Honda’s Elegant And Easy Going e:NY1 Crossover.

The Honda e:NY1 electric crossover is elegant and excellent, and it is a great family car with the racing spirit of the company. Jeremy Webb had the pleasure of driving one for a week full of stress and anxiety leading up to a wedding. The e:NY1 eased and elevated the issues, proving exemplary at all tasks asked. 

Wedding day stresses and all the hassle of the preparations before the big day are enough to drive you mad, so it is a delight when you can take yourself away from the madness. I managed to escape for a few hours at a time, and luckily, I had the pleasure of driving the Honda e:NY1 to relax and ease my mind. Well, I tried.                                                                              

Back to the Honda e:NY1 and my driving experience throughout the test. I write about the actual practicalities and versatility of a vehicle rather than specific speeds, 0-60mph times and how the car performs around a Spanish race circuit. In the everyday use of a vehicle such as the Honda e:NY1, the owner isn't going to be accelerating so hard away from the lights to beat a rival electric car; they aren't going to be entering a bend on a B Road as if it is Stowe at Silverstone. They will be performing tasks like I had to all week. Filling the e:NY1 with decorations for the village hall, cramming cakes in, forcing food in Tupperware boxes into every available space, and bringing the bride to the church in serenity and safety. 

The interior is pleasant and allows plenty of light in, meaning all occupants get good views from the car, especially for the Driver. It has enough room for five, but rear passengers may feel a tad cosy. You will, however, have plenty of legroom, so no knees pressed up towards your stomach. The headroom is also sufficient even though the roofline slopes. 

Boot space and cargo carrying are okay but not overly spacious for a car with five occupants.

There is storing for the charging cables underneath the boot floor, and those second-row seats fold almost perfectly flat, 

There's a portrait-orientated, central 15.1 touchscreen up front, split into three functionality levels and you find the car's buttons and switches are positioned intuitively and work when asked first.

The e:Ny1 touchscreen is a 15.1 portrait-orientated tablet with a zoned interface, climate controls in the bottom third and a 'Driver Assist' zone in the middle. You get shortcuts to audio, phone and vehicle settings, and the upper third is the navigation display and vehicle cameras. There are wireless phone chargers and four USB ports to keep passengers connected. 

Excellent ergonomics from the Driver's seat allow you to reach everything without hassle and provide a good view all around, with a lovely driving position. It is a comfortable car with well-sculpted seats that have plenty of adjustability in the driving position.

The Honda e:Ny1 does well enough on our sadly worsening roads, perhaps due to the 18-inch wheels fitted on the car. Honda is setting out to make all their models feel premium, which is evident in the vehicle. The wheels feature built-in resonators to partly cancel out road noise, with a damper on the rear axle and 'strategically placed' cabin insulation to quell higher-frequency noises and vibrations.

The driving controls are intuitive enough. Moderate inputs of the accelerator pedal are met with a considered response, with little of the deliberate and irksome sensitivity that some car firms tune into the powertrain to make an EV feel faster than it is. 

The brakes have several levels of regenerative force to choose from and provide confidence when slowing in any situation. As with all modern cars, safety assistance comes in many forms, and the Honda e:NY1 has the 'Sensing' suite of safety technologies as standard. It uses cameras, radar and sonar sensors to provide the Driver with information and kicks in to aid them when required. Below 40mph, Traffic Jam Assist can be activated before it switches to the standard Lane Keeping Assist system at speeds above 40mph, which is reasonable safety assistance.

The e:NY1 has driving modes ranging from Econ to Sport, aimed at controlling the energy expenditure levels of the vehicle. They don't affect the basic driving experience, and I didn't see any considerable increase or decrease in range when going through the modes.

The Honda e:Ny1 should provide an efficiency of 3.1mpkWh at a 70mph cruise, converting to around 190 miles of range. I drove on all types of roads, from Motorways to narrow B roads, at all speeds, down to 5 mph at times because of the bends en route to the happy couples hotel. I even got on my friend's runway, where I could get the e:NY1 over the National Speed limit and maxed out just above the ton. So I saw the range ebb and flow from over 200 miles to getting home with 5 miles showing. Your range will increase or decrease depending on how you drive the car, like a petrol or diesel. 

The Honda e:NY1 proved an excellent car for all types of tasks thrown at it; in a week of many journies, varied cargo loads, a Bride-to-be visiting her make-up lady, stylist, dress supplier and then a Bride and her Groom in comfort, style, space and elegance to their reception and then Gatwick. Please think of me as the unsung Chauffer, dogsbody and the speechwriter. What a week, all supported by the superb e:NY1 SUV. 

You get two versions of the car to choose from,

price £44,995, rising to over £47,000 if you opt for the higher two trim levels.

e:Ny1 Elegance201bhp £44,995

e:Ny1 Advance201bhp £47,195