Driving report Honda CR-V: An SUV wants to go to the top

It was once the world's best-selling SUV. Those days are over, but the Honda CR-V is still in the top league in its segment. The Japanese now want to position the sixth generation in this league and have expanded the former compact SUV into a flagship. The bold pricing is not the least evidence of this. German buyers will have to pay at least 51,400 euros for the new CR-V as of now. The predecessor started at a mere 20,000 euros less.

But when it made its German debut in 2018, it was also available with a conventional combustion engine. The new CR-V is now only available in two drive variants, as a full hybrid called e:HEV and, for the first time in Europe, as a plug-in hybrid e:PHEV with a standard electric range of 82 kilometers. At the heart of both options is the familiar 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, which always operates in the efficient Atkinson cycle with high-pressure injection and operates together with two electric motors and a lithium-ion battery in seamless alternation between EV, hybrid and engine drive. Improvements have also been made to the engine's vibration and sound insulation, while a stiffer crankshaft ensures smoother running in the interior. (aum)