Honda Civic vs. Hyundai Elantra: Compare Hybrid Cars

Honda Civic Hybrid prices about $4,000 greater than the Elantra Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid might be had in sedan and hatchback physique types
The Elantra Hybrid Blue will get as much as 54 mpg mixed

Toyota could be the unquestioned chief in hybrid car gross sales, however Honda and Hyundai have a solution for that dominance. Hybrid variations of the Honda CR-V compact crossover and Honda Accord midsize sedan now account for greater than half of these fashions’ gross sales. Hyundai buttresses its rising Ioniq lineup of electrical autos with an intensive vary of hybrids in its hottest fashions, together with the Santa Fe Hybrid three-row crossover that received The Automotive Connection Finest Automotive To Purchase 2025.

Now each automakers goal cost-conscious patrons with compelling decisions close to the entry factors of the manufacturers. New for 2025, the Honda Civic Hybrid received The Automotive Connection Finest Sedan/Hatchback To Purchase this yr for its general worth, model, and driving habits. With an edgier design, the Elantra Hybrid additionally presents a greater worth and larger effectivity at as much as 54 mpg mixed. Compelling decisions certainly.

They’re comparable in that they’ll solely be had with front-wheel drive and so they each make use of a variety of regenerative braking settings to probably and incrementally enhance gasoline economic system. Each fashions supply 5 seats, however stuffing in additional than 4 adults would really feel like a hazy school street journey. They each come commonplace with touchscreens with smartphone compatibility, USB ports, and different necessities for the linked technology, and so they each include a normal suite of driver-assist options that embrace computerized emergency braking with pedestrian detection, energetic lane management, blind-spot displays, and computerized excessive beam headlights.

How a lot do the Hyundai Elantra and Honda Civic hybrids value?

2025 Elantra Blue Hybrid prices $26,250, SEL Sport $28,255, Restricted $30,600
2025 Honda Civic Sport Hybrid sedan prices $30,100, Sport Touring $33,100
Honda Civic hatchback prices $1,200 greater than sedan

The Elantra Hybrid is the thriftier purchase, each on the seller and on the pump. Contemplating that the highest Elantra Hybrid Restricted is barely $500 greater than the Civic Sport Hybrid, it’s significantly better geared up too, with cooled entrance seats which are power-operated, a ten.3-inch touchscreen, a ten.3-inch gauge cluster, Bose sound, a wi-fi smartphone charger, and a extra superior adaptive cruise management system that enables for temporary moments of hands-free driving. It needs to be famous, nevertheless, that solely the Elantra Restricted trim has fold-down rear seats to develop the cargo area from the rear.

The Elantra Blue Hybrid is the second least expensive hybrid you might purchase in 2025 behind the Toyota Corolla Hybrid sedan.

What are the variations between the Honda Civic Hybrid and Hyundai Elantra Hybrid?

The Civic Hybrid is priced practically $4,000 greater than the Elantra Blue and Honda positions the Sport Hybrid extra as a better-equipped mid-grade selection. It has adaptive cruise management, heated entrance seats, distant begin, computerized door locks, and a sunroof. To unlock most of these options on the Elantra, you’d need to step as much as the similarly-priced Restricted.

Each base fashions have material upholstery and manually adjustable entrance seats, which inserts with the Elantra Blue’s stripped-down nature however contrasts the Civic Sport Hybrid’s mid-level positioning.

However on the whole, inside and outside, the Civic Sport Hybrid feels more energizing as a result of it’s more energizing. The Civic Hybrid returned in 2025, after a 10-year hiatus, and just like the Accord, it’s conservatively styled, with delicate physique strains and a broad and low grille.

It’s an antidote to the busy flashiness of the Elantra Hybrid that launched new in 2021 with a hood dipping low over a flared grille flanked by wraparound headlights that break into creased physique panels. Some might want the different-for-different’s sake of the Elantra.

That distinction carries over inside, the place the Elantra comes with an 8.0-inch touchscreen and wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s higher built-in into the instrument cluster than the Civic’s 7.0-inch touchscreen that stands by itself within the sprint, however there’s a whole lot of potential actual property left undeveloped in Hyundai’s interface panels. Luckily each methods have dials and precise local weather management buttons, however the Civic is extra holistically built-in and feels a splash extra subtle with its mesh vent plates and simple order to its structure. The Elantra’s deal with bar that separates the passenger from the middle console is sensible on the Elantra N efficiency mannequin, however appears overdone on the hybrid, as does a splash that jogs and bends just like the door panels.

The Elantra solely is available in sedan type, whereas the 2025 Honda Civic might be had in sedan or the extra versatile hatchback physique model that’s significantly better for loading and carrying cargo. I want the hatchback in each model and flexibility, and it allows you to retailer 24.5 cubic ft of stuff behind the 60:40-split rear seats versus the 14.8 cubes within the sedan (the Elantra Blue’s trunk holds solely 14.2 cubic ft of stuff).

Benefit: Honda Civic hatchback.

How do the Civic and Elantra hybrids drive?

Civic makes use of a 2.0-liter inline-4 with a two-motor hybrid system to make 200 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque
Elantra Hybrid has a 1.5-liter inline-4 plus a motor/generator on the 6-speed dual-clutch transmission, for a mixed output of 139 hp and 195 lb-ft
Each fashions have a MacPherson strut entrance and multi-link rear suspension

Honda’s two-motor hybrid system acts like an electrical car at low speeds, working on silent, clear motor energy alone. The principle traction motor at all times powers the entrance wheels, whereas the second motor turns the inline-4 engine right into a generator that serves the primary traction motor. The engine clutches into the entrance axle solely at freeway speeds when the Atkinson-cycle 4-cylinder operates most effectively. Because of the motor setup, there’s loads of torque off the road, so it feels extra alert, and since there are not any actual gear shifts, it has a 0-60 mph time within the mid six-second vary. It’s fast, quiet, and has a stable general really feel. It additionally has 4 drive modes and 4 ranges of regenerative braking to let the driving force decide and select throttle mapping and coasting settings. Total, this subtle system matches its larger value.

The Elantra makes use of a smaller engine and places the motor within the 6-speed dual-clutch computerized transmission. It too runs in electrical mode at low speeds, and there may even be a shift between first and second gear in electric-only mode that may be shocking to drivers used to a shiftless battery electrical car or a collection hybrid. The paddle shifters act like gear shifters in Sport mode, however in Eco or Good modes they grow to be regen brake settings that, in its most aggressive setting, has extra seize than the Civic Hybrid’s.

There’s extra engine noise and fewer refinement than the Civic, and it’s additionally a pair seconds slower to 60 mph. It’s tuned for effectivity most, whereas Honda’s title of Sport right here for the hybrid fashions lives as much as its billing.

Benefit: Honda Civic Hybrid.

What’s the gasoline economic system/mpg of the Civic and Elantra hybrids?

Elantra Hybrid Blue will get 51 mpg metropolis, 58 freeway, 54 mixed
Different Elantra Hybrids get 49/52/50 mpg
Honda Civic Hybrid sedan will get 50/47/49 mpg; Civic hatchback will get 50/45/48 mpg

Benefit: Hyundai Elantra Blue and its 16-inch wheels.

I had each hybrids in back-to-back weeks to check round my house throughout a Chicago winter. I most popular the model and the responsiveness of the Civic Hybrid hatchback, however the Elantra’s general worth and effectivity makes it tough to make a clear-cut suggestion. They’re each nice decisions. I want the Civic Hybrid hatchback.