Honda CUVe Is The Ultimate Urban Scooter Failure You Never Expected

Hello everyone. Let’s rip the Band-Aid off quickly here – the Honda CUVe is Honda’s “big” debut into the 125cc-equivalent electric scooter category, and somehow it manages to be both charming and a bit of a letdown at the same time. Like being served a beautifully plated gourmet meal, only to find out they forgot the seasoning – and the portion size could feed a hamster on a diet. But let’s grab our scalpel and dissect what this thing is really about.

Design & Ergonomics – Eye Candy With Some Cramped Realities

You can’t fault Honda’s designers here: the CUVe looks great, with its clean lines, elegant front end, and overall fit and finish punching way above its price bracket. Yes, it’s penned by the same guy behind Honda’s 2020 CBR1000RR-R, and you can actually see that sporting flair. The textures are solid, nothing feels cheap, and the “key in your pocket” start-up is blissfully gadgety. Lightweight, low seat height – all good. But if you’ve got legs longer than your average RPG NPC, you’ll feel like you’ve been shoved into economy class on a budget airline, steering a toy bike.

Connectivity & Application – Big Screen, Bigger Price Padding

The “Connected” version gifts you a massive 7-inch TFT – which on a scooter’s cockpit looks about as subtle as strapping a gaming ultrawide monitor to a typewriter. It’s slick, responsive, with joystick control, Mapbox GPS, music, call handling, and even battery percentage at arrival. Cool? Yes. Essential? Not when it slaps an extra €600 onto the price. The app itself lets you track battery level and plan routes, but you can only sign in with Google or Apple accounts – so much for open ecosystems… suspiciously corporate, if you ask me.

Performance – Quick Enough for the City… And That’s It

Honda brags about 83 km/h top speed, and if you’re coasting downhill with a tailwind, maybe you’ll scrape 92 km/h on the dash. For getting around town? Fine. For highway? Forget it. The 6 kW motor is mounted tastefully in the aluminum swingarm, and yes, it can handle hills with a passenger without bursting into an electrical panic attack. But honestly, it doesn’t deliver that electric “wow” acceleration – it’s more “polite handshake” than “punch to the chest.” Speaking of disappointments, there’s no ABS – just combined braking (CBS). Sure, it keeps price and weight down, but in 2025, that’s a corner they really didn’t need to cut.

Comfort & Equipment – Honda’s Idea of Urban Luxury

Suspension travel: 90 mm in front, 75 mm in back. Translation: ride over a pothole and your vertebrae play Tetris. On smooth streets, perfectly fine – but in real-world urban chaos, you’re going to start slaloming around manhole covers like you’re playing an arcade rally game. Still, the kit list is solid: USB-C port, central stand, keyless start, two removable batteries. Downsides? No underseat storage (thanks, batteries) and yes, still no ABS. You’ll need a top box unless you plan to carry groceries like a medieval peasant.

Autonomy & Charging – Bring a Calendar

Two 1.3 kWh batteries give you a real-world 50–60 km range. Honda claims 72 km if you want to drain them dry, but why gamble on arriving at work sweaty and pushing your scooter like some bizarre CrossFit routine? Charging is 6 hours from empty, or 2 hours 40 from 25% to 75%. That’s okay if you charge at the office, but still sluggish if you need quick turnaround. Oh, and the batteries discharge simultaneously, so you can’t run on one while charging the other. Cute.

Price & Verdict – Worth the Coins?

The CUVe starts at €3,999, or €4,599 if you opt for the “Connected” tech bling. Compare that to competitors with higher top speeds, beefier motors, and yes – ABS – and Honda’s offering feels like you’re paying for premium paint and a badge. Sure, it’s agile, well-built, perfect for short urban commutes, and comes with Honda’s reliability wrapped in a nice 6-year vehicle warranty (3 for the batteries). But if you want versatility beyond city limits, you’re in the wrong place.

Final Diagnosis

As a doctor, my prescription for Honda would be this: increase the range, raise the speed ceiling, and for goodness’ sake, give the patient ABS before sending them home. The CUVe is a nice, well-groomed city tool, but not a revolutionary game-changer. It’s like a pretty NPC in a game with zero quest value – pretty to look at, quick for errands, but don’t expect it to follow you into battle. Overall? Good intentions, decent execution, but a limited scope of use.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

Article source: Test Honda CUVe : un scoot élec’ simple et efficace, https://www.lesnumeriques.com/scooter/honda-cuve-p76924/test.html