[Auto] 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid First Look: Sleeker, Sippier, and ... Sportier?

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With the discontinuation of the Insight two years ago, Honda was without a standalone compact hybrid to compete with the likes of Toyota's Prius or its newer Corolla Hybrid. That hole in Honda's lineup has just been refilled by a familiar name: The Honda Civic Hybrid, a Civic variant that hasn't been sold since 2015. Honda has had on-again, off-again Civic Hybrid variants over the years, with on-again, off-again overlap with the Insight, but one thing all of those fuel-sipping compact gas-electric Hondas had in common? Sloth. The new-for-2025 Honda Civic Hybrid is still expected to deliver big MPG, but alongside much more power and a refreshed Civic lineup overall.

 

For the 2025 model year, the Honda Civic is again offered in LX and Sport trims on the sedan and hatchback. Both trims carry over last year's 2.0-liter I-4 engine and continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), though the LX has been dropped from the hatchback lineup (it's sedan-only now, leaving the Sport as the base hatch) and word of the manual's availability on the Sport hatchback is forthcoming.

The real change comes to the top half of the lineup. In place of last year's Civic sedan EX and Touring trims, as well as the equivalent Civic hatchback EX-L and Sport Touring guises, are the hybrid-only Civic Sport Hybrid and Civic Sport Touring Hybrid sedan and hatchbacks.

Positioned as the most powerful and best-equipped trim levels of the “civilian” Civic lineup—in other words, not the high-performance Type R or sporty, stick-shift-only Civic Si—the hybridized Sport trims will come with a version of the larger Accord's gas engine and two-motor hybrid powertrain that's more powerful than the turbo 1.5-liter I-4 engine included on last year's EX, EX-L, Touring, and Sport Touring Civics.

 

Wait, It’s More Powerful Than The Si?

 

With 200 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque from their hybridized 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle I-4, the hybrid Civics actually deliver more power than the Civic Si sedan that lives one rung up the Civic performance ladder. (This echoes the strategy employed by the newest Toyota Prius, our 2024 Car of the Year, which blends a big power upgrade with typical Prius efficiency.) This news may be distressing to Si and Honda enthusiasts, but Honda assures us the Sport Hybrids and Si will live on together—the former won't eat the latter—as each serves a different customer. The Si is for those seeking affordable traditional performance and a six-speed manual transmission. The Sport Hybrids are for buyers who want either the sedan and five-door with cool tech, solid fuel economy, and don’t mind that there isn’t a transmission to deal with.

 

 

All Motor, Sort Of

 

Much like Honda's other hybrids using this same two-motor setup, the 2025 Honda Civic Sport Hybrids do not have a traditional transmission, not even a CVT. Instead, the larger of the two electric motors (the other is a starter/generator) does the primary motivation of the Civic Sport Hybrids, with the gas engine spinning the generator as needed to deliver electricity to the drive motor. At higher speeds, the 2.0-liter gas engine is clutched directly into a single-speed drive to the front wheels, an arrangement deemed more efficient.

Since the engine is merely acting as a generator at city speeds, with all acceleration handled by the primary electric motor, it's ultimately quite fuel efficient. In the larger Accord, for example, this powertrain can deliver up to 51 mpg city, 44 mpg highway, and 48 mpg combined (on its smallest wheels and tires). In the smaller and lighter Civic, it should be good enough for “nearly 50 mpg,” according to Honda. Final EPA estimates are forthcoming, but we figure it is possible the Civics could out-perform the Accords—even the big-wheel Sport Touring versions.

Drivers will also be able to choose between Economy, Normal, and Sport driving modes in the hybrid models, so expect that fuel economy for the best-case scenario. Regardless, that’s still an impressive number to just call out.

Hybrid drivers will enjoy Economy, Normal, and Sport drive mode choices, and be able to take advantage of four levels of regenerative braking strength. While it won’t totally make up for the engine braking done during downshifting for a corner, utilizing the selector paddles can deliver some satisfaction while also putting power back into the lithium-ion battery pack located under the rear seat. Considering that the upcoming Honda Prologue and future all-electrics will have a similar feature, it’s a great way to associate "performance" with electric driving. Sort of.

 

 

No All-Electric Drive Mode

 

Unlike in the Accord, there is no driver-selectable EV-only drive mode (even if the parameters for achieving gas-free motoring in that model are arduous and the electric-only range severely limited compared to, say, plug-in hybrids with larger batteries). The gas engine will virtually always run to provide the power for the primary traction motor and battery pack, except when not needed or under light acceleration. There also isn’t a plug-in hybrid version in the cards for now, but Honda hasn’t said if a version will ever become available.

Regardless, Honda expects up to 40 percent of sales of the 2025 Civic be hybrid versions; this seems achievable simply by dint of Honda's new trim level structure, in which fully half of all available Civics are hybrids, but cost will be crucial. If the Sport Hybrids are too expensive, take rates could suffer. Keep in mind, unlike Toyota, whose Corolla Hybrid is essentially a separate, parallel model to the gas version, Honda is blending the Civic Sport Hybrids into the primary lineup, with no similarly equipped alternatives without the hybrid gear onboard offering the same features at a lower price point.

 

But Wait, There's More!

 

Hybrid or otherwise, every member of the new Civic sedan and hatchback lineups wear subtly revised styling. Up front, the fascia and grille appear more aggressive, with the hood plunging deeper over the Honda badge for a more shark-nosed effect and a larger and wider lower air inlet. Taillights on the sedans get a darker tint than before, while Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrids wear dark trim and new wheel designs.

All hybrid models will get new exterior colors including Solar Silver Metallic and Urban Gray Pearl. Two other new colors will be exclusive to their body type with Blue Lagoon Pearl being exclusive to the sedan and Sand Dune Pearl exclusive to the five-door.

 

A New Office

 

Inside, the 2025 Honda Civic Sport Hybrids offer the same black or gray interior color options as did the 2024 Civic, and the cabins of every Civic are mostly carryover. That's a good thing, considering how stylish, easy to use, and well-screwed-together the current Civic's innards are.

Standard equipment for the Sport Hybrids includes a moonroof, heated front seats, and dual zone climate controls. Honda also gives the hybrids a unique white trim surrounding their air vents, as well as a digital gauge cluster with hybrid-specific graphics. Otherwise, the lack of an engine “start-stop” button in the center console is the only other major change between the Hybrids' cabins and the gas Civics. You’ll also find dual USB-C ports on the front dashboard, just beside the 12-volt power port below the HVAC controls. Just below them, you’ll find the wireless smartphone charger in the center console.

If you opt for the five-door Sport Touring Hybrid, you’ll gain leather seating, a 12-speaker Bose premium audio system, and a nine-inch infotainment display with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard features. Another unique feature for the five-door hybrid is Civics first integration of Google built-In. Rather than just rely on your Android smartphone to use Google features, the Civic Sport Touring Hybrid will have Assistant, Maps, and other apps through Google Play readily available to the driver and front passenger. It will also come with a three-year unlimited data plan to utilize the connected features.

 

 

Coming Soon

 

The 2025 Honda Civic Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid (and, it's assumed the LX and Sport models) will be available in the summer and manufactured at the Alliston, Ontario, Canada plant for the sedan and the Greensburg, Indiana plant for the five-door. The engine and dual-motor hybrid unit will be built at Honda plants in Ohio.

No official prices have been announced, but Honda expects these top-of-the-line hybrids to start below $30,000 before delivery charges are added. We feel its fair to say that, based on the current 2024 Civic lineup pricing, the MSRPs of the Sport Hybrid sedan will most likely range from $28,000 to $34,000 while the five-door Sport Touring Hybrid MSRP will cost a few hundred bucks more. Expect the Civic LX sedan and Sport sedan and hatchback variants to hew closer to the MSRPs of today's models.

 

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2025-honda-civic-hybrid-first-look-review/