Honda's Best Selling Family SUV Might Be Ditching Gas-Only Engines For Good

As it's one of Honda's best-selling SUVs of all time, the CR-V has a special place in the lineup. The CR-V is also the Japanese automaker's best-selling model globally, and it has been in production for over 30 years, since its debut in 1995. The CR-V has always offered a gas engine of some type, but that might be about to change. According to a report from Automotive News, Honda is planning to phase out pure combustion on the CR-V and switch to hybrids over the next few years. 

The automaker once offered the CR-V with only gas powertrains, and it was only in recent years that hybrids became a part of the lineup. Honda introduced a hybrid variant to the CR-V lineup for the first time ever in 2018 during the fifth generation of the SUV. In the U.S., it wasn't until the 2020 model year that the company offered shoppers a more fuel-efficient version of its popular SUV, powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four and dual electric motors producing 212 horsepower. 

Since then, the company has always offered hybrid powertrains on subsequent CR-V models alongside gas-only variants. In 2025, higher trims of the Honda CR-V were fitted with a hybrid powertrain as standard, and we've also seen the same thing on the 2026 and 2027 model years. Honda's rumored plan to get rid of pure gasoline engines on the CR-V is therefore a major, but pretty much inevitable change.

Per the report, the Honda CR-V might not be the only model to ditch pure gasoline engines. Automotive News also mentions another key model in Honda's lineup, the Accord, that might also go full-hybrid alongside the CR-V by 2031. While switching to hybrid-only power will be a significant change for the CR-V in its more than 30-year history, it isn't unprecedented for Honda, at least in some markets. For example, in Australia, the Drive notes that Honda has already switched the Accord and the Civic — with the exception of the Type R — to hybrid-only powertrains. 

Such a move is also not unheard of in the general automotive market. Honda's nemesis, Toyota, has also made a similar bold move. Recently, the automaker switched the Camry and the RAV4, some of its most successful models, to hybrid-only powertrains. Whether Honda goes ahead with a hybrid-only makeover of the CR-V remains to be seen, as the company hasn't publicly mentioned such information. 

However, the company has a goal of selling cars with zero emissions by the year 2040, and a key step in the company's roadmap is its two-motor hybrid-electric powertrain that's currently offered in a variety of models in its lineup, including the RAV4, Accord, Insight, and Civic. The 2026 Honda Prelude, a resurrected nameplate from the past, is already a fully hybrid model in Honda's lineup in the states.