HONDA has spent a vast amount of money researching and marketing hybrid vehicles.
A hybrid is simply a car which uses electrical assistance to get more power out of a small engine. Honda's system is called Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) in which the batteries are charged when the car is braking or your foot is off the throttle and the electric motor kicks-in to up the power when needed.
Britain is one of the main European markets for the Civic Hybrid which delivers the performance of a 1.6 petrol car with a 1.4-litre engine. Top speed is 115mph and 0-62mph is 12.1 seconds.
But it is the fuel economy and low emissions that are the buzzwords. The Honda Civic Hybrid boasts CO2 emissions of just 109g/km and has the ability to return fuel economy of 61.4mpg.
Also Honda has dispelled the myth that hybrid cars have to be strange looking, as was the original Insight hybrid.
The Civic version is a comfortable five seater with impressive handling, good looks and excellent motorway performance.
It can be a little disconcerting sometimes because when stopped in a traffic queue the engine shuts down automatically to save fuel and the silence is eerie. As soon as you touch the accelerator it springs into life again and you are off. If I have a niggle about this car it is that in crawl-and-stop traffic conditions it sometimes cannot make up its mind and there is a pronounced jerk when the engine decides to cut in.
Honda likes to market the Civic Hybrid with its smooth automatic CVT transmission as the first no-compromise alternative energy car.
I have to hand it to Honda for the way this car works, using the inertia of the car under braking to charge the battery. It's almost like judo - using the car's own weight to conquer a problem.
The more you look into the technical side of this car the more you realise just how clever it is. For instance it features regenerative braking which is assisted by the motor/generator to cut down the work of the hydraulic system. It seems that wherever you look on this car everything is helping something else.
The CVT transmission features a unique cornering control technology to help improve response on the exit of a bend. When the car enters a corner an on-board computer first identifies the vehicle's overall speed, then calculates the difference in speed between the left and right rear wheels.
It then works out the lateral G force and uses this information to maintain the engine's rpm through the bend allowing a higher level of torque to be available when the driver comes back on the throttle.
The fact that rpm does not drop off after throttle closure means the car is far more responsive when exiting corners.
The Honda hybrids are a distinct pointer to the way ahead - a deeper shade of green without spoiling driving enjoyment.
FAST FACTS
Honda Civic Hybrid 1.4 IMA ES CVT 4dr
Price: £17,145
Mechanical: 115ps, 1,339cc, 4cyl hybrid engine driving front wheels via automatic gearbox
Max speed: 115mph
0-62mph: 12.1 secs
Combined mpg: 61.4
Insurance group: 7
CO2 emissions: 109g/km
BiK rating: 15%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles, 3yrs paint, 12yrs anti-rust