Expatman,
Don't panic about your wife and the passenger seat. When I sat in the open evening HR-V I put the driver's seat right up to the top and it was higher than my Karoq seat.
I obviously have no idea about how tall your wife is, but the chances are that the passenger seat, which presumably will be set around mid way to the driver's, would be plenty high enough for 6ft me with a very bad back.
So don't rule it out 'til she's had the chance to try it.