Honda Civic e:HEV 2022 Review

It’s a year to the day since the 11th-generation Honda Civic hatchback was launched in petrol VTi LX guise, and the Japanese brand has now added a second model to the line-up – the 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV.

And just as the VTi LX caused a sensation with its premium $47,200 drive-away pricing, the new petrol-electric hybrid version similarly arrives in a single top-shelf model grade (LX) that’s set at $55,000 drive-away – $7800 more than the VTi LX.

That makes the new Civic hybrid one of the most expensive mainstream hatchbacks available in Australia, and places it above some German small cars like the BMW 1 Series (from $49,900 plus on-road costs) and Audi A3 sedan (from $49,600 plus ORCs).

In terms of price contrast, the Toyota Corolla hybrid is available from $30,630 to $39,120 plus ORCs, with the electrified powertrain adding $2500 over regular petrol versions.

But Honda has thrown a shedload of equipment at the Civic hybrid, which has extra features over the regular VTi LX too.

The LX specification for the new 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV brings a host of features already seen on the VTi LX including a 9.0-inch central touch-screen system with Android Auto (wired) and Apple CarPlay (wireless), a leather-clad steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, 12-speaker Bose sound system and wireless smartphone charger.

However, as well as the high-tech new hybrid powertrain, the $7800 price hike over the regular Civic brings an uptick in standard features.

The heated cloth seats are upgraded to leather, and while they still miss out on a cooling ventilation function as found on some rivals, the Civic e:HEV adds lumbar adjustment for both front seating positions.

There’s also a panoramic glass sunroof, a real-time traffic sign recognition system paired to an intelligent speed limiter, a full-width 10.25-inch digital driver’s display and front and rear parking sensors.

We’d argue that the majority of these extras should really be standard on the $47K VTi, not just the $55K e:HEV.

The hybrid rolls on the same 18-inch alloy wheels as the petrol-engined Civic, and there’s nothing significant to pick them apart visually, save for e:HEV and blue-hued Honda badges. The rear bumper is also mildly redesigned to hide the single rear exhaust pipe and the front grille is slightly different, but you’ll need binoculars to spot the changes.

The five-seat, five-door hatch is offered in only three colours: red, white and blue. There are no factory options but plenty of dealer-fit accessories, some of which are bundled into the essentials pack ($820) with mud guards, window weather shields, a luggage area protector, carpet mats and a rear bumper/boot lip protector.

A five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty is backed up by five years of roadside assist and a five-year subscription to the Honda Connect service and over-the-air map upgrades.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km (whichever comes first), and although the latter is relatively short, service pricing is low at just $199 per annum or less than $1000 over five years.

Dissect all the car’s safety features and scrutinise the fresh metal surrounding the vehicle and it would stand to reason that the new 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV is a very safe car.

There’s no safety rating yet from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), however the latest Civic has received a maximum five-star result from European NCAP, which includes hybrid versions.

It certainly ticks all the boxes, with a stronger sub-structure and body shell than its predecessor, nine airbags as standard – including a centre front airbag that’s not found on the VTi LX – and advanced driver assist safety systems such as adaptive cruise control and lane keep assistance.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), auto-levelling LED headlights, driver attention and blind spot monitoring are in there too.

Beyond the centre front airbag, which is designed to prevent head-clash between the driver and front passenger in the event of a collision, Civic e:HEV safety features that aren’t found in the VTi LX include front and rear parking sensors, rear cross traffic alert, speed sign recognition and an intelligent speed limiter.

First up, the 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV has twin digital screens – a 9.0-inch central touch-screen and a 10.25-inch driver’s display, both of which have crystal-clear visuals and sharp graphics.

The touch-screen menu is surprisingly good and the fact that physical tuning buttons and a volume dial exist make the whole shebang quicker to use. Of course, most owners will just plug in Apple CarPlay (wired and wireless) or Android Auto (wired only).

The built-in satellite navigation is pretty good and can be updated for free with over-the-air wireless updates, as can the audio system’s firmware.

While the Civic still doesn’t get a head-up display, which is disappointing given its lofty price point, it does come with the Honda Connect system and a five-year subscription to the service. This allows remote monitoring and control of the car for things like locking/unlocking or pre-heating/cooling via smartphone.

You can track the vehicle, and every drive is recorded and shows the route driven, top speed and plenty of other data. It also provides a map to show where you parked the car and will flash the lights so you can find it in a crowded shopping centre car park, which will probably get a workout.

The car will also automatically contact a 24/7 call centre if an airbag is deployed, which will then alert ambulance and police if required or no response is recorded.

Whereas the Civic VTi LX comes with a carryover 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine (131kW/240Nm), the 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV features a “newly developed” and super-efficient 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol engine that’s paired with two electric motors and a 1kWh lithium-ion battery.

Peak power and torque eclipse the petrol-engined Civic, with the hybrid’s 135kW arriving from 5000-6000rpm, and peak torque of 315Nm developed from 0-2000rpm, according to Honda.

Acceleration from 0-100km/h is claimed to be 7.8 seconds, but the seat-of-the-pants-o-meter suggests it’s more like 10sec. It doesn’t feel brisk off the line, probably because it weighs an extra 146kg over its non-hybrid brethren, tipping the scales at 1478kg.

But once moving the heavier electrified Civic is more responsive and doesn’t mind hustling along a brisk clip when engaging petrol and electric forces. The engine makes a subtly sporty exhaust note in Sport mode too, which is a surprise.

Interestingly, only one of the electric motors drives the front wheels, either independently or in tandem with the petrol engine, while the second e-motor acts as a generator for the battery. The transition between petrol, electric and hybrid is impressively seamless.

There’s no ‘EV’ button like in Toyota’s hybrids, ruling out manual control when running with battery power only at slow speeds, the Civic e:HEV accelerates quite strongly using only the e-motor, which is achieved by slotting the drive mode into ‘Eco’ and only leaning gently on the accelerator pedal.

All told there are three hybrid drive modes – electric drive, petrol drive and hybrid drive – and four dynamic settings (Eco, Normal, Sport, Individual), while a fixed-gear transmission, or eCVT in Honda speak, modulates the power delivery to the wheels.

At the national launch of the 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, we achieved fuel economy of 4.4L/100km on our first route when driven relatively carefully, which is slightly above the claimed 4.2L/100km.

This was impressive given the drive included plenty of elevational changes, and on the return leg a more flamboyant driving style was employed, including a few full-throttle and 0-100km/h launches, with the end result 5.2L/100km.

So fuel economy of 4.8L/100km overall was the end result after a day in the saddle and that’s not half bad.

In a nutshell, the 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV is a pleasure to drive.

Whether you’re pootling along through the city, humming around the suburbs or hill climbing through the Kinglake National Park at full tilt, the Civic hybrid hatch delivers the sort of driver satisfaction that few other small cars can match – luxury or otherwise.

Despite the extra 146kg of mass, the hybrid Civic is so settled and composed in a dynamic sense, scything through corners with complete and utter control.

Weight transfer is impressive, the car changes direction through corners with conviction and its low ride height (and centre of gravity) and reasonably wide tyres give it excellent roadholding.

Like the petrol-engined Civic VTi, the e:HEV is a beautifully balanced vehicle to drive and exhibits very little body roll, even when abusively shoved into corners.

Honda has tweaked the suspension to deal with the extra weight of the electric gubbins, and even added bigger brake discs (293/282mm front/rear, up by 11/22mm respectively) – a change that not all brands make when developing hybrid versions of existing models.

At the other end of the driving spectrum, the Japanese small car delivers reasonably good ride comfort, soaking up bumps and lumps in the road with discreet diligence.

Speaking of which, it’s a very quiet car (until you reach high engine revs) and even on coarse-chip road surfaces you don’t get much noise intrusion into the cabin.

The cabin of the 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV is quite lovely, with a premium look and feel thanks to the use of high-quality plastics and first-rate controls.

All the major touch points – steering wheel, door handles, etc – add a touch of luxury to proceedings as well.

The front seats are ultra-comfortable and finally get a high-end leather finish, while the overall layout and placement of controls is logical and well-thought-out.

Unique transmission select ‘buttons’ instead of a conventional lever remind you that this is no ordinary car every time you hop in. It’s a small but important touch.

Compared to its predecessor, the new 11th-generation Civic is a far more premium vehicle.

That it’s imported from Honda’s Saitama factory in Japan and not the Prachinburi plant in Thailand like the previous Civic adds a little more prestige, and even the smaller touches – the way the doors thud shut, how the controls actuate – are much improved now.

Honda’s latest catchphrase – ‘joy has no limits’ – is fairly apt here. The 2022 Honda Civic e:HEV is so well built and so impeccably engineered that few people who take one for a test drive will walk away without a sense of wonder.

It’s a very fine motor vehicle but is it vastly superior to the most expensive Toyota Corolla hybrid, which starts below $40,000? In a word, no.

The new petrol-electric Civic is an outstanding vehicle on so many levels, but its appeal is undermined by overzealous pricing, which at $55,000 will be a barrier too high for many buyers.

2022 Honda Civic e:HEV LX at a glance:
Price: $55,000 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 105kW/186Nm (electric motor: 135kW/315Nm)
Combined output: 135kW/315Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 4.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 96g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (Euro NCAP 2022)