2025 Honda CR-V or Honda CR-V Hybrid

The CR-V Hybrid offers fuel savings, but it may take a while before they add up.

Benjamin Hunting | 

Jul 7, 2025 | 3 min read

Here's a by-the-numbers look at the Honda CR-V and CR-V Hybrid to help you decide which version might be right for you.

Honda

The Honda CR-V Hybrid Costs More Up Front

The most affordable version of the CR-V Hybrid, the Sport Hybrid trim, starts at around $36,000, while the base gas-only model, the LX, is listed at about $31,000. Five grand is a big leap in price, but it's worth pointing out that the entry-level hybrid comes with a more generous feature set — one that's more in line with equipment on the roughly $34,000 CR-V EX than the entry-level LX.

All-wheel drive is a $1,500 option across the CR-V lineup, except on the Sport Touring Hybrid, where it's standard.

Honda

The Initial Price Is Only Part of the Ownership Cost

Purchase price is important, but it's not the only thing to consider when measuring how the hybrid or gas-only Honda CR-V will affect your pocketbook. There is a considerable fuel-efficiency difference between the two models: The CR-V Hybrid returns up to 43/36/40 mpg in city/highway/combined driving, while the non-hybrid posts ratings of 28/34/30 mpg at best.

The average driver in the United States travels close to 14,500 miles per year on a mix of city and highway roads, according to automotive authority Kelley Blue Book, and likely spends about $3.30 per gallon (the national average gasoline price in 2024). If your vehicle habits match up with the figures of that typical driver, your annual fuel cost would be about $1,200 for the CR-V Hybrid and around $1,600 for the gas-only model.

A savings of around $400 a year is a nice bit of change, but it's less than the $5,000 difference in the models' base prices. At that rate — and assuming you're comparing those two models — it would take you 12.5 years of driving the CR-V Hybrid to break even.

Honda

Your Driving Style May Determine Which Model Makes Sense

There's a caveat to the above calculation: The difference between the models' combined fuel-economy ratings is 10 mpg, but if you look at their city ratings, the delta jumps to 15 mpg.

Were you to drive primarily in an urban environment, where the CR-V Hybrid shines, but keep the mileage and gas price the same, you'd save nearly $600 a year at the pump. This would reduce the break-even timeframe by 4.2 years.

At the same time, it likely doesn't make sense to pay extra for the CR-V Hybrid if you will be using it primarily for extended road trips, as the math works out to an annual savings of just $78.

Benjamin Hunting

Nearly two decades into his career as an automotive journalist, Benjamin has had his hands greasy, his hair blown back, and his heart broken by more than one project car. In addition to his work at Capital One, he has contributed features and reviews to Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Hagerty, Driving Line, Inside Hook, Super Street, European Car, Roadkill Magazine, Motor 1, The Drive, the Toronto Star, the National Post, Business Insider, NAPA, Autoblog, Automotive News Canada, and AutoGuide. He is also cohost of the Unnamed Automotive Podcast and cocreator of the Code 45 and Dead Air graphic novels. In his spare time, he's a friend to vinyl and enjoys keeping the shiny side up during track days.