2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid Early Review | Consumer Reports

Jul 30, 2023

2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid Early Review | Consumer Reports

Find out more about the Honda CR-V Hybrid at: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/…

We purchased a 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport with all-wheel drive for the CR test program, and we share the important changes you need to know about this popular hybrid SUV from our track. Is the more expensive hybrid model worth the additional price hike over the gas model? What new features make this new model different from the previous generation? What will the fuel economy numbers be for this new version? Find out with CR’s automotive experts!

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Content

0 ->

1.55 -> We're here at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center

3.74 -> and we're going to be giving our early impressions on the 2023

6.65 -> Honda CR-V hybrid.

8.18 -> Now, we buy every vehicle that we test anonymously

10.94 -> from local dealers so that we're getting

12.865 -> the exact same type of vehicles that you folks will

14.99 -> be out there buying, not something that's maybe a little

17.45 -> breathed on by the automaker that's

19.1 -> in the national press fleet.

20.27 -> So we purchased a sport hybrid all wheel drive for $35,650.

25.04 -> And there's also a sport touring that's even

27.59 -> a little nicer than this one.

28.82 -> Now, Honda's taken a little different tack

30.98 -> because the hybrid versions come across, as the name would

34.46 -> suggest, a little sportier.

35.69 -> They have a little more aggressive front

37.94 -> and rear styling, they have this all new grille,

40.88 -> they have black wheels, they have black roof rails.

43.49 -> So they're differentiating themselves

45.44 -> from the regular CR-V in that fashion.

47.3 -> And they also have more power than the regular CR-V.

50.54 -> But interestingly, The EPA combined fuel economy

53.66 -> has actually gone down by 1 mile per gallon

56 -> for the 2023 hybrid versus the 2022.

58.94 -> But we do all of our own fuel economy testing

60.98 -> here, so we'll be able to verify whether the CR-V hybrid really

63.68 -> does get better fuel economy or worse fuel economy

66.16 -> than the outgoing model.

67.16 -> So far, we're finding that the 2 liter gas engine, combined

69.68 -> with electric drive and a continuously

71.48 -> variable transmission, works pretty well.

73.77 -> And one of the things we like about hybrids

75.86 -> is that they have this nice smooth electric shove

78.62 -> off the line so there's no hesitations or any low speed

81.74 -> hiccups like in some models.

83.27 -> A nice thing that Honda did with this CVT

85.22 -> is that they put in some simulated upshifts

87.98 -> so that it acts a little bit more

89.54 -> like a traditional automatic.

91.28 -> So the CR-V hybrid has paddle shifters,

93.38 -> which we're pretty used to seeing on cars, because you can

95.87 -> upshift and downshift the automatic transmission

98.6 -> kind of in a manual mode if you want.

100.28 -> But that's not what they're for here.

101.822 -> These are actually for dialing in some regenerative braking,

105.15 -> which is something we see on a lot of electric vehicles

107.67 -> so that you can use this regen braking to help slow the car

110.69 -> and also send some energy back to the battery.

113.61 -> So one of the nice things about the CR-V hybrid

115.61 -> is that this is a vehicle that you can get in and figure out

118.76 -> how to drive almost instantly.

120.5 -> It's not complicated.

121.56 -> I mean, you press the button to start the vehicle,

124.28 -> you've got a traditional gear selector with--

127.46 -> it's not a monostable or it's not a push button

130.759 -> that Honda does use on some of the vehicles.

132.68 -> It's very traditional.

133.795 -> It makes sense.

134.42 -> It's intuitive.

135.41 -> And a lot of the controls, like, say, the climate system,

138.292 -> these are all physical knobs and buttons.

140 -> It's not touch capacitive or all through some huge screen.

143.93 -> And speaking of huge screens, that's

145.73 -> not what the CR-V hybrid has.

147.29 -> It's almost comically small, just 7 inches, and not

151.13 -> as colorful as many of these days,

153.11 -> but it still works pretty well.

154.43 -> And we love that it still has a physical volume and tuning

158.84 -> knob.

159.48 -> A lot of those are going away these days.

161.372 -> I mean, this is the kind of vehicle

162.83 -> you're going to be driving every day-- commuting

164.87 -> to and from work, taking weekend road trips.

167.13 -> So, obviously, it's important that the seat

168.95 -> is comfortable for you.

170.7 -> So far, I'm liking these seats.

172.76 -> They're pretty comfortable.

174.09 -> They have good support.

175.048 -> I especially like the seat back side

176.73 -> bolsters, which holds you in place really nicely

178.73 -> through corners.

179.78 -> But they do seem a bit on the narrow side.

181.95 -> So we'll have to wait and give our full evaluation

184.79 -> after all of our different body types that we have here at CR

188.3 -> get through this car and give their opinions on the seat.

191.45 -> There's lots of room back here for a small SUV.

194.22 -> Look at how much headroom I have.

195.68 -> There's plenty of knee space.

197.75 -> I've got good foot room underneath the front seat

199.857 -> so I can really stretch out if I want,

201.44 -> and pretty good leg support too.

203.9 -> The one thing that I don't like too much,

205.82 -> though, is that although the seat back reclines,

208.79 -> you have to reach back for this lever way over here.

211.97 -> And I'm going to pull a muscle trying to do that.

214.89 -> It's much better when the automaker puts a lever

217.995 -> on the side of the seat so you can just

219.62 -> adjust it any time you want without reaching too far back.

222.35 -> So the hybrid Sport that we bought

224.03 -> doesn't come with a power operated liftgate,

226.49 -> but that's OK because it's pretty easy to open.

229.85 -> It has these nice struts that help with that.

232.02 -> And we like that the opening is nice and square

234.62 -> so it makes it easier to get larger items that you're

236.93 -> trying to stuff in there.

238.68 -> And the other thing is that the floor

240.44 -> is at kind of an appropriate height

242.45 -> so that it doesn't involve a lot of bending

244.94 -> way over when you're trying to load stuff in or take it

247.55 -> back out.

248.67 -> So that's our early look at the 2023 Honda CR-V hybrid.

252.17 -> But this thing still has a ways to go

254.18 -> before we can make a final judgment as to how

256.31 -> good of a vehicle it really is.

258.05 -> It still has to go through more than 50 tests here

260.572 -> at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center,

262.28 -> including the fuel economy testing that we previously

264.5 -> spoke about, to see how this hybrid stacks up

267.29 -> against the conventional CR-V that we just finished testing.

270.11 -> So we have a whole lot more information on the CR-V hybrid

272.69 -> up on our website, consumerreports.org.

274.61 -> And don't forget to check back because we're

276.71 -> going to have our full road test results on this soon.

280.09 ->

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDU8P6YlQq0