This brings us to the HR-V RS e:HEV—Honda’s third and latest electrified model in the Philippines. Realizing perhaps the very crowded landscape of the compact crossover segment where electrified offerings such as the Toyota Corolla Cross, Hyundai Kona Hybrid, and even the countless Chinese brands all play in, Honda’s finally wised up and priced the HR-V RS e:HEV at P 1.799-million; this makes it their most affordable e:HEV model yet. The question is: is it any good?

Naturally, something had to give, and in the case of the HR-V, it’s about 500 ccs worth of displacement. Unlike the CR-V and Civic, the HR-V RS e:HEV uses a normally aspirated 1.5-liter 4-cylinder putting out 106 horsepower and 127 Nm of torque—pretty good numbers for an efficiency-leaning Atkinson Cycle engine and considering the non-hybrid makes 121 horsepower and 145 Nm of torque. This is then hooked up to a dual motor setup that offers a combined output of 131 horsepower and 253 Nm of torque. Its 1.1-kWh lithium-ion battery is the same size as the CR-V’s and a smidge larger than the Civic’s.

This hodgepodge powertrain combo results in a HR-V that tries to move mostly with electrical power even if there’s no EV override switch. It will happily trudge along at low speeds and even across moderately graded roads with the combustion engine switched off. Even on roads where the Corolla Cross is forced to switch to an engine assist mode, the HR-V will happily coast along without using a drop of fuel.

However, because the electric motor makes much less power, it does tend to switch the gas engine more often compared to, say, the Civic or the CR-V hybrids. All it takes is a slightly heavier right foot and it’s enough to coax the gas engine to life. At first, it’ll try to send more juice to the high-voltage battery, and if that fails to satisfy your “speed demon,” it’ll send some power to the drive wheels too. The experience is all seamless save for a slight vibration coming from the pedal box and a slight drone permeating the cabin that tells everyone aboard that it’s running on dead dino juice. Additionally, the 1.5-liter has its work cut out. Since it makes modest power and drives the wheels more often, less energy’s stored in the battery. This penalizes the HR-V’s stop-and-go traffic fuel efficiency—dipping to 17.24 km/L. It’s happiest in slow, but constantly moving traffic where its 21.27 km/L bests even the Corolla Cross.

Handling-wise, the switch from turbocharged to electrified powertrains has made little difference. In that regard, the HR-V RS e:HEV feels well balanced with a precise, well-weighted steering and suspension that balances comfort and handling. If anything, the ride is slightly firmer perhaps down to having the shocks retuned to carry a bit more weight. Additionally, the road noise insulation could be better. While not overly annoying, it’s amplified even more in this hybrid powertrain setup.

As part of its 2025 update, Honda has also slightly tweaked the HR-V’s styling outside. There’s the wider, more upright grille and reprofile front bumper (still with the heartbeat décor). At the sides, there are new 18-inch wheels, and at the back, smoked taillights. This Sand Khaki Pearl suits the RS’s gloss black body kit which all HR-V e:HEVs have. Overall, it’s quite subtle, but does manage to impart a more masculine vibe.

Inside, the major change drops the oddly-shaped “wraparound” center console. Although it wasn’t formalized as a form of storage before, it was widely used as one even if there was a risk of having items slide out during more spirited maneuvers. This has led Honda to redesign it for something much more conventional. Now, small items can fit, including smartphones without any risk of it getting thrown about. The placement’s also quite apt as there are USB Type A and Type C ports on either side allowing easy connection or charging. There’s also a wireless charging pad in front of the shifter.

Also new for this update is the 8-inch touch-based infotainment system. The interface doesn’t look significantly changed (save for fresh color themes) and the hard buttons are still on the wrong (right) side, but the responsiveness of the system has been improved.

Sadly, the issue regarding its sensitivity to available ambient light remains. With an automatic headlight system that can’t be adjusted for its sensitivity to light or turned off completely, the HR-V’s instrumentation, except for the infotainment screen, relies on an ambient light sensor. This means the gauge’s brightness doesn’t depend on the status of the headlights (whether they’re on or off), but on the available exterior light. For example, you can have your headlights turn on while passing under a bridge, while the instrument maintains its “Day” brightness setting. But, in a big blunder against usability, the infotainment screen switches to its “Night” setting whenever the headlights turn on. This can make the LaneWatch camera utterly useless as the screen turns pitch black. Sure, you can manually adjust the brightness of the screen, but doing so will result in you getting blinded at night.

For this update, Honda’s also thrown in RS branding on the leather seats, a sporty red accent that runs the dashboard, an eight-speaker sound system, but most important of all, a power tailgate. It even comes with a clever walkaway auto close and lock function too. This is on top of the HR-V’s trademark ULT seats which enables the seat cushions and seat backs to be folded in a 60/40 split. Along with a long, expansive load bay, it can accommodate most stuff with ease. We say most, as fiitting large suit cases length-wise is a challenge (the wheels typically can’t clear the tailgate due to, of all reasons, the angle of the rear seat bench). The underfloor battery placement also means that there’s no spare tire here, even a temporary-type one. What you get is a sealant and inflator stored in a compartment by the right rear fender.

For all its faults, the HR-V RS e:HEV comes across as the best value Honda hybrid out there. Although it does give up a lot in terms of overall power and performance, it balances that nicely with a still frugal real-world performance. While still fun-to-drive and containing Honda’s thoughtful touches throughout, you can’t help but shake the feeling that it’s made and engineered to be more mature and sensible as opposed to being fun. It may not move the goalpost as far as Honda could, but at least it’s now priced competitively—very important in a tightly packed segment. In all honesty, it could be what Honda needs here and now.