Honda Civic hybrid returns this summer with a 200-hp model, promise of near 50 mpg
Mark PhelanHonda will add hybrid models to one of America’s favorite vehicles when the 2025 Civic compact goes on sale shortly.
Civic hybrid prices will start under $30,000. The hybrid will be available on both sedan and hatchback body styles.
Honda expects hybrids to account for about 40% of U.S. Civic sales, which totaled 200,381 in 2023.
The automaker promises a combined city/highway EPA fuel economy rating “nearing 50 mpg.” That would constitute an improvement of about 40% versus a 2024 Civic sedan with the 2.0L gasoline engine.
Most powerful Civic ever built
With 200 horsepower and 232 pound-feet of torque, the 2025 Civic hybrid is the most powerful Civic ever built, save the radical Type R, which sells for around $45,000 and has a turbocharged 315-hp engine. It uses the same combination of a 2.0L engine and continuously variable transmission as the Accord and CR-V hybrids.
The hybrids and the rest of the 2025 Civic lineup also get new features and minor styling tweaks to remain competitive with compacts like the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Kia , Mazda 3 and Nissan Sentra.Hybrid versions of the 2024 Elantra and Corolla scored city/highway ratings of 54 and 47 mpg in EPA tests.
The Civic uses Honda’s established two-motor electric system. The automaker isn’t saying what gasoline engine it will use, but expect a continuously variable automatic transmission.
The hybrid system will offer four levels of regenerative braking, which recaptures energy for the battery when the vehicle slows down. Paddles on the steering wheel control the level of regeneration.
Honda says specially tuned springs and shock absorbers and a tire developed for the hybrid will contribute to responsive handling and low levels of noise and vibration
2025 Honda Civic trim levels
- LX
- Sport
- Sport Hybrid
- Sport Touring Hybrid
Source: Honda
The return of a popular hybrid
The new hybrid fills an important spot in Honda’s lineup, boosting the efficiency of a popular model as the automaker begins to roll out its electric vehicles.
Honda stopped selling the previous Civic hybrid after the 2015 model year. Honda sold another compact hybrid in the 2019-21 model years, the Insight hybrid. That’s the second time Honda has mothballed the Insight name, which revolutionized the auto industry when it introduced the first hybrid gasoline-electric powertrain as a 2000 model.
“The new Civic hybrid is a perfectly-timed addition to the Honda lineup as hybrid-electric sales continue to grow, providing Honda with an important building block toward 100% zero-emissions vehicle sales by 2040,” Honda vice president Lance Woelfer said. “Honda hybrid-electric models represented over one-quarter of our overall brand sales in 2023.”
Honda’s 2.0L four-cylinder gasoline engine will power EX and Sport models of the 2025 Civic.
2025 Honda Civic Safety and driver assist features
- Adaptive cruise control
- Collision alert
- Automatic front braking with pedestrian detection
- Lane keeping alert and assist
- Blind spot alert
- Rear cross traffic alert
Design tweaks to resemble Accord, CR-V
The sedan and hatchback’s exteriors are little changed, with new lenses for the head and tail lights, and grilles and front fascia updated to look more like the larger Honda Accord sedan and CR-V SUV.
Google built-in for navigation, music and more is available in the top Sport Touring model, which also comes with leather seats, a 9.0-inch touch screen and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Top available features
- Google built-in infotainment
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Up to 9-inch touch screen
- 12-speaker Bose audio
- Wireless charging
The 2025 Civic gets four new exterior colors: Solar Silver Metallic, Urban Gray Pearl, Blue Lagoon Pearl and Sand Dune Pearl.
The interior will be available in gray or black.
More details on prices, fuel economy and specifications should be available shortly. Honda will build Civic hybrids in Greensburg, Indiana, and Alliston, Ontario.
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.