Honda has come up with the goods with the Honda Insight – it has produced an affordable hybrid vehicle which most people can afford.

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Unlike the rival it set out to beat on terms of cost, the Toyota Prius, the favourite of Hollywood stars who like to be seen to be green and have the bank balance to be indulgent for the benefit of the environment.

Forget all the jetting around they do on a whim and the ranks of 4x4s and high performance cars hidden in their garages.

No, I’m not being bitter and jealous (well perhaps just a bit) I am merely being realistic.

Honda has set itself the task of producing a raft of more affordable hybrids and eco-friendly vehicles.

Back in Japan, where they are really hitting the green ticket big style, they already have the hydrogen-fuel-powered FCX Clarity and there are plans for us to get it soon.

Now that really is an eco-friendly car – the emissions are nothing but water. So, back to the Insight which undercuts the Insight by around £3,000 which is a good wad and a good attraction to buy the car and save the planet.

So how has Honda managed to make it so much cheaper?

That’s down to technology which always gets cheaper with time. On top of that the hybrid parts are simpler, lighter and smaller and further savings were made by basing the suspension, steering and part of the structure on the new Jazz.

It has a five-door hatchback format and thanks to a high tail, the battery and control unit can be placed under the boot floor and still leave room for a decent boot and fold-down seats.

But I can’t get along with that high tail. Visibility for me was compromised on my relatively short test drive although I am sure I would get used to it on a more permanent basis.

While it is a well built car you can see where Honda has further cut production costs. The trim and interior finish. Too much harsh plastic.

So, what makes it eco-friendly? Well, fuel economy in a combined driving cycle is 64.2mpg and CO2 emissions are as low as 101g/km on SE models.

ES models achieve 61.4mpg and 105g/km. And then there are the dashboard displays and the ECON switch.

First the switch which when activated enters a super economy mode which, among other things, limits power output and reduces torque by four per cent (except for when you put the throttle to the floor).

It also modifies throttle control to ‘smooth’ out driver input by maintaining throttle opening to match speed and conditions. Again this can be overridden in emergencies.

During Idle Stop mode (the clever device that shuts down the engine when the car is at a halt and starts it up again very smoothly when you move off) it also shuts down air conditioning.

Now the dashboard displays which I, as jury, am still out on. Eco Assist has two main elements to encourage you to drive as smoothly and economically as possible – an eco drive bar indicator in the multi info display and an ambient meter behind the speedo.

Both are synchronised. The drive bar is a solid bar symbol that moves to either side of a central line and your aim is to keep bang in the middle.

Go right and you are pressing too hard on the gas and left it is the brake. All the time you get a read-out of fuel consumption so that you can adjust your technique.

With the ambient meter if you are doing the job properly it will glow green. But put your foot down on the gas or brake too hard and it turns a threatening blue.

The aim is to keep in the green. All well so far. Then you have five symbols of tree trunks and it places leaves on your trees according to how you are driving.

Gentle driving sees all five trees showing two leaves each – but they drop off if you go into naughty mode.

It can become quite an obsession to keep in full leaf and what with keeping an eye on all the other read-outs, is there just to much to distract the driver?

By Sharon Walters