The Honda Civic E-HEV with its hybrid operation of electric and gasoline engine has Honda Connect on board as standard, an infotainment system with Bluetooth, media playback, radio reception and navigation. It is operated with the touch-sensitive monitor. Most of it is done by the finger on the display, but on the left side there are two physical buttons, as well as a rotary knob for regulating the Hi-Fi volume. The display measures 10.2 inches in the "Advance" model variant, the smaller versions have to be modest with a 7-inch display and analogue speedometer.
Michael Spehr
Editor in the "Technology and Engine" department.
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Operation is child's play, large smartphone-style tiles lead to the respective menus. At the bottom and top of the display, information and buttons are permanently fixed. The display can be personalized, frequently used functions can then be reached with quick access.
Voice control is added, it worked quite well for us, but often not. The recognition takes place solely in Honda Connect, neither an online connection is provided nor can the assistant answer general questions, such as the weather.
During navigation, you can see a sparsely drawn map with additional information that is displayed before a turn. The system does not know real-time traffic data, but updated map material can be loaded wirelessly "over the air" into the vehicle. With the My Honda Plus app, you connect the vehicle to your smartphone. To do this, the vehicle identification number and a confirmation PIN must be entered. The Civic can then be locked and unlocked remotely, you get access to vehicle data and maintenance history and, if necessary, book an inspection appointment online.
Other services can be added for a fee, such as a vehicle search and setting up a geofence with information on when a marked geographical area has been left, the use of the smartphone as a car key or the provision of a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The support of Apple Carplay is very pleasing, even in the wireless version. A few seconds after starting up the system, Carplay starts automatically, and you basically don't have to worry about anything anymore, because frequently visited destinations are suggested immediately and the playback of podcast or music resumes where it was previously paused on the iPhone.