Last year, we gave the new Honda Civic Hybrid our highest honor: The Drive‘s Best Car of 2024. Now, there’s an even more practical Hatchback version. Has expanding the rear and giving it one extra door ruined the Civic? Of course not.
The Basics
The current generation of Honda Civic has been around since 2021 (time flies!) but gets a mid-cycle refresh for 2025. There’s a tweaked front fascia and new wheels, but the headlining enhancement is the addition of a fuel-sipping, two-motor hybrid powertrain.
It’s the standard powertrain you get if you opt for any of the Civic’s nicer, more expensive trims and it’s available with both the sedan and this Hatchback version of the car. Comparing top trims, the hatch commands a $1,200 premium over the sedan which feels like a small price to pay for the increased practicality and, in my eyes, improved style.
Passenger room in the Hatchback is identical to the sedan, which is to say it’s pretty good for a small car, but with the rear seats up, the Civic Hatchback boasts 24.5 cubic feet of cargo room versus the sedan’s 14.8-cubic-foot trunk. Fold the seats down and the five-door Civic is spacious enough to ferry around reasonably large items like, say, a 55-inch TV. In fact, here’s a photo of it doing just that:
The rest of the interior is familiar to anyone who’s been in a new Civic recently. It’s a cleanly designed space with a healthy amount of physical buttons and knobs. Said buttons and knobs all move and click with a sense of solidity, thin A-pillars mean great outward visibility, and the screens—nine inches in the middle, 10.2 inches in the gauges in this top Sport Touring model—do and display enough without feeling overwhelming.
A weak point that may not rear its head until you live with this car for an extended period is the seats that aren’t all that comfortable.
Driving the Honda Civic Hatchback
Driving excellence that punches above its price point has always been a calling card of the Honda Civic, and that remains true with this latest Hatchback model. It’s downright pleasant to steer around, exhibiting a level of precision and solidity that eclipses most of its peers. The ride is comfortable but not floaty while the two-motor hybrid powertrain effectively renders the Civic an EV for quite a lot of the time, particularly when snaking slowly around town.
A 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine kicks in seamlessly at higher speeds and on the highway, and the whole system makes 200 hp. That’s just as much power as the sporty Civic Si while actually beating that car on torque with the electric motor alone—232 lb-ft can be doled out from a standstill without using any gas.
If that all sounds like gibberish, all you have to know is that the Civic Hybrid is smooth, quick, quiet, and hella efficient.
If you’re on a budget or don’t believe cars should be electrified for whatever reason, the base Civic still comes as a non-hybrid 2.0-liter making 150 hp. That one isn’t as efficient, quick, or refined to drive.
Standard Honda Sensing assisted driving encompasses adaptive cruise with low speed follow, lane keep, multiple collision warnings, and traffic sign recognition. You still need to keep a hand on the wheel and an eye on the road, but the tech is good enough at automating the act of highway cruising to pretty much let you turn 80% of your brain off when doing so.
The Highs and Lows
Outward visibility is a highlight, the handling is great, and everyday driving acceleration is great. Modern Hondas have also become some of the easiest cars to use and get your head around. There are buttons for things that should be buttons and volume is controlled by a shiny knob beside the touchscreen. The knobs that control heat and cooling move with a satisfying clickiness that frankly rivals if not surpasses what you get in many luxury cars.
The Civic’s biggest plight is its seats, which aren’t comfortable on long drives, particularly on the bottom. Also, all of the touch elements on the driver-side outside door handle randomly stopped working one night. Meaning I couldn’t unlock or get in it without fishing the key fob out of my pocket and pressing the unlock button like a damn caveman. This fixed itself after a power cycle, though, and did not reoccur throughout the rest of my week with this car.
Honda Civic Hatchback Features, Options, and Competition
- Sport: Starting at $28,600 for a gas-only Sport, the Civic Hatchback comes standard with a seven-inch touchscreen in the middle, a seven-inch screen in the instrument cluster, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, two USB-C ports up front, Honda Sensing ADAS, remote start, and 18-inch wheels.
- Sport Hybrid: One rung up for $32,300 delivered is the Sport Hybrid. Not only does this obviously throw in the more powerful, more efficient hybrid powertrain but it also gets you active sound control, heated front seats, dual-zone climate, a rear fold-down center armrest with cupholders, a passenger-side seatback pocket, a moonroof, and an acoustic laminate windshield.
- Sport Touring (tested): Those willing to spend even more to get more will want the $34,300-to-start, hybrid-only Sport Touring which adds the bigger nine-inch touchscreen with Google and Alexa built-in, both wireless CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, Wi-Fi hotspot capability, a 10.2-inch digital instrument screen, 12 Bose speakers that sound pretty good by economy car standards, different wheels, sound-dampening resonators in said wheels, rain-sensing wipers, low-speed braking control, parking sensors, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, power-adjust seats trimmed in leather, and a sunglass holder.
The Toyota Corolla is arguably the Civic’s biggest rival, but upon further inspection, they likely serve two fairly different customers as the Toyota is notably less expensive, smaller in the back, and generally less nice inside. For now, Corolla also only comes as either a hatchback or a hybrid, not both. Toyota’s now very-quite-nice Prius, then, is probably the closer comparison, but I’d still take the Civic for its superior drive.
There’s also the Hyundai Elantra (available as a hybrid but not a hatch) and the new Kia K4 (no hybrid, hatch coming soon) to consider, the latter being a stylish and formidable Civic foe on the back of its tech and lower starting price. The Mazda 3 should also be on your shortlist if you’re Into Driving, but that car isn’t available as a hybrid and is getting quite old now.
Fuel Economy
Opting for the gas-only version, the Civic Hatchback gets 30 mpg in the city, 38 mpg on the highway, and 34 combined. Spring for this hybrid version and the figures jump to 50 city, 45 highway, and 48 combined. Over 300 miles of mixed winter driving, however, I only saw 36 mpg. Strong EPA numbers on the hybrid if you can get them, but still lagging when compared to the 57-mpg Prius and 50-mpg Hybrid Hyundai Elantra. As a reference, the un-hybrid Toyota Corolla Hatchback gets 33 mpg combined.
Value and Verdict
Like its sedan counterpart, the 2025 Honda Civic Hatchback is a stellar commuter car. Fun to drive, practical, easy to live with, and pretty efficient in hybrid form, it also feels well-built and borderline luxurious especially if you’re coming from a comparable car any older than, like, five years.
Yes, it may command a bit of a price premium over its competitors, but for the most part, you do get a nicer car in exchange. The subpar seats are a bummer, but they wouldn’t keep me out of the Civic as a reasonably priced, daily runaround vehicle. Just put a cushion down or something.
In short, the Honda Civic is what it’s always been: A simply great choice.
| 2025 Honda Civic Hatchback Specs | Gas | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|
| Base Price (Canadian-spec Sport Touring as tested) | $28,600 | $32,300 ($42,854 CAD) |
| Powertrain | 2.0-liter four-cylinder | continuously variable automatic | front-wheel drive | 2.0-liter four-cylinder | two-motor hybrid system | front-wheel drive |
| Horsepower | 150 @ 6,400 rpm | 200 |
| Torque | 133 lb-ft @ 4,000-5,000 rpm | 134 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm (gas) 232 lb-ft @ 0-2,000 rpm (electric) |
| Seating Capacity | 5 | << |
| Cargo Volume | 24.5 cubic feet | << |
| Curb Weight | 2,976 pounds | 3,252-3,289 pounds |
| EPA Fuel Economy | 30 mpg city | 38 highway | 34 combined | 50 mpg city | 45 highway | 48 combined | 36 observed |
| Score | 9/10 |
Quick Take
Easy to live with, fun to drive, and cheap to run, it’s the segment standard for good reason.
Got a tip or question for the author about the Civic Hatch? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com