Honda Jazz Hybrid

You usually associate hybrids with Toyota and Lexus, but not Honda – Honda makes high-revving VTEC engines, right? However, the torque-rich nature of electric motors mean they’re ideally suited to a synchronous life with a petrol engine that produces power at high revs. And with the launch of the new, facelifted Jazz, Honda has squeezed an electrified powertrain into its sensible supermini. 

It’s the company’s fourth hybrid, which means Honda offers as many electrified models as Lexus in the UK, and more than Toyota. But things are a little complicated: not content with having the £16,675 Insight as the cheapest hybrid on sale in the UK, Honda has now undercut itself and will flog you the mechanically similar Jazz Hybrid for £680 less. 

So how does the new Honda Jazz Hybrid differ from the Honda Insight?

Both utilise the same 1.3-litre petrol engine, electric motor and CVT gearbox, but thanks to a lower, slipperier shape, the Insight is marginally cleaner and greener: 64.2mpg and 101g/km plays 62.8mpg and 104g/km. Honda’s excuse for the Jazz missing out on the tax-free (and smug grin-inducing) sub-100g/km mark is that such a feat would have necessitated a bigger set of batteries. Still, you can hardly keep up with the Joneses if your prospective new car isn’t as saintly as their pious Prius. 

However, on paper it looks good against other Jazz models. No diesels are available, but the 1.2-litre manages 53.3gmpg and 123g/km, the 1.4 achieves 51.4mpg and 126g/km, and a CVT-equipped 1.4 is a marginally better with 52.3mpg and 125g/km.