- Honda Civic Hybrid costs about $4,000 more than the Elantra Hybrid
- Honda Civic Hybrid can be had in sedan and hatchback body styles
- The Elantra Hybrid Blue gets up to 54 mpg combined
Toyota may be the unquestioned leader in hybrid vehicle sales, but Honda and Hyundai have an answer for that dominance. Hybrid versions of the Honda CR-V compact crossover and Honda Accord midsize sedan now account for more than half of those models’ sales. Hyundai buttresses its growing Ioniq lineup of electric vehicles with an extensive range of hybrids in its most popular models, including the Santa Fe Hybrid three-row crossover that won The Car Connection Best Car To Buy 2025.
Now both automakers target cost-conscious buyers with compelling choices near the entry points of the brands. New for 2025, the Honda Civic Hybrid won The Car Connection Best Sedan/Hatchback To Buy this year for its overall value, style, and driving behavior. With an edgier design, the Elantra Hybrid also presents a better value and greater efficiency at up to 54 mpg combined. Compelling choices indeed.
They’re similar in that they can only be had with front-wheel drive and they both employ a range of regenerative braking settings to potentially and incrementally increase fuel economy. Both models offer five seats, but stuffing in more than four adults would feel like a hazy college road trip. They both come standard with touchscreens with smartphone compatibility, USB ports, and other essentials for the connected generation, and they both come with a standard suite of driver-assist features that include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, and automatic high beam headlights.
How much do the Hyundai Elantra and Honda Civic hybrids cost?
- 2025 Elantra Blue Hybrid costs $26,250, SEL Sport $28,255, Limited $30,600
- 2025 Honda Civic Sport Hybrid sedan costs $30,100, Sport Touring $33,100
- Honda Civic hatchback costs $1,200 more than sedan
The Elantra Hybrid is the thriftier buy, both at the dealer and at the pump. Considering that the top Elantra Hybrid Limited is only $500 more than the Civic Sport Hybrid, it’s much better equipped too, with cooled front seats that are power-operated, a 10.3-inch touchscreen, a 10.3-inch gauge cluster, Bose sound, a wireless smartphone charger, and a more advanced adaptive cruise control system that allows for brief moments of hands-free driving. It should be noted, however, that only the Elantra Limited trim has fold-down rear seats to expand the cargo space from the rear.
The Elantra Blue Hybrid is the second cheapest hybrid you could buy in 2025 behind the Toyota Corolla Hybrid sedan.
What are the differences between the Honda Civic Hybrid and Hyundai Elantra Hybrid?
The Civic Hybrid is priced nearly $4,000 more than the Elantra Blue and Honda positions the Sport Hybrid more as a better-equipped mid-grade choice. It has adaptive cruise control, heated front seats, remote start, automatic door locks, and a sunroof. To unlock most of those features on the Elantra, you’d have to step up to the similarly-priced Limited.
Both base models have cloth upholstery and manually adjustable front seats, which fits with the Elantra Blue’s stripped-down nature but contrasts the Civic Sport Hybrid’s mid-level positioning.
But in general, inside and out, the Civic Sport Hybrid feels fresher because it is fresher. The Civic Hybrid returned in 2025, after a 10-year hiatus, and like the Accord, it’s conservatively styled, with subtle body lines 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 body panels. Some may prefer the different-for-different’s sake of the Elantra.
That contrast carries over inside, where the Elantra comes with an 8.0-inch touchscreen and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s better integrated into the instrument cluster than the Civic’s 7.0-inch touchscreen that stands on its own in the dash, but there’s a lot of potential real estate left undeveloped in Hyundai’s interface panels. Fortunately both systems have dials and actual climate control buttons, but the Civic is more holistically integrated and feels a dash more sophisticated with its mesh vent plates and easy order to its layout. The Elantra’s handle bar that separates the passenger from the center console makes sense on the Elantra N performance model, but seems overdone on the hybrid, as does a dash that jogs and bends like the door panels.
The Elantra only comes in sedan form, whereas the 2025 Honda Civic can be had in sedan or the more versatile hatchback body style that’s much better for loading and carrying cargo. I prefer the hatchback in both style and versatility, and it lets you store 24.5 cubic feet of stuff behind the 60:40-split rear seats versus the 14.8 cubes in the sedan (the Elantra Blue’s trunk holds only 14.2 cubic feet of stuff).
Advantage: Honda Civic hatchback.
How do the Civic and Elantra hybrids drive?
- Civic utilizes 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 at the 6-speed dual-clutch transmission, for a combined output of 139 hp and 195 lb-ft
- Both models have a MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension
Honda’s two-motor hybrid system acts like an electric vehicle at low speeds, operating on silent, clean motor power alone. The main traction motor always powers the front wheels, while the second motor turns the inline-4 engine into a generator that serves the main traction motor. The engine clutches into the front axle only at highway speeds when the Atkinson-cycle 4-cylinder operates most efficiently. Due to the motor setup, there’s plenty of torque off the line, so it feels more alert, and because there are no real gear shifts, it has a 0-60 mph time in the mid six-second range. It’s quick, quiet, and has a solid overall feel. It also has four drive modes and four levels of regenerative braking to let the driver pick and choose throttle mapping and coasting settings. Overall, this sophisticated system matches its higher price.
The Elantra uses a smaller engine and puts the motor in the 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It too runs in electric mode at low speeds, and there can even be a shift between first and second gear in electric-only mode that can be surprising to drivers used to a shiftless battery electric vehicle or a series hybrid. The paddle shifters act like gear shifters in Sport mode, but in Eco or Smart modes they become regen brake settings that, in its most aggressive setting, has more grab than the Civic Hybrid’s.
There’s more engine noise and less refinement than the Civic, and it’s also a couple seconds slower to 60 mph. It’s tuned for efficiency most, whereas Honda’s name of Sport here for the hybrid models lives up to its billing.
Advantage: Honda Civic Hybrid.
What is the fuel economy/mpg of the Civic and Elantra hybrids?
- Elantra Hybrid Blue gets 51 mpg city, 58 highway, 54 combined
- Other Elantra Hybrids get 49/52/50 mpg
- Honda Civic Hybrid sedan gets 50/47/49 mpg; Civic hatchback gets 50/45/48 mpg
Advantage: Hyundai Elantra Blue and its 16-inch wheels.
I had both hybrids in back-to-back weeks to test around my home during a Chicago winter. I preferred the style and the responsiveness of the Civic Hybrid hatchback, but the Elantra’s overall value and efficiency makes it difficult to make a clear-cut recommendation. They’re both great choices. I prefer the Civic Hybrid hatchback.