First drive of the Honda Jazz EV

[RichardA]

The electric version of the Honda Jazz has gone on sale in Japan and the US. Power comes from a 20kWh Lithium-Ion battery and a full charge takes just three hours. In an interesting move, Honda have fitted the Jazz EV with multi-link rear suspension!

Price: £23,546/ £244 month lease (but not destined for the UK)
Economy: 118mpg/82 miles per charge
CO2: zero (excluding CO2 generated through production of electricity at the grid)
Power: 123bhp (sports mode)
Torque: 189lb ft

This is the new battery-powered Honda Jazz EV, which has just gone on sale in Japan and the US. Unlike, say, the Nissan Leaf, which is a heavily modified mainstream hatchback or the bespoke Renault Zoe, the Jazz EV is - drivetrain aside - almost identical to the combustion-engined version, save for a few styling tweaks and switchgear changes.

The 20kWh Lithium-Ion battery is packaged under the Jazz’s floor, a task made easier by the fact that the standard Jazz has its fuel tank under the front seats. Space was also liberated from the extra-deep rear foot wells, which normally accommodate the clever folding seats.

Under the bonnet, there’s a permanent magnet electric motor driving a single-speed transmission. Interestingly, Honda gives three outputs for the motor, one for each driving mode. In ‘Sport’ mode the driver gets 123bhp between 3695 and 10,320rpm. In ‘Normal’ it gets 100bhp and in ‘Eco’ its gets 63bhp over the same rev range.

The onboard charger offers a handy 17 per cent charge in just 30 minutes with a standard UK 240V. A full charge takes just three hours. The Jazz EV also uses an electrically powered brake servo, something on the way for mainstream cars.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/first-drives/first-drive-review-honda-jazz-ev

[Garyman]

Would have been interesting to see how the EV would do against the Leaf and i-MiEV in the UK

[Defender]

Very interesting, not for sale in the UK though?

Is it just me who thinks they should put solar panels on the roofs of electric vehicles, or would the added weight be negate the additional range you could get?

"CO2: zero (excluding CO2 generated through production of electricity at the grid)"

Unfortunately this seems to be forgotten when taking carbon emissions are taken into account.

[Ozzie]

Range is too short !

[dg]

Ozzie, reserve one of these: http://www.teslamotors.com/models
deliveries to Europe are expected in spring

[chrisc]

Doubt the EV Honda will ever come to South Africa.  The Nissan Leaf has been on sale since September and got very poor reviews (and poor sales).  Most apparent is the very poor range on a full charge of about 250km, which is of course fine for driving around town, when your daily commute is probably not more than 30km.  However, distances are great in SA and it is for instance 180km from Cape Town to Hermanus, a very popular tourist destination and you have to depend on a charge when you get there for a few hours which may be a bit of a bind.  Then it is 1400km between Cape Town and Johannesburg, so this eliminates this entirely.  People expect to get a car which will operate fine in the city, but also take them on holiday without hassle.  The Nissan Leaf is a hassle.

[culzean]

Vauxhall Ampera and Cheverolet Volta seem to have got  it right -  they are an E-EV (extended range electric vehicle) - they have an engine and a battery,  the battery can be topped charged from the mains or from the engine, or from regenerative power recovered during braking.

in every electric only vehicle test I have read the tester said they suffered badly from 'range anxiety' and non of the cars got anywhere near the range expected ( how do you heat the car - with electricity  ? how about when you have heater, lights, wipers, radio and heated screens and mirrors on ?) 

A couple of the testers even described batteries as 'rubber buckets' inasmuch as you never really know how much power is in the battery - think of your laptop or phone but on a much bigger scale - if your phone or laptop battery goes flat it is inconvenient,  but if the EV car battery dies on you it could be pretty serious.

[chrisc]

On the Leaf's dash there is a large indicator showing remaining range and it also beeps during the last 25km, which must be a pain.

Outside, the parking sensors operate slightly differently in that if you are moving forward slowly and someone steps off the kerb in front of the car, pedestrians hear a sound not unlike the reversing warning that lorries give when they are reversing towards a loading bay.  You can elect to switch it off, but it is a good idea.

[culzean]

Quote from tester on What Car Site --

It doesn't matter how much you like the idea of the Nissan Leaf – if it doesn't suit your life, it won't work for you. Why? Well, Nissan claims it has a maximum range of around 100 miles on a single charge, and from our experience of the car, you’d do very well to achieve that. We reckon it’s better to work to an absolute maximum of around 80 miles, and even then, we’ve observed that the range drops drastically in very cold weather. Recharging it from a normal domestic socket takes eight hours, and that’s provided you have somewhere convenient to charge it in the first place.

However, if you're a low-mileage driver whose journeys tend to be strictly regimented, the Leaf could pay some massive dividends. Firstly, there are no tailpipe emissions, which makes it exempt from road tax and the London Congestion Charge, and it’ll cost you peanuts to charge. It's good to drive, too

[guest2865]

Price: £23,546/ £244 month lease !!!!

[guest3763]

Doubt the EV Honda will ever come to South Africa.

Got my Jazz Hybrid 2 days ago from Honda Menlyn Pretoria (South Africa).  What an awesome vehicle!