Honda's Jazz Hybrid is the greenest car I have ever driven — dazzling Lime Metallic Green that is.

The popular Jazz range has had a series of improvements across the board and added the smallest hybrid car on the market, complete with its own custom paintwork and chrome blue surround on the front grille, headlights and tail lights to make it stand out from the rest.

That eye-catching paint job is one of the few clues to the technology slotted into one of Honda’s best-selling cars, which, since its launch nine years ago, has seen more than 3.5m sold worldwide, with more than 220,000 taking to UK roads alone.

The petrol-powered Jazz models are built at Honda’s Swindon plant, but the hybrid is built alongside Honda’s other hybrid models at the Suzuka factory in Japan. The hybrid version carries a hefty price tag, but promises reductions in both running costs and emissions and improved fuel economy, while road tax is free for the first year and just £10 a year after that.

The Jazz Hybrid, which competes against the likes of the VW Polo BlueMotion and the Toyota Yaris 1.4 d TR, has been given the same powertrain as found in the larger Insight — the 1.3-litre i-VTEC petrol engine with Honda’s IMA technology and six-speed automatic gearbox.

In practice, the hybrid power unit seamlessly and automatically switches between petrol and electric power, and a combination of both, making driving, especially on city roads, a breeze.

With a quiet ride, easy handling thanks to the automatic transmission, high viewpoint, good visibility, manoeuvrability, plush cabin and ample boot space, the appeal of the Jazz Hybrid is obvious.

As a treat, the dashboard glows in a backlit blue hue in normal use, changing to a calming green when the driver is driving particularly economically.

As well as being more economical, the new Jazz is also better to drive thanks to changes in suspension settings, which have been adjusted to increase ride comfort and improve handling. The revised model has also been given extra steering resistance to improve feel.

Ingenious design means that Honda has managed to squeeze the battery pack and power control unit under the boot floor, so the Jazz stays as spacious and practical as ever.

The hybrid version retains the so-called ‘magic’ rear seats, which recline, drop down in one motion, or can be locked up against the seat backs to provide a second load area between the front and rear seats to stow taller items in the rear foot-wells.

Because the rear doors are so wide opening, it is easy to load some seriously large pieces of luggage into this space. It is worth remembering that the rest of the Jazz range offers this same practicality at a lot less cash.

Even if it lacks the eye-catchingly snazzy dashboard display and the complex engineering and electronics involved in creating the hybrid; for a whopping £8,000 less, you can still get into a Jazz, powered by a 1.2-litre engine capable of topping 50mpg in day-to-day use.

Auto facts Honda Jazz 1.3i-VTEC HX Hybrid

  • Price: £19,305
  • Insurance group: 17 (1-50)
  • Fuel consumption (Combined): 62.8mpg
  • Top speed: 109mph
  • Length: 390cm/153.5in
  • Width: 169.5cm/66.7in
  • Luggage capacity: 10.7 cu ft
  • Fuel tank capacity: 40l/8.8 gallons
  • CO2 emissions: 104 g/km
  • Warranty: 90,000 miles/3 years