Export markets like Europe and Australia mean Honda's Super-One EV will come under more safety scrutiny than its Japan-only donor car.
Honda Australia’s first electric vehicle (EV) – the 2026 Super-One – may be based on Japan’s N-One kei car, but it was designed to meet international safety standards of larger cars, according to the brand.
However, whether that means the Super-One will achieve a maximum five-star safety rating in Euro NCAP and Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) testing remains to be seen.
According to Honda Japan, the “Super-One is developed to the passenger car crash standard” wherein vehicles need to be subjected to a government-mandated side impact crash test at 32km/h.
However, kei cars – sold exclusively in Japan, but readily available in Australia through grey imports – undergo the same test at a slower 26km/h impact.
While the Super-One is based on the N-One car, it is longer and wider than kei-car limitations – the former “less than 3.6m long and less than 1.6m wide”, while the latter is capped at 3.4m long and 1.48m wide.
This means the Super-One cannot be classed as a kei car, even in its home market of Japan, despite sharing the same platform, underpinnings, and some interior components.
On top of government crash testing in its home market, Japan’s crash-test safety body, JNCAP, also tests vehicles, but uses differing protocols and standards compared to Australia's crash-test body ANCAP, which is aligned with Euro NCAP.
For reference, under JNCAP testing, the N-One was awarded a four-star score from testing in 2021, notching a ‘B’ rank (76 per cent) for collision safety performance and an ‘A’ rank (93 per cent) for preventive safety performance.
However, with the Super-One being exported to Europe and Australia, it is expected Honda Japan will target the highest possible safety rating.
Perceived rivals to the Honda Super-One in Australia include the BYD Atto 1 and Fiat 500e – both of which are physically larger, but wear a five- and four-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2025 and 2021 respectively.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
