The Honda Super N is small, recycled and built to be fun rather than fast. The Electrifying review covers a city EV based on Honda's N-One, a Japanese kei car, then widened just enough that it no longer fits inside kei rules. It measures about 3.6 meters long. The standout is a purple finish Honda calls Boost Violet, but the details run deeper: the host says the front mask is molded from old Honda bumpers, the tail lights use recycled material, and the seats are made from old employee uniforms. Inside there are physical climate controls and a Bose stereo as standard. The host also points out functional aero vents, including one he says cools the battery, and 15 inch wheels. A 29.6 kWh battery gives a quoted urban figure of up to 199 miles, with a lower combined number the host puts around 128 miles.
The Super N lands as Europe rediscovers the cheap small EV. The host lines it up against the upcoming Renault Twingo and the new Smart #2, and frames it as the car the slow-selling Honda E should have been: less expensive, longer legged and without features buyers did not need. He pegs the price as a touch above a base Twingo, in a single well-equipped trim, without giving a firm figure I can confirm from this review. The honest buyer consideration is the one the spec sheet implies. With a sub-30 kWh battery and 50 kW peak charging, this is a city car and a second car, not a road-trip tool. That is not a flaw so much as a definition. Small batteries keep weight and cost down, and the host notes the car weighs about 1.1 tons, roughly 200 kg less than a Twingo.
On the road the host leans on the small footprint. He says he fits behind his own 6 foot 3 driving position, that luggage space runs from 162 liters to 967 liters with the Magic Seat folded flat, and that real-world efficiency landed around 4.1 miles per kWh even when pushed, against a theoretical 6.7 needed to hit the 199 mile claim. Charging is quoted at up to 50 kW for a 15 to 80 percent top up in about half an hour, plus 7.4 kW AC for a full charge in roughly four and a half hours. The party piece is a Boost button. The host reports it lifts power from about 63 to 94 horsepower, drops the 0 to 62 time from around 14 seconds to about 10 and a half, and adds seven simulated gears. He also flags that Euro NCAP crash results are not out yet. Beyond Boost, the host lists four driving modes, city, economy, normal and boost, with one-pedal driving in the city setting, and notes a clever packaging touch: components under the bonnet are arranged so a front impact does not push them into the cabin. He calls the doors notably light, part of how the car stays around 1.1 tons, and points to small old-school touches like a keyless entry button sitting right above a traditional keyhole.
Bottom line: The Super N will not win a spec-sheet fight, and it is not meant to. If you want one car for everything, buy something bigger. If you want a small, characterful runabout for city miles and you can charge at home or at the curb, this is the rare cheap EV that sounds genuinely fun to own. The recycled materials are a nice story rather than a reason to buy. The reason to buy is that Honda built personality into a segment that usually strips it out. Wait for confirmed pricing and the crash rating before committing.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.