The CR-V Hybrid is almost indistinguishable from the gasoline version. There is a blue hue in the front Honda badge, a hybrid stamp at the rear and a unique bumper that hides the tailpipes. The RAV4 Hybrid has a unique trim, the XSE, with black wheels and two-tone paint job. Likewise, Ford sells the Escape as a “Sport Hybrid” with black wheels and chrome. But they’re still designed to be mainstream vehicles.
One reason for the change in attitude by manufacturers is that hybrids are increasingly important toward meeting corporate average fuel economy targets. Plug-in hybrid options are becoming increasingly popular on the higher trims of premium vehicles because of the performance boost.
Ford is planning a hybrid F-150 pickup that has the advantage of being able to run power tools without an external generator. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is planning plug-in hybrid Jeeps. Ford and Toyota have already announced plug-in hybrid versions of the RAV4 and Escape coming this year. Toyota is billing the 302-hp RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid as “the most powerful and quickest” version yet.
The arrival of the hybrid era — as marked by the three compact crossover models now on sale — is also logical. The vehicles drive better, the price premium is minimal, and the benefits of electrified powertrains, at least in Toyota models, include improved reliability.
“I think the numbers you see around the RAV4 Hybrid are proof that we are moving out of kind of niche, green-oriented consumers to mainstream consumers, and it makes perfect sense in my mind,” said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. “The early hybrids weren’t easy to justify. They performed worse, they cost more, and the fuel-efficiency benefits were mediocre at best.”
That equation, he said, has now been flipped.
“They’re finally getting to where the cost difference isn’t much, and the engineering is actually making them better — not just at fuel efficiency, but at performance, too. They’re basically just better cars. They’re more refined, they’re quieter, they get better mileage, and they’re quicker, too,” Brauer said.
The coronavirus may have put the hybrid era on hold for a little while longer in the U.S. But with electrified vehicles as good as these, along with government efficiency regulations and societal pressure to reduce emissions, the march forward is likely to resume when a state of normalcy returns.
