Prices for the Honda e electric car start from £29,660 – or, with the £3,500 government Plug-in Car Grant factored in, from £26,160.
Early reservation-holders, however, don’t want to pay that: they are eager to pay even more to secure the top-spec Honda e Advance variant, rather than the basic entry-grade car.
Indeed, revealed Honda at the launch event for the new Honda e, 9 in 10 UK orders to date are for the Advance model, which will cost £28,660 once the Plug-in Car Grant is taken off.
Hundreds of buyers, said Honda head of car Phil Webb, have put down an £800 deposit to be the first in line for the new EV, even before they’ve even seen or driven it.
Thousands more have shared their details with Honda to hear more about the e when it arrives in UK retailers this summer.
While some have expressed surprise at the price of the Honda e, given its compact size and 136-mile range, early adopters seem not to be worried.
Most are taking the invoice price to over £29,000 by adding on special paint: Webb said the vivid Charge Yellow was proving particularly popular.
To ease the shock of the price tag, Honda is launching the e with fixed-rate PCP finance offers. The basic Honda e costs £299 a month and the Honda e Advance is £349 a month.
The firm asks for a 23 percent deposit (from just under £6,000) and the deal is over 37 months, at 5.9 percent representative APR.
Finance prices include the Plug-in Car Grant, which Honda assumes the e will qualify for: at the moment, it is awaiting formal confirmation from the government that the car will be included in the scheme.
It anticipates to receive confirmation some time in January 2020.