Honda reveals a cute, tiny electric van for the Japanese market

Honda is hoping to boost EV sales in its home country by targeting one of the most popular market segments: kei vans. These tiny, city-friendly cargo- and people-haulers are a common sight on Japanese roads, and the electric N-Van e: was developed for a multitude of jobs.

The model isn’t entirely new: It was unveiled in December 2022, though details were few and far between, and it’s based on a three-cylinder-powered van released in Japan in 2018. From a styling perspective, not a lot has changed in the past year and a half, and the N-Van e: is still tall, narrow, and shaped like the box it came in. Some of the finer design vary from trim level to trim level. The e: FUN variant stands out with heritage-laced round LED inserts in the headlights, for example, and it’s available in several trim-specific colors and color combinations.

Honda has several use cases in mind, and there’s a version to suit nearly every customer. The lineup will initially include four trim levels called e: L4, e: FUN, e: G, and e: L2, respectively. The L4 has four seats, as its name vaguely implies, and it was designed with both commercial and leisure users in mind. The FUN also has four seats, but it’s the more leisure-oriented trim of the bunch; it notably gets a nicer interior. The G has one seat and a reshaped dashboard to let users carry longer items, while the L2 has two seats in a tandem configuration.

Full specifications haven’t been announced. All we know is that power comes from a single electric motor that zaps the front wheels into motion, and that the battery pack holds enough electricity to deliver up to 152 miles of range. That’s plenty for a little kei van, as most of these spend their time zig-zagging across crowded cities to make deliveries. Honda notes that it retained the van’s relatively big trunk.

Pricing ranges from ¥2,439,800 for the single-seater to ¥2,919,400 for the FUN, figures that represent about $15,600 and $18,600, respectively, at the current conversion rate. For context, the gasoline-powered N-Van carries a base price of ¥1,365,100 (around $8,700).