The four-cylinder 1.3-liter produces 93 hp / 167 Nm. That’s rather decent for the displacement but barely enough for the Civic’s mass. Honda thus includes a secondary power source. Dubbed Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), it consists of an electric motor attached to the gasoline engine’s crankshaft. The electric motor provides an additional 20 hp and 103 Nm of torque. Essentially, it’s an electric supercharger.

There's no video screen displaying animated energy bars here. The gasoline engine continues to turn as long as the car is moving. The VTEC system closes the valves during steady cruising to reduce the “engine brake” effect and allow the electric motor to recapture energy from the brakes to recharge the batteries. During standstill, the gasoline engine shuts down. The electric motor fires up the engine instantly once you release the brake pedal. The result is 20.8 km/liter city / 21.7 km/liter highway, with emissions in the same class as the 2-seat smart coupe.

As the Honda-DOE forum pointed out, the hybrid variant is only one in Honda’s environment-friendly deck of cars. There’s also the Civic FFV, which can run on any gasoline-ethanol mixture up to E100. That car is destined for Brazil and other South American countries. The Civic GX is propelled by compressed natural gas, resulting in lower emissions and cost. The GX comes with a home-refilling station that taps into gas lines where available.

After driving this car, we surmise that Honda's goal is to make the technology as transparent and as unobtrusive as possible.  We wholeheartedly agree with the unobtrusive part. The Civic Hybrid firmly belongs in the everyday-driving universe, and that may be its greatest strength.

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