Production of the Honda e:N1 in Thailand spurs rumours of its imminent debut over here in Malaysia.
While Honda Malaysia has just stated during the CR-V launch that it will be focusing on pushing hybrids as its primary local electrification strategy for now, there may nevertheless be an all-electric offering from them rather soon. Such is because the Japanese automaker has recently announced that it has begun production of its e:N1 e-crossover in Thailand, with it apparently being tipped to arrive in other ASEAN nations shortly too.
Produced at an all-new EV-specific line at Honda’s Prachinburi factory, the e:N1 marks the first-ever Japanese EV to be locally assembled in the Land of Smiles. The Japanese automaker has also touts for the usage of localised domestic parts from Thailand will contribute to the growth of the automotive industry over there, but perhaps more pertinently to Malaysians is instead for this essentially all-electric HR-V have the potential in arriving over here sometime in 2024.
Now while it may look (very much) like a HR-V on the outside however, this e:N1 is instead based upon a totally different e:N Architecture F platform instead. Take a tape measure to it and it’ll be clear too that this e-crossover is 57 mm longer and 2 mm higher than its fuel-drinking counterpart, with it also differing slightly within by way of a new 15.1-inch portrait-oriented central infotainment screen dominating its dashboard.
A single motor setup is currently expected to be driving the front wheels of this e-crossover in Thailand, with its 204 PS and 310 Nm of torque figure incidentally being slightly more than what is currently output by the HR-V’s turbocharged 1.5-litre. Powering said single motor meanwhile will likely be a 68.8 kWh battery pack, which supposedly capable of yielding a WLTP-claimed range of 412 km of range and have the capability to charge at a rate of up to 78 kW.
Officially, Honda Malaysia has to date not even acknowledged the prospect of the e:N1 arriving in Malaysia yet. So the eventual local specs selling price of this e-crossover over here remains a mystery thus far.
Though for it to have any hope of succeeding over here, it would really need to slot in at around RM 150k – RM 200k region that is currently commanded by the similarly-sized BYD Atto 3 and Smart #1. A figure that unfortunately will be a surprisingly tall order for the e:N1, as it currently already retails from a rather eye-watering £45,000 (RM 270,000) in the UK.
