014-volkswagen-gti-concept-photos-and-info-news
(neither of which are flaunting their green credentials), is appropriate for the Fit EV is debatable. But Roy Richards, in an unmodified Fit EV, did beat a modified Tesla on the Pikes Peak hill climb this last year (12:55.591).
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2013/06/43-pikes-peak-2013-p1.jpg
http://gas2.org/2014/06/29/pikes-peak-2014-race-results/
I agree it is not a subtle color, but I don't think it's about being green .

GlennD said:

I have now seen 3 Honda Fits. The utterly bright blue makes this car a non lease item for me. I like the Fit's profile but please, I do not want a car that screams look at me, I am greener than you!

The Mercedes Benz in its German video with blue trim and a door sticker would completely turn me off. On my current car the only indication is the Electric Drive sticker and the ugly aerodynamic wheels. I can live with that.

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Bluer than yuer ! I happen to like the color.