Honda e:Ny1 long-term test
Is the Honda e:Ny1 electric SUV a sensible choice for tackling city centre roads plus longer trips to the countryside? We're living with one to find out...
The Car Honda e:Ny1 Advance Run by James Tute, Content Editor
Why it’s here To see if Honda’s electric SUV is agile enough for city driving while remaining practical for longer trips to the Shires
Needs to be Well-suited to rush-hour traffic and comfy on motorway drives, with enough range for hassle-free long journeys
Mileage 6312 List price £42,195 Target Price £39,820 Price as tested £42,845 Official range 256 miles Test range 257 miles
22 August 2024 – Park run
Do you trust your car? I ask because I’ve been testing a system on my Honda e:NY1 that relies on me letting it take on some of the business of driving while I act as supervisor.
It’s called Honda Parking Pilot, it’s standard on the top-spec Advance trim of my car and – as its less-than-cryptic name suggests – it’s designed to pilot your car into a parking space.
When you activate it by pressing the Parking Pilot button between the front seats, a message on the infotainment screen asks you to drive slowly while the car looks for a suitable space.
As you do so, an overhead view of the car is shown on the screen, and if the system identifies a suitable space, a green box appears around it. You then hold down the brake and touch the green box to start the automatic parking process. And then the fun begins.
The e:Ny1 plots a route on the infotainment touchscreen and asks you – in text on the screen – to release the brake so it can drive into position. The steering wheel spins as the Parking Pilot drives along the route and, hopefully, into your selected space. You can watch me testing the feature out on our Instagram and TikTok feeds.
Is the feature any good, though? Well, not if you’re in a hurry. I could do the job myself in less time – although I’d need a few goes to line up the e:Ny1 as precisely as the system does. Also, it gets confused by dark shadows on the road surface, resulting in the car stopping too early, thinking those shadows represent solid objects. And in one case, it plotted a route straight into a grey concrete wall, presumably because its shade matched the floor.
On the other hand, when after a long drive I arrive at the car park I use regularly, I’m glad to have Parking Pilot so I can hand over the fiddly task of reversing into a space.
If Honda put a price on the system as an optional extra, I probably wouldn’t pay it. As a handle-with-care gadget on a trim I’d already chosen, however, it’s a welcome extra feature.
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