Before inviting out today's protagonist, Dongfeng Honda e:NS1, we would like to introduce you to another car, that is, the new generation VEZEL/HR-V that has been released in overseas markets.
Yes, VEZEL/HR-V is the overseas prototype of Binzhi and XR-V in the Chinese market, and this year, Guangqi Honda and Dongfeng Honda will successively launch new models of these two cars, which is probably like this. However, Dongfeng Honda seems to be eager to let everyone get in touch with the new generation of VEZEL/HR-V earlier, so they brought this e:NS1 "in advance".
Ming people do not say secret words, e:NS1 is actually a new generation of VEZEL/HR-V pure electric version, from the Dongfeng Honda product planning table, e:NS1 came four months earlier than the new generation XR-V.
On the night of the sharp spike in oil prices (00:00 on March 18), Dongfeng Honda opened a pre-sale of e:NS1, with a pre-sale price of 180,000 to 210,000. As a pure electric vehicle, the pre-sale began at the same time as the price of gasoline rose sharply, and I don't believe it when you say that this is a coincidence.
Electric first, what is the intention?
I wonder if you remember the pure electric version of the current XR-V launched by Dongfeng Honda? I don't remember it, because they really don't have a sense of existence, and a big reason is that whether it is the X-NV launched in 2019 or the M-NV launched in 2020, these two cars are not hung with Honda logos for sale, but hang the logo of Siming, a joint venture independent brand previously established by Dongfeng Honda.
The popularity of Siming itself is actually not high, although the X-NV and M-NV shapes are not much different from the familiar XR-V, but when you see these two cars on the road with a very low probability, it is inevitable that you will think that this is a small factory that takes XR-V to copy the oil and change electricity.
Even if you know that these two cars are pure electric models officially launched by Dongfeng Honda, the logo hanging on Siming will probably still make people feel that their pedigree is not pure, plus the car logo is very important for Chinese consumers, so X-NV and M-NV are difficult to enter everyone's eyes. What's more, they all still have the appearance of oil to electricity.
With the gradual deepening of Honda's electrification strategy, after the release of a new pure electric planning blueprint in October last year, the pure electric vehicle with Honda's logo has naturally landed, which is already a big step forward. Dongfeng Honda "ahead of schedule" put e:NS1 on the market, on the one hand, it is a positive embodiment of Honda's move towards electrification, on the other hand...
I suspect they want the e:NS1 electric car to have a preconceived effect in the minds of consumers.
At present, when we look at electric vehicles, we often think of the word "oil to electricity", such as the previous X-NV and M-NV, although the oil to electricity may not be completely inferior to the original electric vehicle, and now many manufacturers have considered the need to take into account the need to take into account the two power forms of pure electric and fuel when developing the platform, but the name of "oil to electricity" is still not conducive to publicity after all.
According to Honda's information at the electrification strategy conference, e:NS1 is also an electric vehicle based on a new intelligent pure electric architecture called "e:N Architecture F", even if it shares the chassis and body with the new generation of XR-V, of course, they still don't want this car to be called "oil to electricity", so that everyone may not say that it is oil to electricity.
Of course, there is another factor that the convenience and preferential treatment that electric vehicles can enjoy in terms of policy are gradually shrinking with the passage of time, so the electric vehicles that can be put into use naturally have to be taken out quickly.
Honda without engines
Everyone always says that Honda is "buying an engine to send a car", and there is a Honda without an engine, is it convincing enough?
For electric vehicles, everyone is most concerned about the endurance of nature, because e: NS1 is a model launched in 2022, so the mileage data released by the manufacturer is based on CLTC working conditions (simply say that NEDC is a relatively old standard in Europe, the simulation conditions are too idealized, the fuel consumption standard of the fuel vehicle is notoriously inaccurate; CLTC is a set of standards formulated by us in China, and the simulated working conditions are more in line with the actual use environment, but... As you can say, you may be relatively unfamiliar with clotting, but just remember the conclusion: CLTC's "moisture" may be more than the previous NEDC (for this point of complaints, the Internet has been overwhelming).
Under the working conditions of CLTC, the cruising range of the two configuration versions of e:NS1 is 420km and 510km, and the battery capacity is 53.6kWh and 68.8kWh, respectively, which is a ternary lithium battery supplied for the Ningde era. Compared with the MN-V that hung the Siming logo before, even the high-endurance e-dynamic version e:NS1, which has a longer battery life, has not improved significantly in terms of mileage (MN-V has a 480km NEDC endurance), but the pre-price has gone to 200,000 to 210,000 yuan.
Although the endurance has not been significantly improved, e:NS1 has made a certain increase in motor power - the low-end e-type version has 134kW, and the high-end e-version has 150kW.
However, in terms of battery life, there is a saying that although e:NS1 even if it is equipped with a high CLTC endurance of 510km, it does not look very long, but compared to similar models with similar prices, it is not short. Similar models with similar prices here refer to products of other joint venture brands.
Among them:
The information of the upcoming bZ4X of the old rival Toyota is not clear, and the old product C-HR pure electric version is not mentioned;
The Mazda CX-30 EV on stilts has a motor power of 160kW, but the CLTC cruising range is only 450km;
The most convincing electric vehicle in the joint venture brand is probably the Volkswagen MEB family, and the e: NS1 price point is similar to saic motor Volkswagen ID.3, as we all know, the endurance of ID.3 is the biggest reason why everyone does not buy it, the newly announced CLTC mileage and Mazda CX-30 EV is also 450km.
Therefore, compared with a number of competitors in its own joint venture camp, the cruising range of Dongfeng Honda e:NS1 is relatively excellent among the joint venture brand electric vehicles below 200,000 in this water. The reason why we feel that the battery life of e:NS1 is not too long is mainly because the products of the same price point or even lower price of independent brands will have better battery life performance.
For example, the Xiaopeng G3i can have a 520km NEDC endurance, and the Aion V Plus even has a 600km version. Therefore, Dongfeng Honda e: NS1 endurance is not too bad, mainly thanks to peers to set off.
It is worth mentioning that even if the e:NS1 is a high-end e-moving version, the battery is larger, but the overall quality of the vehicle is still 81kg lighter than the Volkswagen ID.3 (battery is 57 degrees) as a native electric vehicle, and it is indeed a Honda!
Some "electrification improvements"
The e:NS1, as the first electric vehicle to be sold in the Chinese market with honda logos on it, shows that Honda attaches more importance to this car, which can also be found in many details of e:NS1.
The biggest detail change, and the most eye-catching, is definitely the big screen in the car.
The interior layout of the overseas version of the new VEZEL/HR-V is relatively conventional and the new Civic is basically the same, which is a horizontal screen of about 9 inches, which shows how sincere the 15.2-inch vertical screen of the E:NS1 is for the Chinese market. We see that the interface of its multimedia system is consistent with the machine mounted by Honda's latest gasoline car, because this set also belongs to Honda Connect 3.0, but it is an electric vehicle-specific version that inherits richer features.
In addition, the instrument panel has been changed from the vezel/HR-V's traditional "eaves" style to a simple and flat screen. At the bottom of the A-pillar, a DMC driver status perception system has also been added, which is also not available in the overseas version of VEZEL/HR-V, and this kind of thing is more common in self-owned brand models.
In addition, the e:NS1 even has rear seat heating, as well as streaming mirrors, electric tailgates, BOSE sound, which should not have appeared on hondas at this level. Perhaps Dongfeng Honda hopes to support the positioning of e:NS1 through high configuration, after all, the pre-price of high-end models is 200,000 to 210,000, which is already "super-class" for small SUVs.
What I don't understand the most is that e:NS1 puts the charging interface in the middle of the front of the car, and it seems that few new electric vehicles will do this this year, especially e:NS1 has a corresponding fuel car version, which can put the charging interface in the original fuel filling port.
e: Is NS1 competitive enough?
As the first pure electric vehicle to hang Honda's logo to be sold in the Chinese market, Honda's emphasis on the e:NS1 car has indeed been reflected in many details of the product itself, as well as the enthusiasm for putting it on the market. However, for the e:NS1 car, we still think that its competitiveness is not very strong, especially considering that the pre-price of the high-end model has reached more than 200,000 yuan.
Admittedly, this is a pure electric vehicle synchronized with the latest VEZEL/HR-V, compared to other electric vehicle products of the joint venture brand, it has advantages in some aspects, but the advantages are not large, and the price of e:NS1 is slightly higher than that of similar models.
In the 150,000 to 200,000 yuan of electric vehicle products, the joint venture brand products are already not very convincing, under this budget, consumers will be more willing to accept their own brand models, they can give the endurance, configuration level, power performance, and even charging supporting services may have more advantages. Of course, this is not a problem that Dongfeng Honda has to face, but a problem that all joint ventures are currently scratching their ears and cheeks in promoting the electrification strategy.
Write at the end
To put it bluntly, we can think of e:NS1 as a replacement of the previous X-NV and M-NV, and this replacement has not brought other disruptive changes except that the styling design has fully evolved with the new generation vezel/HR-V, because the needs of electric vehicle consumers are different from traditional fuel vehicles.
We can almost close our eyes and say that the XR-V can continue the strong sales performance of its predecessors, and the pure electric version of e:NS1 is not necessarily the same, because it is a Honda without an engine, but not just because it is a Honda without an engine.
In fact, in the decision-making of the electrification strategy, the overall follow-up of the Japanese system is lagging behind. Whether it is Honda, or Toyota, Nissan, Mazda and other Japanese brands, what can you think of their pure electric vehicles? This is the entire Japanese car in the direction of electric vehicles in the direction of strategic misjudgment caused, than our own brand in this regard at least half a generation or even a generation of models, so in a few years, the long estimate of four or five years, short if it is two or three years, the Japanese model change on the electric vehicle should be more in line with our aesthetic and needs for electric vehicles.
Issue 1838
Author: Chen Houze