Honda Civic eHEV - long term review

The Honda Civic eHEV appears to have developed extra sensory perception. Sitting in perfectly stationary London traffic of a morning, the Civic’s front sensors began barking out warnings about a mysterious APPROACHING OBJECT.

No doubt responding to my traffic-induced musings on the existence of alternative life elsewhere in the universe, the Civic appears to have found some right here on Earth. At 8.28am in the morning, the thought that an unidentified being was hovering near the front bumper of the Civic eHEV as it sat on the A406 was mildly amusing to begin with but became more troubling with time.

What did this entity want with the car? With me? Was it a malevolent presence or something more benign; a curious interloper merely admiring the new Civic’s handsome lines? We’ll come to that latter point in the next update, but now, in the tradition of all great horror movies, a twist.

Reader, there was no APPROACHING OBJECT.

Clearly it was a mucky sensor (or was it?), but potentially amusing/troubling ESP development aside, the Civic eHEV is prone to be a little… antsy, shall we say. There are regular warnings whenever anything approaches, be it Casper the friendly ghost or an enthusiastically driven moped or that lorry that’s definitely seen you coming and is now heading into your lane. A tad too many warnings, we’d proffer.

The Civic’s packed with technology of course and much of it is great, but we’re not entirely convinced it needs to be this strung out. It’s adorable in one sense, that this technically excellent product has a nervous, slightly overprotective soul at its core. Chill out, Honda, you’ll live longer.

Elsewhere, we’re greatly enjoying the proliferation of buttons across the centre console and steering wheel. Everything is so easy to adjust: the heating and fan speeds done without taking your eyes off the road. The volume can be quickly turned up and down via a big knob. The seat and steering wheel heating – a gift sent down from heaven during the UK’s recent cold snap – mere button pushes away.

And the quality of the knobs and buttons are not to be underestimated: the perceived quality in this cabin is spot on. The ergonomics just so. There’s a theme that you’ve no doubt picked up on, but all of this makes for a very easy-going, non-taxing car to both drive and own.

Unless of course, it’s sensing a mysterious APPROACHING OBJECT hovering around the front bumper at 8.28am in the morning.