The Jazz hybrid does not have a CVT gearbox, but Honda hasn't helped matters by referring to its series hybrid powertrain as eCVT. The same series hybrid system is used in the HRV. The gearbox is fixed ratio and at speeds below ~50mph is driven only by an electric motor. Power for the electric motor comes from the HV battery when there is enough charge, or from a generator driven by the engine when there isn't. The speed of the engine has nothing to do with the speed of the car but is determined only by how much power the electric motor requires based on the load. The engine never idles as such since that is wasteful of fuel. Even at standstill the engine will run at "driving speed" when required to top up the HV battery. Under hard acceleration the engine revs rise considerably to produce more power for the motor. The engine revs even rise and then drop repeatedly to imitate a conventional automatic gearbox shifting up through the gears. Above ~50mph it is more efficient to drive the car directly from the engine, so a clutch engages, but again there is only one gear ratio.
Sorry mate but the Jazz does not have a CVT gearbox, in fact it has no gearbox at all. Do your home work and read the specification first. I've owned one for a year and I am quite pleased with the build quality, the available space and the mileage.
Called the Fit here in North America. We have two!! No longer made. What a loss!!! No hybrids or e models here ever. I’m hoping it will reappear. 🤞Made for tall people!!! 😃 oh! Flip up (flip down) back seats!!! They’re the best!!! Easier for heavy things to be put in there than lifting them into the “boot”!!!! Long Live the Jazz! You are so lucky!!!
most underrated vehicle on the market, extremely reliable and durable, low depreciation it actually has 122 hp and does 0-100 kph in ~9 sec, 0-60 mph might even be slightly under 9, Honda's hybrids accelerate quicker than their official numbers in all tests
Agreed. The Civic, the older brother, is rated at doing 0-60 at 8.6 seconds yet has cracked the sub 7 barrier which not too long ago was hot hatch territory. I reckon this could get into the 8 seconds with a smaller engine. That’s really quite decent for such a small and considered, piddly, car.
3:42 ,,, on electric power for 'quite a lot of the time' - I'd find the figures really useful here. A friend was telling me the 2023 version will do 30 miles on electric around town(they're thinking that means @ up to 30mph). Is that true?
Up to 50mph I think on the battery before the engine kicks in but the point being that it’s kicked in on a one speed gear. It’s not an actual CVT as described here in this video.
The battery is small and only capable of running the car just a few miles but you have no control over when and where it runs in battery only mode. Below about 45mph it has 2 modes - electric motor powered by battery and electric motor powered by engine through a 2nd motor acting as a generator. Above 45mph a clutch engages and the engine can directly turn the wheels through a single gear ratio. It still uses the electric motors powered by the battery or powered by excess energy from the engine to aid hard acceleration. In all modes excess energy from the engine and from braking is also used to charge the battery. The system is very clever and totally seamless. As mentioned there is no conventional belt cvt, all of the gears are fixed, however Honda and Toyota describe their similar-ish hybrid systems as eCVT because there are no physical ratio changes hence the confusion from reviewers. It can sound like a conventional CVT at times as the engine will rev under hard acceleration in a way that feels uncoupled from the throttle position in order to generate enough electricity for the motors. Honda's engineers have designed in a pseudo gear change effect to mitigate this sensory disconnect, not entirely totally successfully IMO but note that the 23/24MY has improved power output which may have gone someway to improve this. It's a good car, very smooth and quiet but you have to think of it of as driven by electric motor but powered mostly by internal combustion engine rather than a pure battery/electric system.
The exterior styling has definitely grown on me. Unfortunately, the interior styling is as "meh" as "meh" gets. It looks and feels like a cheap small car. Just compare it to something like the Peugeot 208 - it's a world of difference. Even the Toyota Yaris has a snazzier interior. It's ironic that it's called the Jazz, because it's the ultimate A-to-B car, there's nothing remotely jazzy about it.
Have you actually sat in one. Definitely not cheap. In fact the interior has good quality materials with some soft touch materials - as alluded to in this review. The design is also super practical with loads of storage space. The 208 doesn't even have a proper glove box! The hybrid system from Honda in comparison to the 208 is on a different level as is the engineering in general.
