Honda has announced prices for its upcoming Insight hybrid. The reasonably lavishly equipped SE model will cost from £15,490 on the road. This standard model offers enough bits and bobs to make a Mini buyer wince, including 15-inch alloy wheels, a stability assist system, electric windows all round, climate control, heated and power-folding mirrors, a front armrest, on-wheel audio controls, iPod hookup, ISOFIX child-seat mountings, active headrests, lots of airbags, and multi-function, split level dashboard (whether you like the latter or not).

The ES costs another £1,300 at £16,790 on the road, which is a not unreasonable hike for its larger 16-inch alloys, fog lights, privacy glass, cruise control, heated front seats, auto lights and wipers, USB socket, rear armrest, map light, tweeters, cuddly toy, and paddle-shifts to engage pseudo-ratios, to make you feel like you control the CVT automatic gearbox. Plus a bit of leather on the wheel and gearknob.

Finally another £1,600 on top of that will bring the total to £18,390 and get you an ES-T model, stacked with a fancy voice-recognition navigation system with live traffic updates, plus a singing and dancing Bluetooth system for your phone.

No word on the cost of leather chairs, as yet.

For comparison, Honda’s Civic Hybrid ES, which roughly matches the spec of the Insight ES, costs £17,120 on the road. The £330 difference is not huge. The Civic is larger and more powerful, but the Insight is newer, funkier and more versatile.

The base model Insight, which is a full £1,630 less than the cheapest Civic IMA (and £2,380 less harmful to your wallet than the cheapest Toyota Prius) will no doubt be the big seller in the range.

The SE has an official rating of 101g/km CO2 and 64.2mpg on the combined cycle. The two ES models score 105g/km and 61.4mpg. All three variants currently qualify for tax band B, and a £15 tax disc.