The first fun hybrid? Could be...
This is the Honda CR-Z concept, the first hybrid with seriously sporting pretensions.
Honda is set to unveil it at this year's Tokyo motor show in late October and, despite the 'concept' tag, Honda sources tell us that it's nine-tenths production ready and will be in UK showrooms by the summer of 2010.
So is the new CR-Z the first hybrid that you'll actually want to drive? Honda certainly hopes so. With lines that echo the classic CR-X of the 1980s, and a look that's changed impressively little from the design study that Honda wheeled out at Tokyo back in 2007, the CR-Z certainly ticks the correct visual boxes, but it's what's under the skin that will prove crucial.
CR-Z gets modified Insight platform
Fortunately, the CR-Z continues to tick away at all the right boxes. The powertrain is related to the IMA hybrid system in the insight, but the breathless 87bhp 1.3-litre is likely to be ditched in favour of a 1.5-litre unit from the Japanese-market Honda Jazz. That unit gives between 110bhp and 120bhp, so expect a power output of close to 140bhp once the electric motor has its say.
The best news of all is that the CR-Z will also be the world's first hybrid with a conventional manual gearbox, the six-speed unit being chosen in favour of the more usual CVT transmission.
The batteries are rumoured to be nickel-metal hydride rather than more modern Lithium-ion items.
When it goes on sale next year, the diminutive front-drive coupe (it's said to be 115mm shorter than an insight, whose platform it uses) will be pitched to compete with the lower end of the VW Scirocco range and the Volvo C30, so expect a price tag of £17k-£19k