The people have spoken. Three hundred and thirty-three thousand five hundred and two people, to be precise. Enough to make the CR-V compact SUV America’s best-selling Honda in 2020 and the second-best-selling SUV of all types, trailing only the Toyota RAV4.  

It’s not hard to see why it’s so popular, at least after looking past the CR-V’s smoothly conservative shape and staid interior design. The CR-V is designed to suit a broad range of tastes while offending none. Just like previous CR-Vs, the current generation model does almost everything well in a versatile and relaxing fashion. It’s famously reliable, always on the leading edge of class safety, and has top-notch resale value. And when it comes time to load an SUV with gear, the cavernous Honda remains unmatched for its size, with a generous hatch opening to reveal a vast load area. 

The CR-V’s cabin is clean, upscale and roomy. Honda

The 2020 CR-V added a hybrid model which adopted the innovative two-motor hybrid technology first seen on the Accord sedan, a welcome addition that carries on into 2021 unchanged. Honda took the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach with the whole vehicle, with no changes for the new model year. 

As with the recently departed Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, the Honda mainly uses its 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine to generate electricity and stuff it into the 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 a tag-team fashion. The result is 212 peak horsepower, more than the 195 horsepower offered in non-hybrid models.

While you can’t get a hybrid version of the base-model LX, the other CR-V trims—EX, EX-L and Touring—can be equipped with the hybrid powertrain and standard all-wheel drive for $2,700 over their non-hybrid equivalents. The gas models rely exclusively on a turbocharged 1.5-liter engine and 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 based Hybrid EX, priced from $31,735 including delivery fees, , also costs a hefty $5,210 more than the base CR-V LX ($26,525 with delivery fees). The Hybrid also gets expensive, with the Touring model topping out at $37,525, which approaches Acura RDX territory. 

The hybrid powertrain produces a total of 212 peak horsepower, 17 more than the standard CR-V’s 195 horsepower. Honda

The benefit of the hybrid, of course, mileage. It returns 40 mpg in the city, 35 on the highway, and 38 in combined driving, according to the EPA. That’s about 30% better mileage than the 29 mpg of the non-hybrid CR-V. 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-activated EV Mode allows the Honda run entirely on electricity, but for a mile or two at best.

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. Unless you enjoy twiddling the paddles hundreds of times per commute, the Honda strangely makes it harder to squeeze out every last drop of gasoline, a task that some hybrid owners enjoy. 

Fortunately, the CR-V Hybrid drives best in Sport mode; instantly becoming 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 helps the CR-V achieve the highest possible safety marks in crash protection, earning a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and a five-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). IIHS’s top rating applies to the Touring, with its adaptive headlamps, but all versions of the CR-V do well in that agency’s evaluations. Every 2021 CR-V also gets Honda Sense, the brand’s comprehensive suite of advanced driver-assistance safety technologies. Optional safety gear includes blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alerts, as well as automated high-beam headlamps. 

Despite updates, the CR-V’s infotainment system could use some work. Honda

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. Worse yet, the five-inch screen in the base-model LX is out of place in 2021 and should be phased out in favor of the larger touchscreen. Maybe next year.

The Hybrid also alerts pedestrians when 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 333,502 that opted for a CR-V in 2020, will undoubtedly have little trouble hearing it coming.