The people have spoken. 384,168 people, to be exact, making the CR-V compact SUV America’s best-selling Honda in 2019. Among all SUVs of all sizes, only the all-new Toyota RAV4 found more buyers. 

The Honda is CR-V handsomely styled with plenty of cargo space and room for five, making it ideal for singles and smaller families seeking a reliable and durable sport utility vehicle with a small footprint. It also now offers a fuel-efficient hybrid powertrain.  Honda

It’s easy to see why, at least after looking past the CR-V’s smoothly conservative shape and take-no-chances interior design. The CR-V does most everything well, in versatile and relaxing fashion. It’s famously reliable, always on the leading edge of class safety, and holds its value like crazy. And when it comes time to load an SUV with gear, the Honda remains unmatched for its size, from a generous hatch opening to its cavernous load floor.

For 2020, Honda looks to extend the CR-V’s appeal with its first-ever hybrid SUV in America. It’s even built stateside in Greensburg, Indiana. It also adopts the ingenious two-motor hybrid technology first seen on the Accord sedan. 

 CR-V Hybrid models gets an exclusive digital driver’s display.  Honda

As with the plug-in Chevrolet Volt hybrid, the Honda mostly uses its 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine to generate electricity and stuff it into a battery. Electric motors do the actual work to propel the vehicle, but in certain situations, including highway cruising or with the accelerator pushed to the floor, the gasoline engine can help those motors power the wheels in tag-team fashion. The result is a peak 212 horsepower, more than the 195 horsepower offered in non-hybrid models. Each of the four CR-V trims—LX, EX, EX-L and Touring—can be equipped with the hybrid powertrain and standard all-wheel drive. The gas models, which for the 2020 model year rely exclusively on a turbocharged 1.5-liter engine, can be configured with either front- or all-wheel-drive. 

The hybrid’s acceleration feels zippy, especially around town, though its electric advantage begins to tail off at highway speeds. The only downside is that a small lithium-ion battery tucks below the hatch floor, stealing a skosh of cargo space and eliminating the spare tire of conventional CR-Vs. The Hybrid, priced from $28,870, also costs $2,700 more than the base CR-V LX. The Hybrid gets expensive, with the Touring model topping out at $37,070. 

The upside is 38 mpg in combined driving, according to the EPA, with 40 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway. That 38 mpg is nearly one third better mileage than the 29 mpg of gasoline-only versions. Over a week of driving in the New York area, the CR-V Hybrid returned a real-world 37 mpg, despite logging most of those miles in less-efficient highway travel. With a gentle throttle foot, Toyota’s excellent new RAV4 Hybrid squeezes out 2 to 3 more mpg. Yet 37 mpg is still outstanding mileage for an all-wheel-drive SUV with this much utility. A pushbutton EV Mode does let the Honda run entirely on electricity, but for a mile or two at best.

Honda cabin is smartly packaged and family-friendly, but a dated infotainment system suffers from fussy screen-based controls. Honda

There is one major quibble with the Hybrid. A pair of regenerative braking paddles mounted on the steering wheel are a lost opportunity for Honda. The paddles toggle through four levels of regenerative braking, each slowing the car more efficiently to return energy to the battery. Unless the CR-V is in the selectable Sport mode—its least-thrifty setting—the SUV defaults to its mildest brake setting every time it slows or comes to a stop. In the case that one enjoys twiddling the paddles hundreds of times per commute, the Honda makes it harder to squeeze out every last drop of gasoline, a task hybrid owners are known to enjoy. 

Fortunately, the CR-V Hybrid drives best in Sport mode; it instantly becomes more alert and responsive, with a negligible toll on fuel economy.  No matter which model a consumer chooses, the CR-V’s goodness shines through: The Honda isn’t the sportiest SUV in its class, but it feels smooth, confident and sophisticated. 

A quiet, solid structure based on Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering design, helps the CR-V achieve the highest possible safety marks in crash protection. For 2020, every CR-V adopts Honda Sense, the brand’s comprehensive suite of advanced driver-assistance safety technologies. Optional safety gear includes monitors for blind spots and rear cross-traffic and automated high-beam headlamps. 

For all its engineering smarts, the CR-V falls behind the infotainment curve. Even its best-available system looks and feels dated, with a stingy 7-inch screen and touchscreen controls that are vexingly hard to operate while in motion. The latest Accord offers a dramatically improved system, and it can’t migrate to the CR-V fast enough. 

Surprisingly massive cargo space remains a CR-V high point. Honda

All 2020 CR-Vs get mildly updated styling, including revised bumpers, chrome grille and taillamp trim. The top-shelf Touring model adds standard Qi-compatible wireless phone charging, and the Hybrid adopts the (mildly annoying) pushbutton gear selector from the Accord, versus the conventional shift lever in other versions. 

The Hybrid also alerts pedestrians when it’s driving on electricity alone, via a sci-fi hum broadcast through an external speaker. For the perennially low-key Honda, that may be the most public noise it ever makes. Yet American SUV buyers, including the near 400,000 that opted for a CR-V, will definitely hear it coming.