- The Honda Civic Hybrid is The Car Connection Best Sedan/Hatchback To Buy 2025
- The Honda Civic Hybrid is a no-compromise choice
- The Civic Hybrid costs $29,845 and hits the 50-mpg mark
New-car value is harder than ever to come by, unless you find yourself in a Honda showroom.
The Honda Civic Hybrid is a winner on that front—and it’s The Car Connection Best Sedan/Hatchback To Buy 2025. While the Civic Hybrid doesn’t get reviewed separately from the Civic lineup, the Civic itself earned a class-leading TCC Rating of 7.2 out of 10.
That bests the Hyundai Elantra, Volkswagen Jetta, Mazda 3, and Toyota Corolla, among others.
With a sharp design, easy-to-use tech, and now a hybrid powertrain available in both sedan and hatchback form, the Civic is a slam dunk. Opting for the hybrid powertrain doesn’t detract from the experience. In fact, it adds to it.
2025 Honda Civic Hybrid
Honda builds the Civic Hybrid around its 2.0-liter inline-4 and 2-motor hybrid system. One electric motor generates propulsion and always connects to the wheels, although sometimes it’s also clutched to the gasoline engine. The second electric motor connects to the engine, where it acts mostly as a generator. The Civic Hybrid taps that first motor for most acceleration, although it clutches the gasoline engine in and out for highway cruising and peak efficiency at other times—and revs it in generator duty as if it were shifting through gears. . Combined output checks in at 220 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque.
Stoplight to stoplight, the Civic’s engine barely kicks in around town. There’s enough power to spin the front wheels during a hard launch, and all-wheel drive isn’t an option. When the gas engine does kick in it’s calm, quiet, and smooth. Torque delivery from the electric motors is instant. Merging onto the highway is a breeze.
2025 Honda Civic Hybrid
Civic Hybrids sip fuel with EPA fuel economy ratings of 50 mpg city, 47 highway, 49 combined. Opting for the hatchback drops those numbers to 50/45/48 mpg. Those are stellar fuel economy ratings for a vehicle of this size, with this power, and with the Civic’s baked-in driving engagement.
Drivers will note the Civic Hybrid has four levels of regenerative braking controlled via steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. The range, defaulting to Level 1, feels like normal engine braking, with each level progressing.
Honda punches above the Civic’s price tag with suspension tuning. Updated spring and damper tuning along with more rigid front subframe mounts and lower suspension mounts improve the Civic’s refined handling. Over cobblestone roads the Civic remains composed.
Buyers can select from the sedan or hatchback bodystyle. It’s hard to tell whether the Civic has a hybrid powertrain under its hood unless you’ve memorized wheel design options or spotted the small hybrid badges. That’s not a bad thing, because the Civic’s a stylish vehicle, both in sedan and hatchback form. It’s grown up, simple, and borders on looking like a shrunken Accord. At worst it’s innocuous, but it’s far from boring.
2025 Honda Civic Hybrid
Inside it’s Honda at its best. Simple and timeless, the dashboard’s horizontal design theme uses buttons, knobs, and hard controls for climate and audio functions. The mesh honeycomb strip that spans the width of the dashboard hides the air vents and features little joysticks that bring…joy. The 7.0-inch digital gauge cluster is easy to read and the 7.0-inch touchscreen has big digital buttons, a simple interface, and wireless Apple CarPlay along with Android Auto. Upper trim models swap in a larger 10.0-inch digital gauge cluster and 9.0-inch touchscreen with Google built-in.
Costing $29,845, the Civic Hybrid puts a $4,500 premium over the base LX model and $2,500 premium over the non-hybrid Sport trim. But it delivers more power, a quieter ride, punchier acceleration, a better driving experience, and above all else, more miles per gallon with a more efficient powertrain. In either sedan or hatchback form the Civic Hybrid delivers the ultimate in new-car value. It’s a winner.