Honda Fit EV Headed to East Coast Dealers by End of February

By Eric Loveday · February 15, 2013

The 2013 Honda Fit EV, which launched in California and Oregon in July 2012, will soon come to select East Coast markets at the end of February. According to Honda, the Fit EV will be offered at select dealerships in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and New Jersey.

Sadly, the Fit EV remains a pricey, lease-only vehicle. Honda says the ultra-efficient Fit EV will still cost $389 per month for a three-year lease. Consumers can't buy the electric Fit, as it's a lease-only vehicle. However, Honda does say that "real-world feedback from early Fit EV lessees in several different markets will help us prepare for growing adoption of electric vehicles."

The Fit EV is rated at a combined 118 MPGe and boasts an EPA-rated driving range of 82 miles. The electric Fit features a 20-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and a compact 123-horsepower electric motor that generates 189 pound-feet of torque.

While we'd like to say more of the Fit EV, its ridiculously high monthly lease rate and extremely limited availability render it a bit player electric vehicle segment.

About the author

· Eric Loveday

Eric Loveday is an automotive enthusiast who is passionate about everything auto. He purchased a 1970 Chevelle at age 16, quickly outgrew its dated engineering and outrageous consumption of gasoline, and sold it off. Eric developed a true passion for automotive writing after graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in print journalism. Eric spent most of his time since then ...

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Comments

· pedernorby@gmail.com · 13 weeks ago

Eric, I disagree that the FIT EV has a ridiculously high monthly lease rate. As an extremely happy Honda Fit EV driver, I thought I would offer some reasons why.

I. The $199 lease offers from Nissan are only 10,000 miles a year, for the Honda FitEV it is 12,000 miles a year.

2. Honda covers the collision and comprehensive insurance. For most drivers, that is a savings of $35 a month, for younger drivers it can be as much as $60, lowering the effective lease rate to approx. $350 a month.

3. The Honda has no down payment. The down payment on the LEAF adds approx $55 a month to the effective monthly cost of the Leaf.

4. The Honda has a 7KW charger, which charges twice as fast than the base Leaf so no comparison to the base Leaf.

5. The Honda has greater range, more horsepower, is faster and far more fun to drive, and has a full nav, again no comparison to the base Leaf.

6. This is personal taste but the Honda Fit EV is a far better looking car.

7. The range on the Honda is 82 miles EPA, The 2013 Leaf is 75 miles EPA, so a 10% greater range for the Honda FitEV

If I were to compare, I would compare it to the 2013 Leaf that has the 6.6kw charger and the full NAV at $299 a month then add the down payment and your around $350 a month.

Again, with Honda picking up the collision/Comp insurance and no down payment, for east coast drivers it's a wash as far as price.

Where I will give the Leaf strong marks is that it is not a compliance car like the Honda and If you lease or buy a Nissan Leaf you are justly rewarding a car company that has made a serious investment in EVs far beyond just a compliance car.

But the Honda Fit EV is a dynamite little electric car and we love it. If it is available in your area make sure you do the math on the lease cost and you might just find the Honda Fit EV is a better deal.

Cheers
Peder

· Tra2S · 13 weeks ago

Nice rebuttal, Peder, except for the rationale of rewarding Nissan which was puzzling. I'd rather people pester Honda with their intentions to buy a Fit in order to push Honda forward into being more serious about selling the Fit EV.

· pedernorby@gmail.com · 13 weeks ago

Tra2s,

When I first leased the Mini-E, lots of folks and ev organizations, http://www.pluginamerica.org/press-release/plug-america-urges-ca-regulat...
were bashing BMW for a simplistic compliance car effort, a high lease price and that they had no plans to do anything other than a compliance car. A few billion dollars later, and a few years later we are on the cusp of the BMW i3 and i8.

I feel the same way about Honda. I truly want to help them understand the electric car market and help them on to the second generation and a mass market release.

My praise for Nissan stands. They have earned it and demonstrated great leadership in the EV world.
Cheers!

· tterbo · 13 weeks ago

With the incredibly limited amount of these cars they've allocated to produce they don't have to meet the needs of too many customers. If they were trying to sell 1500+ a month as the Leaf or Volt, then Honda would need to get more competitive on price.

If Honda sold that many Fit EVs right now they'd be all out of inventory in 2 months.

I hope they do get competitive though, it looks like a cool car.

· clay3250 · 12 weeks ago

I will NEVER lease one of these cars as prefer to own the car rather than pay lease fees and will NEVER buy until the driving range exceeds 400 miles.

· Bill Howland · 12 weeks ago

Seems funny that as one of the very first hybrid (electric) vehicle manufacturers, Honda is really pulling up the rear here. Too bad they can't come out with a vehicle with a decent battery.. They are big enough to be able to have the wherewithall to do it. If Tesla can buy Panasonic battery cells, why can't Honda? Sibling Rivalry?

· craigsquirrel · 12 weeks ago

Hi Bill, we had one of those original Insights and it was an amazing car! Even the EPA rating was far higher than any none EV car today. It was relatively easy to exceed those numbers on long highway trips and average in the 70's for mpg. Everyone knows that Honda has some of the best automotive engineers in the world.
They are pulling up the rear for the same reason GM only leased and then destroyed all of the EV1s- EV's make ALL of their other vehicles they sell look bad and even more important, the perpetual service and parts side of their business would essentially drop to nothing!!

· craigsquirrel · 12 weeks ago

... this is why Tesla's get hundreds of miles per charge and the EV's from the IC auto manufacturers don't even rate at 100 miles. The major manufacturers are protecting their business plans for as long as they can.
However, just as in ten years the hybrid has become the number 3 selling vehicle in the world, EV's will steadily grow to become the standard for motor vehicles. The manufacturers all know that as people own them and learn to love EV's, critical mass will eventually severely impact the sales of IC vehicles.

· Bill Howland · 12 weeks ago

@craigsquirrel

That has the ring of truth to it. I always thought the battery in my volt was really dinky... Now I find out the thing is gargantuan compared to the stuff in priuses or cmax's.

Then they put a Slightly bigger battery in an existing hybrid, attach a j1772 outlet to the thing, and charge another $18k for it.

Since Nissan has all this extra battery manufacturing capacity I wish they'd come out with a bigger EV (like double the size), and put a battery in it 4 times as big. But learn Tesla's mistake and insulate the thing for cold weather operation.

· Andy H · 12 weeks ago

I just got an approval email to proceed with the lease process for one of these things.

I'd really like an EV, but I like to own things and this doesn't meet that criteria.

I probably won't go through with it but... I'm really conflicted due to the opportunity to drive such a car.

'99 maxima just won't die...

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Honda Fit EV Headed to East Coast Dealers by End of February

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