Honda Super-N Review & Prices

Honda hasn’t had the best track record with electric cars so far - its first, the Honda e, was great to drive and really cute, but was far too expensive. Its second, the e:Ny1, was just generally poor in all departments. The new Super-N hopes to right those wrongs - it’s a tiny hatchback with an affordable price tag, roomy interior and a focus on driving fun, but you can’t go very far on a charge at all.

It’s like having a holiday home - it’s brilliant in small doses, but if you tried to live there year-round you’d soon grow tired of the compromises, unless you have a very specific set of needs.

The Super-N’s job is made more difficult because there are a whole host of affordable EVs coming out recently. The new Renault Twingo and Cupra Raval are both exciting options, but the Citroen e-C3, Hyundai Inster, Dacia Spring or Fiat Grande Panda are all available to buy right now.

The Super-N is based on a Japanese ‘kei’ car - a class of tiny car eligible for tax breaks - and that’s easy to see in its ‘tallboy’ dimensions. It’s short and square, with the wheels pushed right out to each corner and a high roofline. But it’s also adorable thanks to the expressive round headlights, and boxy wheelarches giving it a sort of angry little terrier vibe. You can also get it with stripes and spoilers from the factory, plus the signature purple paint shade is very eye-catching.

Honda Super-N: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 128 miles
Efficiency: 4.3 miles per kWh
Battery size: 29.6kWh
Max charge speed: 50kW
Charge time AC: 4hrs 15 mins, 0-100%, 7kW
Charge time DC: 30 mins, 15-80%, 50kW
Charge port location: Front
Power outputs: 95hp

The interior isn’t quite so bold. The front seats are - they feature an asymmetric design with a blue stripe, and the upholstery is actually made out of recycled Honda factory uniforms. But the rest of it belies this car’s cheap origins, with a plasticky finish and basic design.

You get the same infotainment system as the Civic or Jazz, which isn’t amazing - the screen is a sensible size and there’s wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but Honda’s own interface is needlessly complex and some functions like turning off the speed limit alerts requires you to dive deep into menus.

It’s very roomy for such a small car, though. The tall silhouette means that there’s no space wasted, and as a result you can easily squeeze four six-foot adults inside. The boot is dinky at just 162 litres, but the Super-N’s other trump card is its ‘magic seats’, which go fully flat into the floor liberating a lot of extra space. Or, their bases lift up allowing you to carry tall items in the rear seat area.

The Honda Super-N is available with one powertrain. There’s a little 29.6kWh battery which officially returns just 128 miles to a charge. We were able to get very close to that figure in real-world driving, but it’s still very limited if you want to take even occasional longer trips - all its closest alternatives can go further.

It’s a shame your driving time will be so limited, because the Super-N is a riot behind the wheel. In normal driving you have just 64hp, but press the ‘Boost’ button on the steering wheel and you get up to 95hp. Plus, there’s a ‘virtual’ seven-speed gearbox with a sound generator, which is tremendous fun to use - it’s like a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N at 30% volume.

In the more normal modes it’s still a great little EV to drive around town. There’s enough power to zip away from the lights, and visibility from the big windows is fantastic. It’s a little bouncy over bigger bumps, but nothing unbearable.

On a twisty road the Honda Super-N comes alive thanks to quick, accurate steering and perfectly judged suspension. As a motorway cruiser it’s a bit more limited with a lot of wind noise, but with so few miles between charges you probably won’t spend too much time on the M1.

Verdict

The Honda Super-N is a fantastic small EV to drive, amazing fun around town and on a twisty road, and with a surprising amount of room inside. If your journeys tend to be short and you have somewhere to charge at home, it could be perfect - but the case soon falls apart as soon as you want to go even slightly further afield. It’s best-suited to second-car duties, then, which is a shame.

You can check out Honda Super-N deals right here on Carwow, or see how much it’d cost you to lease a Honda Super-N. Check out our used Hondas for sale, and remember that Carwow can even help you to sell your old car when the time comes.

Buying a Super-N is simplicity itself, because there’s just one powertrain and trim level, so there’s just one price - £18,995. For another £300 you can get two-tone paint, and there are optional stripe decals available too.

Standard equipment is generous, with heated seats and steering wheel, all-round parking sensors, a reversing camera, 15-inch alloy wheels, ambient lighting, adaptive cruise control and a Bose sound system all standard. You’d have to spend quite a lot more on this car’s alternatives to get that level of kit.

Perfect for the city and surprisingly good fun on a country road, but the Super-N is noisy on the motorway

In town

Just one look at the Honda Super-N and you know it’s going to be absolutely perfect for city slickers. It has a short wheelbase, a tall body with glass all round, and square dimensions that make it a doddle judging where the corners are. In fact, while all-round parking sensors and a reversing camera are standard, the Super-N is one of very few modern cars where you don’t really need them.

In the Super-N’s normal drive modes you get just 64hp which is absolutely fine for cruising around town - it’s about the same power as most petrol city cars, but with no gearbox to worry about and the electric motor’s instant response it feels quite a bit nippier than a Kia Picanto. The short wheelbase and small wheels mean it can feel quite bouncy over bigger bumps, but it doesn’t thud or clatter, nor is it so soft that the body keeps moving after you’ve passed a pothole. It’s perfectly judged.

On the motorway

The Super-N’s 64hp is a bit limited for motorway use, but you can always slip into ‘Boost’ mode to unlock the car’s full 95hp for overtakes or short sliproads. Once underway, it can feel a bit outclassed and blown about by big lorries or crosswinds, but the bigger issue is the range - as you can only fast charge up to 80%, you’ll get less than 100 miles between top-ups, which means a lot of stopping and starting. Expect less in winter, too.

On a twisty road

You might think a tiny city car with so little power is going to be rubbish on a twisting country road, but you’d be dead wrong. Put it into Boost mode, lock the virtual gearbox into its ‘manual’ setting and you’ve got a car that does a passable impression of a warm hatchback, akin to a Volkswagen Up GTI of old. It’s super fun.

Despite the car’s high bodywork, the battery and motor are low down so it doesn’t feel all roly-poly in the bends, and the steering has a perfect weight to it. The suspension copes well with bumps mid-corner and the whole package is just great, even if there’s not much grunt in reserve for overtakes.

The Super-N has loads of passenger space and a clever boot, but with four on board there’s not much room for luggage

The Honda Super-N’s front seats are roomy and comfortable, with plenty of support thanks to prominent bolstering - it hugs you nicely in the corners, and your back won’t hurt after a long (ish) drive. There’s enough space for tall drivers, and the lack of a centre console means that if you’re parked tight up to a wall or another car you can easily slide over to the other side.

Storage spaces are a bit limited. The glovebox is very small, and the centre console isn’t covered so you can’t keep items out of sight in there. There’s one cupholder in the middle and another to the right of the steering wheel, while the door bins consist only of small bottle holders. What’s really lacking is a convenient place to keep your phone, because while there is a wide shelf spanning the dashboard it’s made of hard plastic so it’s very slippery.

Space in the back seats

The Super-N’s rear doors open nice and wide and because the roofline is so tall you don’t need to duck your head when entering like you do with most small cars - you can easily step in. Once back there, things are basic but roomy - there’s enough legroom for a six-foot passenger to sit behind a driver of the same size, which is impressive with such a short wheelbase.

The seats themselves are quite flat and unsupportive but they’re fine for short journeys, and Honda’s wisely avoided trying to squeeze three seatbelts in so the Super-N is a strict four-seater.

Boot space

The Honda Super-N has just 162 litres of boot space, which is smaller than all of its key alternatives. The Renault Twingo E-Tech, Hyundai Inster, Fiat Grande Panda Electric and even the Fiat 500 Electric all have more room, with the Grande Panda’s 361-litre space topping the charts among small EVs.

The Honda has some practical touches that make things a lot better, though. For a start, the tailgate is huge - it opens right down to the rear bumper, so loading heavy items is easy. Honda’s ‘magic seats’ are also present, and they’re brilliant - they fold right away into the floor so you get a flat load area with loads of room and no obstructions.

Or, if you have tall items to carry, like a pot plant, you can fold the seat bases upwards and lock them in place. It’s a brilliant touch. The only problem - apart from the overall carrying capacity - is that there’s nowhere tidy to store your charging cables.

The Super-N’s interior feels well built, but the materials are clearly budget in origin and the touchscreen is only just okay

The Super-N’s interior has clearly been built down to a price, which isn’t surprising in a car that costs less than £20,000. The plastics feel sturdy but far from luxurious, and some areas like the paper-thin door cards do betray its price tag.

But while it lacks some of the charm of other cheap cars such as the Renault Twingo E-Tech, there are plenty of good points. The minimalist layout means it feels very spacious, and there’s plenty of physical switchgear including a full panel of climate controls. It also feels extremely well screwed-together, with no creaks or rattles, which is a Honda trademark.

The infotainment system is the same as you get in other Honda cars, which means it’s not the best. The screen is a sensible size, responsive and sited within easy reach on the dashboard, but the interface feels quite old-fashioned and is not very attractive. There are a lot of sub-menus and not all the functions make total sense, particularly turning off the safety features - some of which you can only do while the car’s in Park.

At least there’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but with no wireless phone charging you’ll need your phone to be plugged in most of the time anyway.

The sticking point with the Honda Super-N is its range. You get an official 128 miles between charges, which is less than the 140 miles you get from a Dacia Spring, the 163 miles from a Renault Twingo E-Tech or the 199 miles from a Citroen e-C3. In fact, barring some electric vans, it’s actually the lowest-range EV on sale.

In our testing we did at least manage to come very close to that figure, with a range just over 120 miles between charges - and that was motorway driving, so you can expect to beat the official figure if you’re just nipping around town. But regardless, you won’t be going very far in the Honda Super-N.

Charging speeds aren’t fantastic either, though they are on par with the Twingo and faster than the Dacia Spring. At a max rate of 50kW you can top up from 15-80% in around half an hour. Still, a larger EV will have the Super-N soundly licked for both charge speed and range - a Vauxhall Corsa Electric costs around the same with Carwow discounts and will cover close to 200 miles on a charge.

At least the Super-N should prove cheap to run, with company car costs and first-year road tax as low as it’s possible to get.

The Honda Super-N hasn’t been assessed by Euro NCAP and it’s likely that it won’t be, as Honda doesn’t expect to sell it in great volumes or anywhere in Europe outside of the UK just yet.

It gets Honda’s usual suite of safety aids, including lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking and even adaptive cruise control, which is nice. It’s a shame that to turn off the more annoying safety systems though - like the speed limit warning - you need to dive through several menus in the centre touchscreen, which are locked out unless you’re in Park so even your front passenger can’t do it for you.

Honda’s cars are typically very safe, with all of its current model range scoring four or five stars.

The Super-N gets a service-activated warranty that covers you for up to eight years and 100,000 miles, provided you keep servicing your car at a Honda main dealer. That’s excellent and the best among small EVs right now.

Honda’s reliability record is also truly excellent, with a long history of very dependable small cars. The Super-N being even simpler than most Hondas by virtue of being an EV should mean it’s even more reliable still, but time will tell.