Despite being the self-conscious subjects of a photoshoot in the busy car park in Bedfordshire’s Dunstable Downs, no one pays a blind bit of notice to us. Clearly, as a couple, my wife and I are as commonplace to the families, walkers and kite flyers up here on a breezy Sunday morning as the Honda CR-V hybrid that is actually the quietly unassuming star of every shot.
There are plenty of SUVs in view, even a few other Honda CR-Vs – hardly surprising, given it’s the world’s most popular SUV. More than 9m have been sold since it was launched back in 1995.
When it comes to cars, “popular” is a good thing. It means dependable, safe and cheap to run and, consequently, as eye-catching as denim. And yet, this fifth-generation model of the CR-V is remarkable in its own way. It’s a hybrid with an engine that combines the best aspects of petrol combustion and electric to power it.
Given the huge surge in popularity of the SUV over the past decade – they account for 60% of the increase in new car sales since 2010 – and their significantly greater emissions against smaller vehicles, it’s pressing that more efficient, less-polluting models become part of the mix.
The CR-V runs in three modes and defaults to electric under 30mph, meaning it’s incredibly thrifty
Our CR-V is powered via a combination of a 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle engine and two electric motors via Honda’s integrated motor assist (IMA) system, meaning it runs in three modes: EV, hybrid and petrol, constantly defaulting to electric at speeds below 30mph. In this mode, the electric motors are used to drive the wheels, using energy from the battery that was previously harvested from the petrol engine while driving at higher speeds. This means the petrol engine is generally used at lower revs, making it more fuel efficient and quieter.
And, golly, is it quiet. Honda’s noise-cancelling system makes it feel like a deserted chapel as we drive around this Sunday morning, albeit one with heated pews.
“You’d hear a squirrel squeak if you ran over one,” observes my wife as we drive stealthily over to Ivinghoe Beacon, where we like to walk at weekends. Luckily, no such tragedy occurs. Honda’s cross-traffic sensor warns me of a jogger as I begin to reverse (I spot him a moment later in the handy rear camera), and the CR-V hybrid has a collision detection system that prevents a rear-end shunt by slamming on the anchors for you. Having recently endured a trip to Bristol in horrendous stop-start motorway traffic, aggravated by a succession of these infuriating incidents, I’d make this feature mandatory in every car.
As for efficiency, the car shifts modes seamlessly, meaning it’s incredibly thrifty, capable of 56mpg in town. You can have fun stretching its electric running, too, through regenerative braking via two paddles behind the steering wheel that slow it like changing down gears in a manual, although, given its powertrain, the CR-V hybrid is an automatic. And because of the way it tops up the batteries, there’s no recharging, so no “powernoia” on long journeys.
“You don’t really have to do much, do you?” says my wife approvingly, when she takes the wheel. “I could get used to this.”
On the motorway, the car switches to petrol mode at high speed and proves adept at eating up the miles in comfort. There’s a suite of driver-assist features including adaptive cruise control that will adjust distance to the car ahead, lane-keep assistance, in case you wander, and a speed limiter that will automatically maintain a specified speed – handy for the inevitable 50mph surveillance sections. For someone who views a future of driverless cars as dystopian, this level of autonomy feels perfectly acceptable to me.
Inside, it’s roomy and well supplied with storage points. The centre console swallows my wife’s chunky handbag whole. There are cup holders for coffee addicts and bottle racks in the door pockets, along with charge points for phones.
Honda’s CR-V is the world’s most popular SUV – more than 9m have been sold since its launch in 1995
The boot is roomy enough for a dog. Put the rear seats down and you could probably fit a Shetland pony in. Shell out for the top-of-the-range EX model and it’s also automated, meaning you can open it by waggling your foot underneath, handy for the big shop. All but the most basic models boast a centre console with a 7in touchscreen. I had the radio set to 6 Music within a couple of minutes and the sound from the nine speakers was impressive. You can use its Garmin navigation system or set up a smartphone instead, if you wish.
CR-V stands for “compact recreational vehicle”, but perhaps “considerately reinvented vehicle” is a better fit?
Honda has raised the ambition of its Electric Vision strategy to ensure that all European mainstream models feature electrified powertrains by 2022, three years earlier than originally planned. On the path to this goal, they’ve released their first hybrid SUV, the CR-V, which features Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive (i-MMD) technology, enabling it to shuffle seamlessly between power sources. Click here to discover more.
