Honda CR-V: We had a confusing moment with Honda's new smart technology

False alarm. Such fake emergencies can happen with smart car technology. You may think they shouldn’t. It could have annoyed a following car on the single track road to the moors and it does make one wonder about the future for self-driving cars.

I was driving Honda’s all-new premium SUV, which is equipped with both radar and camera road sensing. Between them they identified a potential hazard — possibly reacting to a sharp dip or grass verge on this undulating road which I use a least once week in different cars without similar intervention.

The CR-V has the first European use of SENSING 360, Honda’s safety and driver assist system, which “removes blind spots around the vehicle and further contributes to collision avoidance” and in my case thought it spotted something needing its intervention on the moor road.

Happily it didn’t happen again and was the only rough note testing Honda’s all-new sixth generation CR-V. This flagship SUV and global best-seller is bigger (separating it further from the sibling HR-V). It is now sold only as a petrol/electric hybrid, either the self-charging e-HEV with all-wheel-drive or the plug-in charging e-PHEV with front-wheel-drive. Both versions are generously kitted out and priced beyond the reach of commoners.

The e-HEV price starts at £45,895 for the Elegance version. The Advance specification is £48,995. The e-PHEV, Honda’s first plug-in charger in Europe, is only in Advance Tech higher level specification, from £53,995. Monthly PCP deals over 37 months are respectively £479, £509 and £579 and include a five-year service scheme.

At first, second and third scrutiny the all-wheel-drive e-HEV looks the one to have. The costly e-PHEV will be bought by company drivers who can offset its higher price by paying lower benefit in kind payroll taxes. This year sales of PHEVs have increased by almost 39 per cent, more than any other engine type.

Unusually, both the hybrid and PHEV the same power rating. The e-PHEV does have a larger battery to give up to 50 miles of pure electric travel with zero engine emissions, if you keep the battery charged.

The new CR-V is a roomy and likeable family sized car: without design extravagance it does not shout out in the crowd. It is easy to drive and rides quietly and comfortably over poorer surfaces on deep-walled 235/60 tyres — summer Dunlops on the test car. Large and wide-swinging doors and roof grab handles help with safe entry and exit.

Honda says it has improved the support structure in the front seats. I got a bit of ache down below and noticed the leather had puckered on the base of the seat after only a few thousand miles under unknown buttocks.

Honda rates the e-HEV at a combined 42.8mpg (rivals go further) and 151g CO2 and suggests a range of up to 598 miles from the 12.5 gallon tank, based on potentially higher mpg reading. Our testing ranged from 35 to 40mpg, which was thirstier than expected.

The CR-V model dates from the mid 1990s. Three generations were made in Swindon. Ours now come from China. Moving swiftly on…this CR-V is mostly a charmer. The exterior is handsome, with a broader bulk and ebullient rear light displays that will sit well in North America, the largest market, supplied from factories in Canada and the US.

Honda is of course Japanese but the new CR-V is not sold there because of poor sales of the previous model.

We were sent the e-HEV Advance. The 2-litre petrol engine charges the battery motor which sends power through an automatic gearbox to the front wheels, with back up if needed from the petrol engine. It is the same system used by the Honda Civic but with a prop shaft taking power to the back wheels, whether you need it or not. Honda thinks you do but it reduces economy.

The larger battery on the PHEV doubles the towing capacity of the e:HEV but the location means it cannot have a prop shaft to the rear wheels. Ergo, no AWD traction which caravanners would like on slippery swards. In lieu, there is a towing setting for the transmission.

All versions have leather upholstery, against in industry trend to synthetic leather and with no cloth option a deterrent to strict vegans. A sliding glass roof has an anti-glare roller blind, lovely alloys give it sidewalk glamour, plus navigation, a power tailgate, heated front seats, LED lights, a rear camera and the Sensing 360. The Advance grade adds Bose audio, a surround view camera, adaptive headlights, a head-up display, heated rear seats and steering wheel and memory settings for the driver’s seat. (see honda.uk for more details).

Cabin width is a generous 59 inches between the doors (1.5m) and the tailgate width is 42 inches, big enough for a builder’s dumpy bag. The sliding and reclining rear seats are split 60/40. They fold flat but leave a ridge across the luggage floor. It has a load length of five feet, plus an extra foot or so to the back of the front seats. A remote seat release lever inside the tailgate would be welcome.

Rear passengers have lots of leg room and adequate headspace. There are two C usb ports and a drop down centre arm rest. In the front there are both sizes of usb port and a cooled phone charging pad.

The dashboard has the Civic’s lateral honeycomb matrix which incorporates the ventilation outlets. The central touch screen is easy to manage, with plenty of manual controls on the fascia and steering wheel plus attentive voice activation.

Navigation graphics lack the crispness of, say, VW systems, and there is no transfer of mapping to the driver’s screen. The cabin surfaces have a leather-look which just misses being upmarket, albeit helped by gloss black and metallic banding along the fascia and door panels.

Honda is offering its new £44,995 e:Ny1 electric Elegance SUV for the same £346 monthly payment as the £33,150 HR-V Hybrid Advance until January 31.

Honda CR-V e-HEV Advance. Price: £48,995 (£49,670 with metallic paint as tested). Engine: 2-litre petrol and electric motor. Power: 181bhp. Torque: 247lb/ft. Transmission: CVT automatic. Top speed: 116mph. 0-62mph: 9.5 seconds. Economy: 42.8mpg (not matched in testing). Tank: 12.5 gallons. CO 2 emissions:151g/km. Length: 185 inches. Braked towing limit: 750kg. www.honda.uk