Honda Civic Hybrid ES
 

Despite concerns about how effective hybrid cars really are in saving the environment, UK sales are leaping forward. The Honda Civic Hybrid in particular is doing very well; in May this year it found 604 customers, more than doubling its take-up rate for 2007 so far.

This suggests that the pro-environment marketing is working, but the concerns remain. Hybrids, which require a complete battery pack and electric motor system in addition to the conventional engine (petrol in this case), are expensive to produce and difficult to recycle.

In April 2006, Oregon-based CNW Marketing Research reported the results of a study which suggested that, across its whole life, a Civic Hybrid cost more in dust-to-dust terms - in other words, from production to recycling - than a Land Rover Discovery. (It's only fair to point out that the same applied to the Toyota Prius.)

Dust-to-dust analysis rarely features in pub conversation. Not in the pubs near where I live, anyway. It's just not the sort of thing most of us think about. But even then it still doesn't take long to appreciate the high cost of Civic Hybrid ownership. In standard form, this car costs ??16,600. Add in leather upholstery and the figure reaches ??17,400, and if you match the test car's specification by opting for metallic paint the final price is ??17,775.

You could do quite well for yourself with ??17,775. Even without straying from the Civic line-up, you could buy a Type-R for less. The Hybrid needs a really big selling-point, and Honda has one. It claims that the 1339cc Hybrid has the performance of a 1.6-litre car but the fuel economy (and therefore CO2 emissions) of one with a 1.1-litre petrol engine. That's worth investigating, so here goes.

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Source: [url=http://www.carkeys.co.uk/road_test/honda/13406.asp]CARkeys[/url]