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Honda’s new Civic has a fantastic green powertrain that delivers an energy economy comparable to EVs. In our region of Metro Boston, where electricity is priced higher than the nation’s average, the Civic Hybrid-electric vehicle has a lower cost per mile of energy than battery-only vehicles.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - What Is It?
The Civic is a roomy five-door hatchback vehicle. The EPA classifies it as a “Large Car,” and we would agree. Up front, it is spacious and open, and in back, tall adults can easily sit behind tall adults in the front with the seats pushed way back. The cargo volume is massive, with 24.5 cubic feet of usable space - with the rear seats up.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - What Powers It? What’s Its MPG?
The Civic Hybrid is front wheel drive. It uses a hybrid powertrain that provides a whopping 232 lb-ft of torque from 0-2,000 RPM. The efficiency is outstanding. The Hatchback has a 48 MPG rating, and the EPA’s national average cost per fuel for one year over 15,000 miles is estimated to be just $950. That’s about half the annual cost for a typical vehicle its size with a conventional powertrain. In our Boston Metro area, with gas under $3.00 per gallon, we calculated a 6-cent per mile cost of energy. That is much lower than any EV can provide because our electricity cost is $0.32/kWh, and Eversource does not provide off-peak charging rates here.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - How Fast To Add Energy?
The Civic Hybrid-electric vehicle has a total range when full of 595 miles. It takes eighty-seven seconds to add 500 miles of range to the Civic Hybrid. Contrast that to a battery-only sedan, which would take roughly 30 minutes to add roughly 200 miles at a typical DC charger under ideal conditions.
The Civic combines electricity generated by its regenerative braking, ethanol, and gasoline for energy. Typically 10% ethanol, between 10 and 20% electricity, and the balance regular gasoline. The Civic hybrid-electric vehicle operates so cleanly that the EPA has certified it as a green Smart Way vehicle.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - The Drive
Honda has set up the Civic Hybrid-electric hatchback as an EV that combines its total system power to move the vehicle with its dual-motor electric propulsion system. It is very rarely pushed directly by the IC engine. In day-to-day driving, it feels and sounds like a battery-electric vehicle. The paddle shifters allow the driver to change the brake regeneration force in 4 steps. It’s fun and feels a bit like downshifting a classic car.
Starting off for the first time in the Civic Hybrid-electric vehicle feels exactly like starting off in a battery-only car. There is virtually no sound. The torque is fantastic. 232 lb-ft is about what one might find in a 2.5-liter turbocharged vehicle in that vehicle’s sweet spot. However, the Civic has it from the get-go. You need not rev to hit the full torque feeling. This provides the Civic Hybrid-electric vehicle with a solid and quality feel.
Ramp speed on your initial drive, and you may sometimes sense the engine playing a part. We tuned that out entirely after day one. We own a 2024 Toyota hybrid-electric vehicle that I LOVE. I must say, however, that the Civic’s hybrid-electric propulsion is smoother and quieter. It truly feels like a battery-electric vehicle about 90% of the time. The other 10%, you are firmly accelerating up an on-ramp or something, and you can sense that it is a hybrid - barely.
We found the Civic Hybrid-electric vehicle to have amply thrust in all situations in its Normal drive mode. However, we did use Sport a few times, and it was nice to have the bump up in power. It would be ideal for some back-roads fun. Eco Mode is there for snow days and if you wish to hypermile effortlessly.
This large five-door car is low to the ground, and it offers that great sedan feeling we all remember from the old days. It feels fun and sporty in a way you can’t get in any SUV, but that some crossovers do mimic now. The suspension tuning is just right. Never harsh, but it is firmer than a typical SUV for sure. The steering is precise, and the braking is also in the Goldilocks zone.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - Honda Sensing
Honda has one of the very best active driver assist systems today. We've been praising Honda sensing for over a decade. Honda Sensing does all the things I want from such a system. What is new is that the hybrid-electric powertrain is so smooth it makes Honda Sensing better in practical use. When you test drive your next Honda, try it out and let us know if it impresses you as much as it did us.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - Interior and Infotainment
The Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback offers wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a feature package you cannot find in a Tesla Model 3 or Chevy Equinox EV. The audio was very good. Honda and Ford now lead the mainstream brands in audio quality in our book. The infotainment menus are super simple to use.
One novel feature you may like is that there are no TPMS sensors in the Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback. So, changes in ambient outside temperatures cannot give you false positive alarms. Instead, the Civic uses wheel speed monitors (Hall-effect sensors in the ABS system) to tell if one tire is lower than the others.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - Price & Maintenance
The Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback is the top trim of the lineup, not including the sporty twins. It is priced at $34,300, including Honda’s Destination and Handling fees, but not including dealer Doc Fees. The base Civic starts at about $26K. That’s less than my subcompact 1990 Si Civic cost when you adjust for the debasement of the U.S. dollar.
Honda Service Pass covers all required Civic maintenance for two years or 24,000 miles. The maintenance interval for the Civic is 7,500 miles, so you will bring it in for service less often than a Tesla Model 3, which has a 6,250-mile "or sooner" schedule of recommended service.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - What’s Missing?
The Civic is not offered with AWD in any trim, and the Hybrid Sport Touring has no spare tire. The tires are also not self-sealing or run-flat.
2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric Hatchback - Conclusion
I’ve owned a sporty Civic Si hatchback, and this car is not in that sub-category. Honda makes sporty Civics in two models, Si and Type R, but I’d opt for the Sport Touring with its Hybrid-electric powertrain. It’s just a more sophisticated system and provides a more grown-up ride. That’s where I am now in life. If you are under 25, it’s your call. Your Honda dealer has all the options. This fall, the Prelude HEV also joins the club, providing a bridge between the Si, Type R, and Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric vehicle. Honda is about to corner the market on fun but also green cars in the large car category.
What are your thoughts? Would you consider the new Honda hybrid-electric powertrain to be a big advantage with real-world benefits? Tell us in the comments below.
Images of 2025 Civic Sport Touring Hybrid-Electric car courtesy of Honda. Poor weather prevented doing our own photography.
John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.
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