Honda confirmed Thursday that the 2024 Civic Hybrid will be much more than a niche model—with plans to make the hybrid version 40% of total U.S. Civic sales.
In U.S. spec, the 2024 Honda Civic Hybrid will include a 2.0-liter inline-4 engine, running on an efficiency-focused Atkinson cycle, as part of Honda’s two-motor hybrid system that is noteworthy in how it omits the need for anything resembling a conventional transmission.
That allows the electric motor system to provide efficient propulsion, especially at city speeds, which brings the responsive acceleration and near-instantaneous torque delivery of an EV, while the gasoline engine pitches in more as a generator at higher speeds. Changes to the configuration of the system, introduced with the latest CR-V and Accord hybrids, allow more motor torque at lower speed, enhancing that impression.
2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid system
Honda hasn’t had an entry in this category since the discontinuation of the Insight hybrid sedan in spring 2022—at which time the return of the Civic Hybrid was initially confirmed for the U.S. The Insight had marked the arrival of the two-mode system to a compact car, after a previous Civic Hybrid using the old IMA hybrid system was discontinued in 2015.
Rivals to the Civic Hybrid will include the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid, Toyota Corolla Hybrid, and Toyota Prius Hybrid, all of which have versions earning 50 mpg or more combined. The current Honda Accord Hybrid, a larger sedan but with a version of the Civic Hybrid’s system, earns up to 48 mpg combined.
Honda Civic Hybrid
Honda sold nearly 264,000 Civics in the U.S. in 2021—the model’s last full year before a 2022 redesign—and prior to that the Insight had been a niche model at about 20,000 a year. It says it’s built 11 million Civics since 1988.
Honda confirmed in January that the 2024 Civic Hybrid is due in sedan and hatchback form. Civic hybrid production will start with the sedan at its plant in Alliston, Ontario, while Civic hybrid hatchback production will follow in Greensburg, Indiana. Both the hybrid system and the engine are made at facilities in Ohio.
2023 Honda Civic
The automaker isn’t holding back in building hybrids for the U.S. It reports that 56% of current CR-V and Accord models are sold in hybrid versions, while they make up more than a quarter of its total U.S. sales.
Honda doesn’t currently sell a single fully electric model, but sales are due to start in the first half of 2024 with the 2024 Honda Prologue, a model built on GM Ultium underpinnings. A mid- to large-sized EV that’s based on Honda’s own dedicated e:Architecture is due to follow in 2025.