Honda is updating its most successful car of the moment, the CR-V Hybrid. It looks like Honda found the perfect recipe for its hybrid fans. The 2020 CR-V Hybrid is the most powerful, fuel-efficient and refined CR-V yet.
As the Honda brand’s first electrified light-truck for the U.S. market, the new CR-V Hybrid offers the same four trims as its gasoline-only counterpart: LX, EX, EX-L and Touring. Moreover, Honda’s Real Time AWD with Intelligent Control System is standard equipment on all CR-V Hybrids, providing a high level of inclement-weather on- and off-road driving confidence.
Like its gasoline-only counterpart, the 2020 CR-V Hybrid comes standard with the full suite of Honda Sensing® safety and driver-assistive technologies. Additional standard features include automatic climate control and automatic high beams, LED headlights, Smart Entry and Push Button Start, and a cargo cover as hybrid-exclusive standard features.
On the outside, the 2020 CR-V Hybrid is distinguished by a unique front bumper design, rectangular 5-element LED fog lights (EX and higher trims), a blue-tinted Honda badge on the front grille, and “Hybrid” badges on the grille and front fenders. In the rear, there is a Hybrid badge on the tailgate, and a unique Hybrid-only rear bumper treatment. All 2020 CR-Vs, including the new Hybrid benefit from new headlight designs, new alloy wheel designs for EX and EX-L trims, and new, larger (+1 inch) 19-inch wheels for Touring trims.
The CR-V Hybrid’s cabin is distinguished by its shift-by-wire gear selector; buttons for Sport, Econ and EV drive modes; and a driver’s meter featuring information unique to CR-V Hybrid, such as a power-flow meter.
The CR-V Hybrid utilizes the third-generation of Honda’s two-motor hybrid system — also deployed in the 2017-2020 Accord Hybrids and recipient of multiple Ward’s 10 Best Engines awards. The CR-V Hybrid gets additional enhancements to deliver a wider range of electric-only operation, including a duct to direct cooling air to the battery, helping both its performance and durability. Operating without the need for a conventional automatic transmission, the two-motor powertrain combines a 2.0-liter DOHC i-VTEC Atkinson-cycle engine with 40-percent thermal efficiency and two electric motors with flat wire technology—a generator/starter motor and a 181-horsepower propulsion motor—for a total system output of 212 horsepower.
The 2020 CR-V Hybrid uses a combination of passive and active sound control to minimize engine and road noise. Thicker insulation is used on the hood, dash and firewall, and additional sound-absorbing materials are used in the front wheel wells. In addition, CR-V’s Active Noise Cancellation system helps to “smooth” the sound by reducing low-frequency booming at lower engine speeds and helping to give the engine a more linear sound as revs climb.
The 2020 CR-V Hybrid also utilizes an Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) designed to alert pedestrians to the vehicle’s presence when travelling under electric-only power. A speaker mounted in the front bumper generates a distinct audible alert that varies in volume depending on vehicle speed and is easily noticeable to pedestrians, but nearly inaudible to the driver or passengers under most circumstances.
