Honda has always had a knack for doing things its own way, and today marks the arrival of a vehicle that could become one of the brand’s most important launches in New Zealand for years.
Here at the New Zealand launch of the all-new Honda Super-One, the focus is clearly on delivering a vehicle that meets the changing needs of Kiwi buyers: combining efficiency, practicality, technology and value in a package designed for modern lifestyles.
Honda’s reputation has been built on reliability, intelligent engineering and an ability to create vehicles that feel greater than the sum of their parts. With the Super One, the brand is aiming to build on that legacy while embracing the future, offering a fresh interpretation of what customers expect from a contemporary Honda.
As competition across the market continues to intensify, the Super One arrives at a time when buyers are seeking smarter solutions without compromise. Today gives us the opportunity to get a closer look at Honda’s latest thinking, explore the technology beneath the skin, and find out whether this newcomer has what it takes to stand out in one of the most competitive segments on the market.
Let’s take a closer look at the Honda Super One and see what makes this launch such an important moment for the brand.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE: LAUNCH AND DETAILS
According to Honda New Zealand (HNZ), “it’s not just a model, a chance to do something different in the market”. The way they are talking, it feels like this new model is as much of an icon car to Honda as the Civic Type R.
Make no mistake, the front-wheel drive Super-One is a Kei car – one “designed for crowded urban environments”. It’s small sized, but big fun, says Honda.
The company is no stranger to building Kei cars, after the launch of the miniscule N360 way back in 1967. HNZ had an N360 on display next to the Super One, and it still amazes in its small size, attention to detail, and clever packaging.
The N360 was launched at the 1967 Tokyo Motor Show, one that attracted 1.5 million visitors. Perhaps that led to the N360’s success of selling more than one million units in 43 months.
Of course, you can’t talk about Honda Kei cars without mentioning the City, and its crazy-fast Turbo II variant.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE: DESIGN
There is no mistaking the City Turbo II in the Super-One’s design. The front design and the flared wheel arches are a dead giveaway. Side-on, there is also a strong resemblance. At certain angles, it feels like someone has given AI an image of the City Turbo II and told it to design it for 2026.
At the front of the new car are functional air curtain ducts, channeling air through and over the brakes. The front has an obvious feature of using recycled bumper material, and it adds something a bit special and different to the front of the car. The same functional air curtains exist on the rear side of the car and exit air through the rear bumper.
Side-on, there are what seem like tiny 15” alloy wheels, those pronounced wheel arches and happily, normal door handles.
The interior design includes – also very happily – Magic Seats in the rear. It is excellent that Honda has seen to fit the new car with these amazing yet simple seats.
The total length of the car is just 3,850mm, but there is ample interior room they say, and there are other design features such as the central display, that is not higher than the dashboard to allow for better visibility.
There’s also built-in Google capability, two-tone seats, an 8-speaker Bose audio system with a separate bass speaker, and LED interior lighting that changes with the drive modes.
On the dash, there is blue accent trim using recycled plastics, and the carpet mats are also made from recycled plastic bottles.
The sports front seats are designed on the mighty but crazy City Turbo II and have two-stage heating. The steering wheel is also heated and has paddles to adjust brake regeneration (regen) or the “gears” when in Sport or Boost modes.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE: EV SPECS
There are 5 drive modes: Boost, Sport, Normal, City, and Econ. Boost mode is operated by a button on the steering wheel. Each drive mode has different engine sounds and settings, with Sport and Boost having a simulated 7-speed automatic transmission, with torque matching to each ‘gear’, says Honda.
City Mode adds one-pedal driving and is the only mode to have this but there are multiple levels of regen in the other modes.
What is Boost mode? “How do you make an EV more fun? What you hear, what you feel, what you see,” says Honda. It bumps up engine power from 47kW to 70kW, a 49% increase. It also performs simulated up and downshifts and has what is described as an amazing engine sound accompanying it through 5 of the car’s speakers, tuned to make it sound like the noise is coming from the front of the car. There is no time limit to using Boost mode as in other cars, you can turn it on, and just leave it on, but obviously the range of your Super-One will be affected.
The car has Honda’s Sensing suite of driver safety systems. But the car has not gone through ANCAP testing yet, so there is no ANCAP safety rating at this time.
As far as the EV side of the car goes, there’s a 30kWh battery pack, small but you will “spend less time charging”, says Honda. The Super-One takes a maximum charge of 50kW, and has an NEDC range of up to 253km.
The car weighs a very respectable 1,093Kg – minimal for an EV, thanks to that small battery pack.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE: MODELS
There are two grades of Super-One in New Zealand:
- Honda Super-One: $41,900
- Honda Super-One Kuro Edition: $44,900 for Kuro edition
Just 50 Super-Ones will be available between August and March of 2027.
There will be 3 colours available in the first shipment; Black, Purple and Grey.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE: HONDA CONNECT
Buying your Super-One gives you a 3-year subscription to Honda Connect, which allows access to the phone app and features like a digital key, geofencing, car status, remote charging status, remote AC control, and other features. There is no firm cost yet after the first three years yet, but it’s estimated to be $10/month.
The Super-One comes with a 5-year unlimited km warranty, 5 years of Roadside Assistance, and an 8-year or 160,000km battery warranty.
There are fixed-price service plans available, at $1,299 for a 3-year plan and $2,199 for 5 years.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE LAUNCH: DRIVE IMPRESSIONS
First impressions on seeing the car are good. Here is something that is different and still attractive – especially in purple (but that might just be me). It’s small, but it pops out from other cars simply in its design. A real breath of fresh air, so credit to the designers of the car.
Checking out the boot area, it’s small (Honda says they haven’t got the capacity of the boot with the seats up, but AI says it’s 162 litres), but the loading height is extremely low.
Inside the car, while the side windows are large and visibility is generally excellent, there is a black headliner that makes it feel smaller.
Heading off in Auckland city, the car feels smooth, and feels good. It manages the city streets perfectly, and a real surprise is the ride quality; at just 1,093kg, the ride quality is outstanding, even when driving over cobblestone streets.
With just an hour to get some driving in, it was a quick trip over the harbour bridge and back. The seats are supremely comfy, even though they look very sporty. On the road, the car feels solid and well planted – pretty much like any other Honda.
When using the car in City, Econ or Normal mode, the steering wheel paddles operate brake regen. Like other Hondas with any regen capability, the left (-) paddle increases regen, while the right-hand (+) paddle decreases it. It seems back to front, especially when you then move to Sport or Boost mode, and the paddles work in a more expected fashion, with – changing down a ‘gear’ and + changing up.
Does this mimic the mighty Hyundai Ioniq 5N In a way it does, and in my short time with the car, it started to feel like a 5N in some ways, but not the price. Does the changing of gears work? In practice, yes. Honda says they match the torque curve of the electric engine to each speed of the fake gearbox, so it does make the car feel more like a ‘real’ car with a transmission, than one without. We can’t call it just yet, but it feels like they have succeeded.
Likewise, the engine sounds could be a lot worse. We’ve seen some terrible examples of fake engine noises, and while the one in the Super-One is a bit quiet, it sounds decent. Perhaps not like a V8 as they suggested, but still pretty good.
On the motorway, running the car in Normal or City mode was fine; performance seemed up to the task. But as we climbed the harbour bridge, putting my foot down saw limited acceleration, so I put Boost on. I think loaded up, a driver is going to use Boost on the motorway and hills a fair bit, but around town, I expect it would be fine.
One of the keywords that Honda is using for the Super-One is “fun”. In my short time with the car, I’d say it’s a yes to that – but will wait until we get one to review for a week before putting money on it.
2026 HONDA SUPER-ONE LAUNCH: SUMMARY
With the BYD Atto1 firmly in its sights, the minuscule Super One impresses so far. It’s funky, well-priced, drives very well and is well equipped. I can see Honda New Zealand selling their allocation out very quickly.
