Honda has scored itself a little bit of an American electric car feather in its cap today.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has come out with the Honda Fit electric car’s miles-per-gallon equivalency (MPGe) rating, and it looks to top other mainstream EVs on the road at the moment.
Honda said its Fit EV has been rated by the EPA with a MPGe rating of 118, besting the previous top ender, the 2012 Mitsubishi i, by seven. Furthermore, this car has also been rated with a very low electricity consumption rating of 29 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100 miles, again putting it as the best of its category of vehicle. This translates into what the EPA says is a projected annual “fuel cost” of only $500.
Also of note here is that fact the Honda Fit EV, with its 20-kWh lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, has an official EPA estimated combined city/highway range of 82 miles. This makes Honda’s electric car range rating greater than that of the Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i and Nissan Leaf, though it is beat out by the Coda Sedan, whose range on a single charge is around 88 miles.
The Honda Fit EV, with its 132/105/118 city/highway/combined MPGe estimates, has a 92 kilowatt (123 horsepower) coaxial electric motor that the automaker says generates 188 ft-lb of torque. The vehicle’s chassis comes with a fully-independent suspension and a driver-selectable 3-mode electric drive system “adapted from the CR-Z Sport Hybrid.”
Current retail on the Honda Fit EV is set for around $37,415. Honda, which has been testing out the vehicle in California, currently has plans to begin leasing it out to customers in select California and Oregon markets this summer, followed by an East Coast rollout in 2013. It will be offered with a three-year $389/month lease.
