Honda sees hybrid CR-V filling diesel's void

Honda predicts that sales of the hybrid version of its new CR-V crossover will be healthy enough to compensate for the loss of the diesel model. Honda was the first automaker to sell a hybrid in Europe with the Insight in 1999 but ditched the technology in favor of diesel. Rival Toyota persisted and now hybrids account for almost half its European sales, according to the company’s 2018 figures.

The CR-V hybrid marks Honda’s return to the technology in the mainstream market after ending production of the Jazz Hybrid subcompact in 2015. The automaker says there is such strong demand from car buyers for fuel-efficient alternatives to diesel that it thinks the hybrid will account for half of the 60,000 annual sales predicted for the new CR-V in Europe. The hybrid will go on sale in March, joining the 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline model. Honda expects the CR-V hybrid to outsell the gasoline variant in the midterm.

“It’s the most important Honda powertrain in the last 10 years,” said Dave Hodgetts, managing director of Honda in the UK, the company’s biggest European market.

Honda said it has priced the hybrid to cost about the same as the diesel had it been continued. With CO2 emissions of 120 grams per kilometer, the two-wheel-drive hybrid version is roughly in line with its diesel predecessor, even allowing for the different testing protocols between the old diesel and new hybrid.

The CR-V hybrid uses Honda’s two-motor Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive (i-MMD) technology, which has been employed in vehicles such as the Accord midsize car since 2004. The full-hybrid system in the CR-V uses a 2.0-liter gasoline engine to both charge a 1 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery and power an electric generator, which then spins an electric motor connected to the wheels. At higher speeds when the gasoline engine is operating at its optimum efficiency, engine power is sent directly to the wheels. The CR-V can also run on battery power alone in EV mode. Mirroring Toyota, Honda will promote the CR-V as a self-charging EV. “It’s like driving an electric car that doesn’t have any of the complications of an electric car,” Hodgetts said, “such as range anxiety.”

Honda contends that the hybrid has the torque, economy and range that are comparable to what was offered in the diesel CR-V. “I see no reason why diesel customers wouldn’t buy it,” Hodgetts said. “It’s also so much more refined.”

One downside: The space demands of the battery mean the hybrid is only available with a five-seat configuration, rather than having the option of seven seats as with the gasoline model.