Little did the rest of the auto industry know that Tesla was on to something when it first expanded from producing the Lotus-based Roadster to offering the Model S and Model X. And this isn't about Tesla revealing that there was pent-up demand for electric cars, it's about how the company learned that offering reservations for its vehicles is a clever way to engage customers with a car that has yet to be built.

It's a move the rest of the auto industry has taken up as it struggles to release electric cars in a timely manner, with Volkswagen, Audi, and even BMW opening up reservations for the ID.3, e-tron, and X3i, respectively before having finished products at the dealership. And now it's Honda's turn because the Japanese automaker has just announced that it is opening the reservation books for its upcoming urban electric car, the Honda e.