When news of the small, fully electric, rear-wheel drive Honda e broke, it sent the world into a frenzy over its adorable looks and the sporty driving characteristics that would come with it.
As the company attempts to establish the city car and move towards a more carbon neutral way of motoring, it seems that no one has any desire to build a Type R variant of the cute little city car.
At the e's world debut in Frankfurt last week, project leader Kohei Hitomi told Autocar that it wouldn't make any sense to offer a Type R variant, due to the direction that they are going with the e.
"A performance version, like Type R, as we have on different models: I see this is not the way to go with the e," he said. "For some segments, it might be the right choice and Type R is a way to express Honda’s capability as a sporty brand. But for Honda e, we want to provide a new dimension of values for our customers."
Instead of performance, Hitamo revealed that they are planning on updating the e's AI system among other connectivity services. Which makes perfect sense for the little commuter.
"There will be more interaction, AI, connectivity and other services to provide new values to the customers which are not able to be provided with conventional propulsion systems." he said.
In standard form, the Honda e is available with 99kW or a more powerful variant, packing 114kW. Both power trains feature the same battery, and are said to be good for up to 220km on one charge.
European pricing was recently announced, but Honda hasn't mentioned whether they are planning on selling the e outside of Europe.