designtransport

HEAR ME WHIR

First there was the old Honda Insight, a car for every adventurous, early eco-nerd. Then came the Toyota Prius, a bland family hybrid that pro skaters used their newly-upped paycheques and trade-in money from their Honda Civics to buy. Next in the field of notable electrically-enhanced environmentally (less un-) friendly motors was that hotshot electric Tesla, priced beyond most people’s reach. And now, we’ve come full circle, back to a new Insight. Which looks like a Prius. A bit dull.

But the reasonably-heeled eco-conscious Kev and Sharon (perhaps that should be updated to Carter and Poppy) will soon be able to get in on the game with next year’s offering from Honda, the CR-Z. (That stands for “Compact Renaissance Zero”. Like, whatever.) Under the hood it’s a plain ol’ hybrid—no sign of plug-in-ability—but it has plenty of bells and whistles to make it stand out amongst the Golfs and Cavaliers: LED lighting, nineteen-inch alloys and, if they stick close to the concept, great overall styling.

One thing it won’t have, though, is a roar from a “fat” exhaust pipe as it burns around Charles Street car park: instead it’ll probably sound more like a lightcycle from Tron, which may well be a game-changer in itself.

—Chris Noble, 28 July 2009