2013 Honda Fit EV - Fit For The Future

A. story: I look forward to our electrified future, should such a future come to pass, and the fit EV is reason for optimism.

In a nutshell, this is a good commuter: It’s smooth-riding with good steering response, comfortable interior materials for what it is and intelligently designed controls. Average drivers can put it in D and pretend they’re piloting a regular Fit – the only real difference is the utter lack of engine noise.

2013 Honda Fit EV

It doesn’t quite match the Ford Focus Electric as a driver, but the Fit EV offers unequalled outward visibility and storage flexibility. It’s like a carnival funhouse that is impossibly large on the inside considering its exterior dimensions.

It’s going to take a breakthrough in electricity storage to bring the price down and the range up to acceptable levels before the general public flocks to EVs en masse. But when that breakthrough occurs, it’s going to be a second Golden Age of the automobile; I, for one, welcome our torque-filled future.

It’s smooth-riding with good steering response, comfortable interior materials for what it is and intelligently designed controls

Bob gritzinger: Welcome to the future, 50 miles at a time. Range anxiety aside, I really like this car.

Unlike most electrics, hybrids and the Chevy Volt, this Fit is normal in nearly every way except the powertrain and the instrument panel. Oh, and you plug it in instead of stopping for gas. This car neither feels nor drives like a science project. Other than the “FIT EV” badging on the lower door panels, the exterior is the same as a normal Fit. Inside, it’s all the same except for the IP. The nav system is familiar Honda/Acura stuff, the shifter is normal – heck, you even use an actual key in a keyhole to start the car. Novel!

2013 Honda Fit EV side

Once you turn the key, it is evident this isn’t a normal powertrain, though. There’s no starter noise or engine hum. When the dash reads “ready”, you put the vehicle in gear and whir away. Otherwise, the Fit EV seems to drive like any other Fit, but with more torque on tap.

If this kind of silent, torque power is the future, I’m all in. once the range and recharge breakthroughs come we’ll all be embracing the EV future.

There’s no starter noise or engine hum. When the dash reads “ready”, you put the vehicle in gear and whir away.