Hybrid, electric or petrol? The choice is yours at Honda
If you’re looking for a leading car brand that provides options to suit all your needs, Honda’s range has a choice of solutions.
It’s interesting to note that some manufacturers are going down the 100 per cent electric route for every single car in their range. Although that’ll delight the eco community, it won’t suit a lot of drivers in this country for the simple reason that they don’t have sufficiently decent access to the charging network.
Honda is playing it safe and giving you the option of a bit of everything. Sensible move.
If you DO want to go all-electric, Honda has a couple of options: the family-sized e:Ny1 and the Honda e, which is terrific for those of you who mainly do local and city driving.
The Honda e is one of the cutest cars around… looks brilliant… and is good to drive too.
If you like the size of the e:Ny1 but aren’t sure about 100% electric, no problem. Go for the HR-V self-charging hybrid which comes with a 1.5-litre petrol engine and gives you around 52 mpg. It looks really smart and comes with loads of kit.
If you do a lot of driving in heavy traffic, you’ll waft along in silence as the battery does all of the work and the engine takes a break.
Hybrid options
The hybrid set-up of the HR-V is very similar to those found in the Jazz, ultra-popular Civic, CR-V and the recently launched ZR-V.
The ZR-V fits in between the Honda CR-V and larger HR-V. It’s basically an SUV version of the Honda Civic, which is no bad thing because the Civic is an excellent car. The oily bits are the same – a 2.0 litre petrol engine with a CVT gearbox. Economy is excellent with 60 mpg attainable. The technology is clever because, unlike most hybrids where the engine is powering the wheels and only boosts the battery when you decelerate or brake, the Honda ZR-V engine is really there to charge the battery which drives the wheels via two electric motors.
For most of the time the ZR-V drives like an electric car with instant power and silent running, but there’s always the petrol engine for extra power and extra reassurance. There’s no range anxiety with the Honda self-charging hybrids.
The ZR-V is a great choice for families. The interior is really smart and it’s well equipped too.
The ZR-V has a fresh new face for Honda; same reliability, value and attention to detail though. Oh, and Honda cars hang onto their value like a limpet. Go and check them out. You can also take advantage of some terrific incentives, including finance and servicing packages available until 30yth June 2024.
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