Honda’s CR-V Hybrid is a spacious and comfortable SUV with a clever clutch system

IT must be tough to work in Honda’s head office.

One minute you’re being quizzed about lawnmower blade design and the next on updates to the 2019 CBR Fireblade engine.

But Honda has always been proud of its engineering prowess, so it is no surprise it has created arguably the most complex mild hybrid system on the planet.

Dubbed Intelligent Multi Mode Drive (i-MMD), it sees a tiny 1kWh battery pack team up with two electric motors and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

But unlike other mild hybrid systems, this one works through trick clutches.

They allow the petrol engine to run at low revs to charge the battery, which in turn runs the electric motors.

Once up to speed, the clever clutch system allows the front axle to be driven directly by the combustion engine, with occasional assistance from the electric motors.

Honda claims its system is designed to keep loads on the combustion engine consistently in the fuel economy sweet spot. The result is a claimed 53.3mpg.

On the varied drive around Seville, I managed to hit 48mpg without trying hard, but was more wowed by the whisper-quiet drive.

Perhaps the only downsides are single-speed transmission, which can drone on a bit when you boot the throttle, the dated sat nav unit and that the CR-V’s cavernous boot has shrunk from 561 litres to 497 litres to make space for the battery pack.

Despite this, the CR-V Hybrid remains an extremely spacious, well finished and comfortable SUV.

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