did anyone catch that the new electric fit did away with the h-beam rear suspension so they could fit more batteries in... so they did an independent rear suspension...

the parts would be hard to get, but i have to wonder if things would be swap-able...

2013 Honda Fit EV [w/video]

 

Give it a few years and i'm sure the parts will become more available. I expect the Fit EV to do well here (CA) where every other car is a Prius or Leaf.

I am curious about how the suspension mounts up to the chassis, and if it uses points available on the regular Fit, or if different points were added for the EV. The batteries are mounted in the rear?

 

You'll have to define "do well here." :P Honda is only releasing 1100 Fit EVs to the US over the next two years. That's only about 50 per month. I'm sure they'll have no problem selling em all.

Reason is they will lose money on each one. It's a CARB-requirement car, although only Fiat's CEO was brazen enough to say "we are only making this because California is requiring it; we have no interest otherwise."

 

Do well here = 1000 out of 1100 EVs will probably be sold in CA

 

They are not being sold outright though I believe, just a pure lease with no option to buy it. I might be mistaken on that, but the outright cost is supposedly around $36k if it was able to be purchased, which means it is not at all worth it, even if the Fit was priced there by the current exchange rates, $11k is a lot of gas to be consumed, $16~18k is a METRIC SHIT TON of fuel. A $389/mo lease for 3 years is what is going to be offered to include a portion of insurance as part of the lease plan. This vehicle is more like experimentation for Honda, sort of like the CNG Civics that were on a lease only or the FCX Clarity.

 

Yes - you have got it. Lease only. It might actually be a "good deal" in terms of the lease payment vs the "price" (in this case whatever the price would have to be to sell it at something resembling a profit). But still not cheap, given what else you can get for the same lease payment.

But you'll have something very high tech, better range than any other EV in that price bracket, and something few others have.

I think it's smart for Honda to lease only on experimental cars. It means if anything goes wrong, you don't have any irate owners - they're going to be giving the cars back no matter what. Same thing on the FCX Clarity. I would rather have that, and like the EV, you'd need to live in Cali as that's the only place there are even a few public H2 filling stations.

But heck for this price you could get an NSX and that's what I'd have.

 

So whos going to try the conversion first?
All parts can be sourced from dealer.
Im willing to bet you could also do a 5 lug conversion from the ev as well.

I really want the spoiler, if anyone knows how it fits?

 

I looked into this. The part diagrams look very, very different. IE it's not just suspension pieces, but the entire rear pan/wheel wells (I don't know the words for these pieces) are different. They have to be to accommodate the batteries and then the suspension had to be designed to mate up properly to the new shape. That is my impression anyway. Feel free to look into it more, I should not claim to be right just from looking at parts diagrams.

 

So it seems like the entire rear chassis and floorpan of the Fit EV is different from the dinosaur-juice-powered version?

Honda did a clever bit of hiding it through the bodywork, but the Fit EV is also quite a bit taller - again supposedly due to the packaging of the electric gubbins. It isn't obvious until you park the two Fits side by side. I wonder if the re-jiggered suspension had something to do with that, too.

 

I think it is keen for Honda to rent just on test autos. It connotes if any of the above wrong, you don't have any angry possessors they are determined to be giving the autos back no matter what.

 

I missed this the first time sorry. Yes the floorpan is different. I didn't know that it was taller, but sure, I assume it could have something to do with it!

 

Saw my first Fit EV on the road yesterday in Silicon Valley.

It's too bad if the rear suspension mounting points are different

The spoiler and sideskirts are cool though, i'd use them if I could get my hands on em. Tail lights too.

 

Parts will not be available for sale as these cars will not be sold. They are for lease only. GM did it in the 90's with there electric cars.