Honda hybrids in Australia: Everything you need to know

As one of the world's largest manufacturers of internal-combustion engines (ICE) measured by volume - cranking out a whopping 14 million of them annually - you’d expect that Japanese car manufacturer Honda would be well ahead of the curve in terms of alternate fuel sources, now that traditional engines are very slowly but surely being phased out due to environmental concerns. 

The answer is, sort of: Honda is a little behind the eight ball in terms of fully electric vehicles (more on that later), but it has been producing hybrids for quite some time, with several models now available in Australia. 

Honda hybrid vehicles have been around much longer than you’d expect: Honda launched the Honda Insight hybrid in the US market in late-1999, beating the famous Toyota Prius to the punch by a whole month. And, for a while, it looked like Honda might be a leader in this area (as well as in hydrogen vehicles).

A year before that, Honda released the Honda Civic GX purpose-built Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) for commercial sale in some parts of the US and, in 2001, the EPA (America’s Environmental Protection Agency) rated the Civic GX the cleanest-burning ICE in the world.

Chiefly bought as fleet vehicles or taxis, the Civic GX was phased out in 2015 to make way for the further development of hybrids, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVS) and Electric Vehicles (EVs). 

More hybrids began to arrive, starting with 2002’s US release of the Honda Civic Hybrid, which went on to battle it out with the Prius for the title of America’s best-selling hybrid.

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Up next was the mid-size Honda Accord Hybrid in 2005, followed by 2011’s sport compact, the Honda CR-Z Hybrid, and the five-door subcompact Honda Jazz Hybrid (the latter promoted in Australia, bizarrely, with a TV advert inspired by Thomas the Tank Engine).

Although the Civic, Jazz, Insight and CR-Z hybrids were each available in Australia for a time, they were all discontinued around 2014-15 due to poor sales (only 86 CR-Zs were sold in Australia in 2014, despite it taking the title as Wheels Magazine’s Car of the Year - no matter how good it might have been, people just didn’t want one). 

The esteemed twin-turbo V6 Honda NSX hybrid supercar was also available in Australia from 2016, for the princely sum of $420,000, but the model was discontinued here in 2020 when it failed to sell any units at all that year (a grand total of nine NSX hybrid supercars were sold in Australia during 2016-2020). Perhaps it’s not surprising when you put that price tag and the word Honda in the same sentence, but it was a proper Japanese super car.

Honda hybrids available in Australia

Honda Accord VTi-LX Hybrid 

Price: From $61,900, plus on-road costs  

The Honda Accord VTi-LX Hybrid is costly for a sedan, but it does come with an array of special features, including an 8.0-inch multimedia system with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto support, satellite navigation, a 10-speaker sound system, LED headlights, dual-zone climate control, electronic sunroof, black leather upholstery, heated front seats, wireless smartphone charger, 6.0-inch colour head-up display, keyless entry and a whole bunch more.

Under the bonnet is a two-motor Intelligent Multi Mode Drive (i-MMD) engine, featuring a 2.0-litre, 16-valve engine with greater than 40 per cent thermal efficiency, making it Honda’s most fuel-efficient car in Australia.

The Accord Hybrid also offers three drive modes: EV mode for when you want to be kinder to the planet and exclusively use the battery while driving; Hybrid drive mode, which will have the ICE charging the battery while still giving you electric motor power when you require it for acceleration; and Engine drive mode, which only use the ICE and allows you to accelerate at highway speeds.

Honda HR-V e:HEV L 

Price: From $45,000, plus on-road costs 

Honda’s small SUV e:HEV L comes with an impressive number of bells and whistles, including a powered tailgate, heated steering wheel, leather-accented cabin, automatic wipers, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control and active cornering lights. Two electric motors and a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine create combined outputs of 96kW/253Nm, with the petrol-electric hybrid powertrain resulting in a fuel-consumption figure of 4.3L/100km. 

Honda PHEVs

Honda PHEVs - ie hybrids that don’t have self-charging batteries and require plugging in to an external power source to charge - first emerged in 1997 with the Honda EV Plus (all-electric driving range: 160km). 

A PHEV version of the Honda Accord was also available in the US and Japan from 2013 to 2015, but in Japan it was mainly just leased to corporations and government agencies. 

The Honda Clarity PHEV was launched in select overseas markets from 2017, but was discontinued in 2021.

The future of Honda hybrids, PHEVs, EVs and fuel-cell cars 

A hybrid version of the Honda Civic hatchback featuring Honda’s e:HEV drivetrain technology will be arriving in Australia by the end of 2022 to battle it out with the Hyundai Ioniq and Toyota Corolla hybrids. 

In terms of EVs, Honda has announced plans to electrify its entire range by 2040, but new legislation in the EU that involves phasing out ICE vehicles well before that date means that Honda has had to speed-up its plans (“If the rules change, we’ll have no choice but to respond,” said Toshihiro Mibe, President and CEO of Honda Motor). 

Other hybrids we can expect to see in 2023 include the Honda ZR-V small SUV and CR-V medium-sized SUV. 

Honda’s first all-electric SUV, the Honda Prologue EV, hits the US in 2024, with no announcement yet on whether it will make it to Australian shores. 

And despite discontinuing the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell car, Honda has announced it’s not done with hydrogen-powered cars just yet, with plans to develop further models.