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Honda targeting 10,000 annual European sales for ‘e’

Honda is expecting to sell around 10,000 examples of its first mass-produced electric vehicle every year in Europe.


Finally revealed as a production car at the Frankfurt motor show, order books for the Honda e are open and deliveries are on track for the European summer of 2020.

According to a report from Automotive News Europe, exactly how many sales will depend on the performance of Honda's petrol-powered cars, thanks to Europe's tough fleet CO2 targets.

Manufacturers who can't meet the European Union's aggressive target of 95g/km of CO2 will be forced to pay fines, starting next year.

Some brands are prepared to wear the fines, others are planning to use electric vehicles to offset the emissions of their internal-combustion cars.

Honda says it's planning to meet the targets and pay no fines. The e will be critical to that goal.

"[Sales of the e will] slightly depends on the performance of our other models," Dave Hodgetts, Honda UK boss, told Automotive News Europe.

"If we sell more CR-V petrol models than hybrids than we expected then we might have to sell more of the Honda e."

Honda hasn't laid out how it will boost sales of the e, if required. It has, however, already taken 40,000 expressions of interest which would suggests demand won't be an issue.

The 'e' itself is powered by a 100kW or 113kW electric motor, mated with a 35.5kWh battery pack good for 220km of range on the WLTP test cycle.

Inside, the infotainment system is a widescreen setup incorporating natural voice inputs, underlined with a strip of wood. The infotainment screens are bookended by displays for the cameras replacing the side-view mirrors.

 

Australia

The e is available for order in the France, Germany, Norway and the UK.

Previously Honda Australia has told Drive it is interested in the e, but cautioned it stopped selling hybrids locally as it "couldn’t make it economically stack up".

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