Honda’s green dream!
HONDA is going green with its new sixth-generation CR-V — the world’s best-selling SUV — by ditching its frugal diesel engine and replacing it with a petrolelectric hybrid.
Launching at next week’s Geneva Motor Show, the hybrid model will be available to buy early next year. Expect prices between £24,000 and £37,000.
The switch to hybrid is significant as more than nine million family CR-Vs have been sold globally since the first generation model first went on sale in Japan in 1995, including 270,689 sold in the UK since 1996. It marks another milestone in the demise of diesel.
The all-new CR-V features a 2-litre petrol engine and two electric motors. Also available is a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine.
For the first time, the petrolversion, with first deliveries in the autumn, will have the option of seven seats. But don’t expect radical styling; it’s evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
There’s more room inside thanks to a longer wheelbase. The boot is wider and deeper, and a hands-free power tailgate makes loading easier. Starting with the first CR-V launched more than 20 years ago, I have owned and driven most of Honda’s SUVs — many built in Swindon.
Their off-road capability might have been limited to grass and gravel, but all have proved comfortable, flexible and reliable. I never planned to become a CR-V owner, but in the Nineties, when my eye was on a sporty coupe, I learned I was to become a dad, and realised we needed something more practical.
While testing the original CR-V, I felt it fitted the bill, so bought it and have been a fan since.