- Honda recently confirmed that the Insight will be discontinued and a Civic hybrid is on its way.
- There’s a new Civic hybrid for Europe, and we think it could offer a preview of the model we’ll eventually get.
- We’re not sure if the Civic hybrid will be offered in the U.S. as a sedan or a hatchback, or both.
The Honda Civic hybrid is poised to return to the U.S. market, as the Insight—which is effectively a Civic hybrid in all but name—bows out after the 2022 model year. Honda has yet to release details about the upcoming U.S.-market Civic hybrid, but did just release photos and specs for the Europe-spec version that could give us an idea of what to expect.
The Euro Civic’s hybrid powertrain is similar to the Insight’s in that it uses two electric motors and a gasoline engine, but it swaps out the Insight’s 1.5-liter inline-four for a larger 2.0-liter inline-four. This means the Civic hybrid is significantly more powerful, producing 181 horsepower in total compared to the Insight’s 152 hp. That’s about the same as the nonhybrid Civic’s optional turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four. But the U.S.-market Accord hybrid, which also uses a 2.0-liter gasoline engine, is more powerful still, with a combined 212 hp.
Fuel economy may suffer somewhat, as the Insight has an EPA combined rating of up to 52 mpg, while the Euro Civic hybrid is rated at 50 mpg combined on the more favorable WLTP cycle.
Honda hasn’t said where it plans to build the U.S.-market Civic hybrid, but the Civic hatchback is currently built in Indiana and the sedan is built in Canada. Although the Europe-market Civic comes only as a hatchback and is exclusively a hybrid, we’re not sure which bodystyles will be offered for the hybrid on our shores. A Civic hybrid sedan would be an obvious rival for the sedan-only Toyota Corolla hybrid, but we hope Honda will offer the hatchback as a hybrid too for its extra measure of practicality. The Euro Civic hybrid, for its part, appears to offer many of the same visual elements from the Civic Sport and Sport Touring trims, including larger wheels.
Look for Honda to release more information soon about the U.S.-bound Civic hybrid soon, as we expect it to join the lineup soon, possibly as a 2023 model.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
