Honda’s Civic Hybrid Hatchback May Be the Most Recommendable Car on Sale

Those shopping for a daily driver would be remiss not to consider this ultra-efficient hatchback.Billy RehbockWriterWilliam WalkerPhotographer

Oct 14, 2025

Pros

• Quick and efficient
• Practical hatchback body style
• Appealing price

Cons

• Design is attractive but expected
• NVH still an issue
• Less efficient than sedan, Prius

Our fondness for the current-generation Honda Civic is well documented. The model line has been a repeat finalist in our Car of the Year of the program, first in 2022 when the 11th incarnation of the Civic was introduced and again in 2025 when the lineup received a major refresh. To the surprise of virtually no one, the hatchback version of the Honda Civic Hybrid joined the ranks of its forebears as a finalist at our 2026 competition.

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At first blush, the Civic Hybrid Hatchback looked like an odds-on favorite to be the new Civic to finally break through and win the whole thing for Honda. Performance of intended function and efficiency are two of the six criteria we consider when evaluating Car of the Year participants. The Civic hatch excels in those areas thanks to its entertaining driving dynamics, impressive fuel efficiency, and practical and versatile hatchback form. Offered in Sport and Sport Touring trim levels, it’s a classic Honda all-arounder.

Supplying the power for the Civic Hatchback is Honda’s new 2.0-liter inline-four and an electric motor combo with 200 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0–60 time of just 6.3 seconds in our testing. The Toyota Prius, our 2024 Car of the Year winner, takes 7.5 seconds to do the same job. Even better, its sharp steering and good body control make for enjoyable handling on a country back road. “It really does drive beautifully,” features editor Scott Evans said. “It’s delightful in town, and it’s quite sporty.”

Then there’s the Civic Hybrid’s fun party trick: simulated shifts. Keep the go-pedal pinned to the floor, and its direct-drive powertrain will cut power briefly as the revs peak, helping to fool the driver into thinking the car has a conventional automatic transmission. It’s augmented by engine noise piped into the cabin through the speakers. Done in part to help mitigate high-rev droning, it will rinse and repeat as long as you keep your foot in it.

The Honda Civic Hybrid Hatchback also indexes well on the safety spectrum, another one of our key criteria. Its adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist perform admirably, confidently centering the car at high speeds. Honda communicates the behavior of these driver assistance programs with a little Civic hatchback graphic on the driver information display that flicks on its brake lights when the actual car decelerates. The shape of the road around you is also displayed as the car navigates the route to a highly accurate degree, with other cars spotted by the car’s cameras and sensors depicted, as well.

Crash test performance is yet another Civic strength. It’s rated as a Top Safety Pick+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is especially noteworthy because IIHS has made its requirements more stringent in recent years. Additionally, NHTSA’s government rating awards it five stars overall.

The downsides are few, but there are a couple of minor issues worth calling out. Like its sedan counterpart, it can be on the noisy side in the cabin at times. And as for the efficiency criterion, while hugely impressive at 50/45/48 mpg city/highway/combined, the Prius bests it at 57/56/57 mpg in its most frugal form and 49/50/49 mpg in its least efficient guise.

Many of our judges noted the Civic Hybrid Hatchback is an easy car to recommend, and given its myriad strengths, it isn’t hard to understand why that’s the case. All told, like the previous two Civic competitors, it’s a car that made a compelling case to take home the Golden Calipers. “There’s a very, very, very long list of things the Civic Hybrid hatchback does well against the criteria,” features editor Christian Seabaugh said. “It’s quite good looking for a hatch in its segment, feels thoughtfully designed inside, it’s spacious, efficient, relatively affordable, and on top of it all it drives exceptionally well.”

This review was conducted as part of our 2026 Car of the Year (COTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.