Honda CR-V e-HEV RS Long Term: The Good And Bad after 6 Months Of Testing

The Honda CR-V has been in the Chasing Cars garage for six months and has been driven by every journalist in our team for well over 10,000 kilometres.

But in a growing segment for midsize SUVs, does the CR-V e-HEV have what it takes to challenge the dominate RAV4 and has it held up well after our extensive testing?

To break down its five wins and five misses after six months of testing, we’ve broken up our verdict into two parts, with this being the latter.

In this final instalment, deputy editor Curt Dupriez covers our experience with fuel economy, driving, reliability and much more.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Intro
0:45 - Coming up
1:17 - Hybrid system
3:03 - Fuel consumption
5:02 - Driving joy
6:45 - Hybrid shortcomings
7:29 - Highway driving
8:10 - Sporty driving
8:38 - Reliability
9:07 - Verdict

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[RodneyW]

This is one of the best Australian video reviews I've watched. Comprehensive. Clear. With evidence to back up opinions, and an almost unheard of consideration of pro's and con's of hybrid vs ICE only. Well done.

[adamjones]

We bought the petrol powered CRV Vti-L. An excellent car. I don't regret it. Don't know about hybrid, but the petrol powered CRV has plenty of get up and go.

[GlowingTube]

Excellent work Curt! Too bad the Hybrid version of the CRV is not good value… the lower grades and conventional drivetrains are much better choices and value.

[mcsl]

i own a zr-v e:hev. had it's first service last week and it's averaging at 4.4l/100km.

[FlameMirage]

I love my Honda CRV hybrid. it's great.

[c.s]

Always enjoy your reviews Curt. You are very knowledgeable and informative in my opinion.

[ob]

got a ‘21 hybrid AWD and the fuel consumption you claim for the hybrid is spot on. Sat in a Rav4 as we had a few cars form Toyota over the years and I was not impressed: huge on the outside and rather small on the inside. The cabin space has somewhat shrunk and I could fit my tall family. On the off chance I tried the hybrid CRV and never looked back. Clocked 3k miles in 2 months and still love it. I don’t expect the same longevity as my 16yo Avensis 2.2d (192k miles) but the Honda feels very nimble for such a heavy car (sure the AWD helps a lot).

[howec]

Good review.
Fuel consumption that I used in my calculations matches the figures in your test. At $3/L with 15, 000km per year, it will take me approximately 12 years to re-coup the cost difference between the hybrid and the CRV VTi-L 2WD that I bought a few months ago. I am also getting the same fuel usage as the 1.5T used in your test. While from time to time, I sometimes wonder if I should have got the hybrid instead, the CRV VTi-L does not disappoint as it does everything that I want it to and more. Given what I know now after living with the CRV VTi-L for a few months, the cost of the hybrid is still a bridge too far. To me it is a nice to have, but unnecessary.

[yslee]

Think $60k is a tad too steep for this car

[kenchung]

i bought RS few months ago, very enjoy
fuel efficiency happly only 4.5 to 5.5 L/100
sound stereo very good too
only worry battery how long how much for replace.

[gilbs]

For Honda, RS means "Road Sailing" but a lot of reviews expect it to be sporty. In Honda world, sporty means the Si or Type R.

[supremeboy]

For what CRV offers in EU highest trim its worth extra cost. I test drive Kodiaq, Tiguan, Rav4, Sportage. Non of them offered same extras and with 4wd. Sure you can get Sportage cheap but its 2WD same as Tiguan. Kodiaq and Rav4 felt worse interior.
There is something that Honda managed to do well and raising price was understandable. I also like the hybrid solution best with Honda.

[koddesa]

Nearly 1000 bucks for the first 5 services is kind of wild.

[alvis]

Well done a good review. Valid points as to things missing, I think for the majority of mum’s and dad’s the AWD is not a massive miss, but still a miss relative to the competition.

The spare tyre is also a bit disappointing given our roads, again, the packaging is not quite perfect from Honda.

But do I really want a Sportage or Tuscon turbo with a DSG box? Absolutely not. Turbo and DSG are just another thing to go wrong in my opinion.

Well done to Honda on the hybrid system and simple naturally aspirated engine - keeps things simple and reliable.

[huytran]

Does Hybrid drive better than the normal one?

[lucassitanggang]

So This Is our final verdict, should you avoid it, consider it, shortlist it, or you can buy it?

[columcreaven]

Great review, it is expensive, any issues with the start stop system?

[jondoe]

Does this have electric AWD or only 2WD?

[serpserpserp]

Basically the verdict was: If you want to pay a really high price, this car is just OK.

[nsw]

Six months / 10k is hardly a "long term" test re reliability. Even the nastiest chinese sh**box will most likely do fine in that time frame.
Having said that, these uploads are a good insight into what buyers can expect from this vehicle. 👍