New 2020 Honda Jazz will be hybrid-only in Europe

Honda has confirmed at the Frankfurt Motor Show that its next Jazz supermini will be hybrid-only in Europe.

The new Jazz is likely to be launched at the Tokyo Motor Show in October and go on sale in the UK at some point in 2020. It forms part of the company’s ‘Electric Vision’ to electrify its entire European range by 2025, with the recently launched Honda CR-V Hybrid the first part of the plan.

The news follows the world premiere at Frankfurt of the final production version of the Honda e, the company's new fully electric city car that goes on sale in 2020 as a rival the MINI Electric. The e costs from £26,160 and, with a 34kWh battery, is capable of up to 136 miles on a single charge.

Honda also used the Frankfurt show to reveal a new partnership with ubitricity, which has developed technology that allows lamp-posts to be turned into charging points to make it easier for people who don’t have off-street parking or home-charging capability to recharge their hybrids and electric cars.

The solution even comes with a cable with a unique mobile metering device, allowing customers to be charged for their electricity usage without the need for multiple subscriptions.

Honda also announced a new Power Charge, which allows faster AC charging and can be wall or pedestal-mounted in the home. It has a maximum output of 7.4kW from a single-phase power supply, or 22kW from a three-phase power supply. This output allows Honda e owners to receive a full charge in just over four hours.

Finally, Honda also showed off its Power Manager Prototype, a ‘vehicle-to-grid’ system the company says can help balance the supply of and demand for energy for charging.