JUST IN CASE

THE MOST FUEL-EFFICIENT AND MOST POWERFUL CR-V IS FINALLY HERE

- MIGUEL CORTINA

The irony couldn’t be more towering. As I was driving a 2020 CR-V Hybrid from Tucson, Arizona, to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was buying barrels of crude oil after its price plummeted nearly 30 percent in one day. Oil prices were at their lowest in more than a decade, and here I was, driving the first gas-sipping hybrid SUV Honda has offered in the U.S.

The CR-V Hybrid represents a big step for Honda. It’s the first electrified CR-V and the first all-wheel-drive hybrid vehicle for the automaker. Are gas prices going to go back up? They always do. But that’s not the only reason to shop this new entry.

Available in all four trims—LX, EX, EX-L, and Touring—the hybrid brings a host of differences from the gas model.

The biggest lie under the skin. The 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid uses the same two-motor system as the Accord Hybrid, which gets a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle engine that produces 143 hp and 129 lb-ft of torque. An electric motor produces 181 hp and 232 lb-ft, and the hybrid CR-V’s 212 combined horsepower make it 22 hp more powerful than the gas version. That power is sent to all four wheels by way of an e-CVT. A 1.3-kW-hr lithium-ion battery lies under the cargo floor. All CR-V Hybrids come with standard all-wheel drive, the same mechanical system used in the gas model, not an electrified rear axle.