2025 Honda CR-V Loses Key Model, Regains Missing Safety Features
The 2025 Honda CR-V is now on sale in Canada offering less selection but more safety than the 2024 iteration.
After adding a second hybrid model last year, Honda has surprisingly decided to axe the gas-only EX-L model for 2025. Slotted between the Sport and EX-L Hybrid, it offered the most content of any turbocharged CR-V.
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In other words, customers who don’t want to settle for a CR-V Sport will now be forced to move up to the much more expensive CR-V Hybrid.
At the bottom of the lineup, the LX 2WD and LX AWD models regain a pair of safety features that were lost shortly after the launch of the latest CR-V for 2023, with Honda then putting the blame on the global chip shortage. We’re talking about blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert.
As a result, the “LX-B” moniker disappears for 2025. It also means that the entire suite of Honda Sensing technologies is now included as standard in every CR-V, which is excellent news. Low-speed braking control, meanwhile, remains exclusive to the top-line Touring (hybrid).
Prices do go up, but never more than $500. Here’s the breakdown (MSRP plus freight and PDI):
- LX 2WD: $37,848
- LX AWD: $40,648
- Sport: $44,248
- EX-L Hybrid: $49,443
- Touring: $51,943
The base LX 2WD doesn’t sell very well due to the lack of all-wheel drive and merely serves to advertise a lower price. By the way, unlike many other automakers, Honda doesn’t charge dealer fees.
The standard CR-V with a turbocharged 1.5-litre engine delivers 190 horsepower and averages 7.8-8.4 L/100 km depending on the number of drive wheels. The CR-V Hybrid, meanwhile, generates 204 horsepower and a solid 247 lb-ft of torque. Although Natural Resources Canada rates it at a combined 6.4 L/100 km, real-world fuel consumption is more like 7-8 L/100 km as we found out.
It’s pretty expensive for a non-plug-in hybrid compact SUV. It’d be nice if Honda’s hybrid system kept trickling down to other models like the Sport. Maybe as part of a mid-cycle update for 2026? We’ll see.
