mike lowe, resteditor
- Updated 27 january 2022 –
Price when testing £26,960
While the e:HEV is smart for smooth city driving and great efficiency, the delivery to the engine is noisy and the car feels overwhelmed. it is this drive quality that lets the third generation HR-V down, otherwise this baby crossover SUV is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor in terms of visual style and infotainment quality. Read conclusion
- Visually a very big and positive step up from the old HR-V
- The infotainment system finally enters the present
- decent economy (approx. 50 mpg in our real-world tests)
- The transition from electric to combustion is missing
- Not the oomph of an all-electric competitor
- More expensive than the nearest competitor (yaris cross comes to mind)
This page has been translated with AI and machine learning.
(pocket-lint) – welcome the third generation honda HR-V. What is special about this baby crossover SUV?? Well, it’s now called the e:HEV, which means it has a true hybrid powertrain.
That is, without ever having to plug it in to recharge, you get the benefits of an electric motor powering the vehicle – well, sometimes. This is unusual for a car at this end of the market and contributes to both smoothness and efficiency.
But does that make the honda HR-V e:HEV feel as advanced as its truly modern looks suggest, or is it more halfway between internal combustion and pure electric drive, without the true all-in benefits of either here?
Design
It was in 2016 when we reviewed the second-generation HR-V , and what a difference the five or so years since then have made to the third-generation model. The HR-V in 2022 looks simple much more modern and thoughtful look, a true contemporary Japanese vision of a modern crossover SUV. Only in the side view there is great similarity with the old model.
It’s really that visual flair that will help set the HR-V apart from many of its similarly priced competitors – toyota yaris cross as a hybrid rival, which comes directly to mind; the mazda MX-30 , which has some appeal as an all-electric short-range runner – with its horizontal grille lines cutting through the front and framing those pinched-together headlights; while the rear mirrors the horizontal theme, with a full-length light bar seeing the part.
Small details emphasize the contemporary look: the rear door handles, for example, are not visible and open up the body frame from the intersection of the rear window, as opposed to the more traditional handles on the front doors; the way the headlights are recessed into the body to add extra pop; while the eye-catching five-spoke alloy wheels on which our test car rides add to its attractive appeal.
Interior
Open the driver’s door and it’s also a medley of relative modernity inside. Not on the luxury scale of an audi, but maintain your expectations at this price, and we think honda has struck a fair balance.
The main points are that the seats are comfortable, there’s plenty of space front and rear – an insignificant-sounding 4 cm of knee room has been added to the rear seats for this generation, but that makes all the difference – and the trunk offers 316 liters of space (which is by no means exactly massive).
The shifter is a fairly conventional style for an automatic car that takes up quite a bit of space, but it’s easy to use and there’s also a toggle switch for setting the drive mode nearby.
That’s a hint that honda is taking the more classic practical approach of the HR-V interior with its finish that uses physical buttons and dials instead of going ultra-modern with touch panels everywhere. We’re okay with that, since pressing the seat-heater button or turning the climate control knob gives quick results – no endless digging that you have to do in certain other modern cars (like the VW ID3 ).
Technology
On the dashboard is also mounted a 9-inch display, which brings the infotainment system of the HR-V in a much more current state than the outgoing system from honda. This is a sigh of relief, as honda was really quite behind in this department in the not too distant past.