The Honda Jazz has gone hybrid-only

Welcome, everyone over the age of 75, to the new Honda Jazz. Cute isn’t it? The previous generation went a bit faux-sporty, but Honda has shunned sharp edges and slapped on a loveable little face for this new one. 

And as you’ll notice from the images above, there’s also a brand-new crossover-style version known as the Jazz Crosstar. That one features some black plastic cladding, a raised ride height – useful for the hard of hip – and water-resistant upholstery that’s presumably for, um… accidents.

You’ll have to forgive us – the Jazz is an easy target for geriatric jibes, but it’s always been well-packaged and perfectly fit for purpose. 

The big news is that this generation is going hybrid-only. Honda wants all of its mainstream models sold in Europe to be at least partially electrified by 2022. 

We don’t know any powertrain specifics as of yet, but we do know that the presence of an electric motor and some batteries won’t affect the Jazz’s legendary practicality. As you can see if you pop your glasses on, there’s plenty of space on the inside and the doors remain massive to allow easy access and egress. Apparently key to this space is the placing of the fuel tank in the centre of the chassis, beneath the front seats.

The new Jazz’s A-pillar is also half the width it was before, improving visibility and making it lighter inside. Plus the interior gets an Android Auto and Apple CarPlay-enabled touchscreen, as well as this new-fangled technology called a WiFi hotspot, so “we can FaceTime the grandkids whilst inside the car, dear.”

There’ll be a whole suite of safety systems too, of course. The Jazz will feature adaptive cruise control, and Honda’s Collision Mitigation Brake System has been improved so that it now works on unlit roads at night. Essentially, it’ll apply the brakes itself when another vehicle is in the path of the car – standard stuff yes, but decent tech for a small hatchback.

That’s about it for now. Sales are set to start in mid-2020, by which time you’ll have forgotten everything we said here. Don’t worry though, just ask the nice young chap at the dealership to explain it all.