'I drove car branded best value EV in the UK to see if it's really worth buying'

In recent years electric cars have skyrocketed in popularity. Today there are thousands on the roads and there are nearly hundreds of options to choose from, with drivers looking to save costs on the ever-spiralling fuel prices.

Fortunately, the rising number of electric cars means there ther's a huge choice to choose from. Earlier this year, between one of our sweltering heatwaves, I had the opportunity to drive one car that has now been awarded by WhatCar? the best value EV in the whole country – the Honda Super-N city car.

But what is it really like and is it worth the hype?

Statistics

The Honda Super-N is a small electric vehicle with a starting price of £18,995, a 94bhp motor, a range of 128miles, and a top speed of 84mph.

The 94bhp goes through 15-inch front wheels via an electric motor that provides 120lb of torque to move the 3,599mm by 1,573mm Super-N along. The car is, ostensibly, like the Dacia Spring in that its target area of operation is the city, although it can also fast charge if you want to take it further afield.

According to Honda, it can fast charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in just 30 minutes using a 50kW DC charger. The 1,097kg Honda can seat four and is equipped with a 162 litre boot with the seats folded up which can rise to 967 litres when the seats are folded down.

Interior

Inside, the Super-N follows a recent trend in the car industry – a greater emphasis on buttons. The love affair with massive screens slap bang in the middle of the dashboard is coming to a close and Honda is one car maker which has recognised this.

To that end, the Super-N only has a very small screen and plenty of minimalist physical controls.

This makes the car very user friendly and less distracting to drive. Furthermore, the mix of cloth and leather makes it a very comfortable place to sit, even if you are slightly more upright than in other cars.

The steering wheel is thin and nice to hold, while the instrument binnacle, displaying speed, charge, and other information, is clear and not too bright.

Driving

Honda is very much on a roll at the moment when it comes to making its regular cars drive well. I experienced this last year with the HR-V HEV SUV and earlier this year with the Civic HEV at SMMT’s May Test Day.

They have worked out how to make their cars engaging and grippy without being uncomfortable; supple in one word. The Super-N follows that trend, helped by not being far off the ground, short, and narrow. It has plenty of feel through the steering – the absence of which from some cars is a motoring ick of mine – and the car rotates very well in city driving.

If I had two criticisms it was that that lowness to the ground means it can feel sensitive to obtrusive road obstacles - potholes and aggressive speedbumps namely – and I couldn’t get the steering wheel far back enough to be entirely comfortable.

Nevertheless, it did make little journeys incredibly fun, including a trip to the Royal Albert Hall when I’d missed my train. Driving through central London you felt the lack of space it occupied, a rarity in our world of bulging SUVs. In fact, on the 15 mile roundtrip I only used seven miles of range, in large part due to the efficiency and the regenerative braking.

You don’t so much as depress the throttle as hold it like a conductor holding their baton; it’s wonderful once you adjust to deceleration and fun – traffic permitting – to go between different regen strengths. The car is brisk too, the electric motors zipping you away from the lights. In fact, the catch with this car is that I only wished it could go further than 128 miles on a charge; it would make a wonderful road trip car if it could do an extra 80 or 100 miles.

Verdict

While its looks might divide people, this is far from a Marmite car. In fact, it’s great. You can see why WhatCar? gave it an award for being the best value electric car. Fundamentally, it is manouevrable, nice to drive, lovely to sit in, easy to get along with and incredibly efficient. It's also a more realistic and probably better value proposition than the likes of the Citroen Ami and Dacia Spring, even if those vehicles also have their own merits.

Limited only by its range and tiny boot space with the seats, the Super-N a terrifically fun car that shows just how much of a roll Honda is on at the moment. If ever a hybrid version comes along and boosts the range, this could be a wonderful solo car for a household, will increase it's position as a great value electric car further.

Christopher’s Verdict: 8/10