The Honda e is a small electric car with a big price. This can put many buyers off and we wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t remember the last time you saw one on Britain’s roads – it is as rare as hen’s teeth.

This is a shame, since the Honda e is an excellent electric vehicle (EV) in many regards. However, a couple of major stumbling blocks mean that your attention may be diverted to other all-electric city cars instead, including the better-value Fiat 500 Electric or Renault Zoe.

It’s probably best to consider the e as a rival to the MINI Electric, as it’s also a fashion-led small runabout that scores big on personality and quality at the expense of some slightly more pragmatic concerns such as electric battery range and interior space.

You may well swallow that premium once you consider the style on offer. This is a head-turning design, especially in brighter metallic paint choices, and the high-tech vibe continues inside, where you will find one of the freshest, most modern interiors we can think of at any price.

Just make sure you can live with the relatively low EV range on offer before you commit. Its modest 36kWh battery capacity is considerably smaller than many rival EVs (a Peugeot e-208‘s is 50kWh), restricting its real-world usage. Honda quotes a WLTP range of up to 137 miles, but we struggled to drive much further than 100 miles on one charge when we lived with one for half a year.

Click through our Honda e review for a full appraisal of the cabin and eye-popping tech on offer as well as how it performs in day-to-day life, how it drives and the ownership experience. Then we’ll offer our Parkers verdict you can trust.