Weak sales push Honda e:Ny1 out, back towards hybrids
Honda is pulling the e:Ny1, its only fully electric crossover in Europe, after the model failed to convince buyers with its high price and modest credentials. The decision says rather more than the end of one slow selling car. It suggests Honda is now correcting its wider electric vehicle strategy and, for the near future at least, leaning more clearly towards hybrids.
According to Handelsblatt, Honda’s European operation confirmed that the model had reached the final phase of its life cycle and that several countries were no longer accepting new orders. In Germany, the car has already disappeared from the configurator, and the same pattern appears to be emerging in other key markets.
When the e:Ny1 arrived in Europe in 2023, it offered 204 bhp and up to 412 km of WLTP range. The problem was that it entered the market at a price that made comparisons with rivals distinctly uncomfortable for Honda. Even after price corrections, the company managed to sell only 105 cars in 2025, which suggests the issue was not simply weaker enthusiasm for EVs in general, but the model’s own awkward positioning.
Orders have already been halted in Germany, Italy and Spain, while Honda plans to redirect remaining stock to markets where demand is holding up slightly better, chiefly Northern Europe and the UK. So no, Honda is not abandoning electric cars in Europe overnight. It is, however, easing off the throttle quite noticeably.
A car that never found its place
Europe’s electric car market has not collapsed, but the e:Ny1 never found a convincing role in a segment where buyers expect, for the same money, either more range, faster charging or a stronger EV identity. Not just a familiar badge. Honda arrived with a car that looked perfectly competent, but beside its competitors it felt thin gruel.
That matters because the market has become less forgiving. Buyers will tolerate compromise in an affordable EV. They are far less patient when the price suggests something more ambitious.
A broader strategic retreat
More significant still is the strategic shift behind the decision. Honda is said to be focusing more heavily on hybrids under its revised plan, while some cheaper electric newcomers will reach only selected regions. In the UK, the brand’s electric presence after the e:Ny1 is expected to rest on the small Super N hatchback, which is due to go on sale later this year.
That points to a measured retreat rather than a change of ideology. Honda is not giving up on electric cars in principle. It is scaling back its ambition until it can offer products with a better balance of price, positioning and substance.
The disappearance of the e:Ny1 from Europe does not signal the end of EVs. It shows that Honda’s first serious attempt at a premium priced electric SUV missed the mark. The market was fairly ruthless with a model that managed to be too expensive, too ordinary and technically too unremarkable all at once.
