Having revealed details of the e:HEV hybrid powertrain on its European-market HR-V last week, Honda has now confirmed pricing of the compact SUV for the UK market, along with the variants it will be offering there. A total of three grades will be available, starting with the Elegance, which is priced from £ 26,960 and features LED headlights, heated front seats, 18-inch alloy wheels and seamless smartphone connectivity as standard.
The next step up is known as the Advance. Priced from £ 29,210, the mid-range grade adds a power tailgate with a ‘Walk Away Close and Handsfree access’ function, a heated steering wheel as well as synthetic leather/fabric upholstery into the equation. Finally, there’s the Advance Style, which is available from £ 31,660. It adds premium audio, unique details and stand-out design elements such as a two-tone exterior paint finish and orange detailing to the cabin.
In terms of pricing, that for the third-gen starts at a higher price point than the outgoing car, which is available in a multitude of guises. At its cheapest, the current HR-V starts from around £ 20,000 for a 1.5 i-VTEC S grade, and at the highest end of the range that of the 1.5 VTEC Turbo Sport hovers around the £ 29k mark, making the new car nearly £ 2,500 more in its range-topping Advance Style form.
New bits on the HR-V include Honda Sensing, the suite introducing a raft of safety and driver assist items to the vehicle, as well Hill Descent Control, which makes its way on to European models for the first time. There’s also an Air Diffusion System, which features unique L-shaped air vents at the corners of the dashboard – these can be used to direct air along the sides and roof of the car, rather than directly at the occupants’ faces.
As it is in Europe, the UK will get only one powertrain option for the new car, and that’s the e:HEV hybrid system, made up of a 131 PS/253 Nm electric motor and a 108 PS/127 Nm 1.5 litre Atkinson-cycle i-VTEC engine, qirh the latter charging the battery and helping to provide motive power at higher speeds. Euro-spec performance figures include a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 10.6 seconds and a fuel consumption of 5.4 litres per 100 km combined on the WLTP cycle.
In the UK, the new HR-V will continue the fight against the likes of the Toyota C-HR, Mazda CX-30 and Hyundai Kona as well as the Peugeot 2008 and Renault Captur. First deliveries for the UK market are expected to begin from late this year.
