There is a big push right now encouraging motorists to switch to electric cars. If your current car is at least 15 years old, from July 1st there will be attractive Government grants which will make it easier to switch to full electric
But, as we all know, those proposed European dates for a total switch to electric by 2035 mode are not now going to happen and there is nothing wrong with driving a hybrid car like the Honda Jazz Crosstar which I drove last week. You won’t spend hours charging it and you definitely won’t have to make many pit-stops to fill up with petrol.
Honda produce some classy looking cars, but they are not cheap. Their cars have been available on the Irish market for a long time, but in recent years they were very low key, with poor sales figures. However, now that Honda is part of the expanding Gowan Group, I think we are going to hear a lot more about the Japanese brand.
Honda was founded in 1946 by Soihiro Honda and has been the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959. By 1963, the people at Honda decided that it was time to move on to automobiles, and they produced their first automobile, which was a truck, the T360. Then the S500 was their first real car.
The Jazz nameplate has been used by Honda to denote several different motorised vehicles since 1982,
Then in 1999, Honda decided that adding batteries would be a good idea and so created their first hybrid model. They were the second car manufacturer, after Toyota, to introduce a hybrid car, and last week my test car was a 1.5-litre Jazz e-HEV, which was very frugal.
The neat Jazz has been around in one form or another since 2001. It has been recently updated and now comes as a hybrid-only with an upgraded engine that offers more power while maintaining its impressive economy.
Last week, I drove their Crosstar version, which has a few nice touches, like two silver roof rails, which adds to the height of the car.
The cabin is very neat, and the infotainment screen doesn’t really dominate the dash. I did miss a wireless charger, but otherwise no complaints. The seats are made from water repellent upholstery and can be easily cleaned.
I love listening to various radio stations in press cars. Many new cars now have a plethora of Onic stations. But last week, the Honda it had a good old style ‘scan’ button for the radio which I enjoyed experimenting with. You get three old style buttons for the air con and plenty of slave controls on the steering wheel. The glove compartment is split in two.
The boot space is 300 litres, which is normal for a car of this size, but the back seat folds flat which provides more luggage space if required. That back seat can take three adults at a squeeze, but naturally it’s more comfortable with just two people back there.
The two words that best describe the Crosstar are lively and frugal. But the bad news comes when you see the price. Prices start at €31,495 for the Elegance version of the Jazz, but the Crosstar version will cost you €34,950. And that’s why I have sympathy for the salespeople in Honda, as most small EV’s are going to beat this hybrid on price.
A really bright car that would, I think, be ideal for a young person thinking of buying their first car, or for an empty-nester who is not willing to go the fully electric route.
Average fuel consumption was around 5.0 litres in urban driving. That’s close to 70 miles per gallon in ‘old’ money. I had the car for a week and did a lot of urban driving, often in heavy traffic, but I returned the car with half a tank of petrol. Yes, it was that frugal.
