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2025 Buick Enclave vs Honda PilotBest New Hybrid Vehicles
Looking into electrification but suffering from range anxiety? We have found great options from all-around family cars to luxury sedans.
Jumping into the Electric Revolution
We get it. You’re totally down with the battery-electric vehicle revolution. It doesn’t bother you one bit that ICE cars will probably stop being manufactured and you even have space in your garage for a Level 2 AC fast charger. There’s only one problem, A good portion of the US is still a barren desert for EV charging, and range anxiety is a major concern for you.
So then, a hybrid it is then! But where on Earth do you begin to look? It’s hard for us to give a definitive answer. But what we can do is check out ten hybrid cars, trucks, SUVs, and one little treat at the end to help figure it out for yourself in no particular order.
2024 Toyota Prius: The Obvious Choice Gets Better
We need not sing the praises of the Prius Hybrid for the umpteenth time. So, let’s break down the facts and figures instead to contextualize the hype. Up to 196 horsepower with available electronic AWD, plenty of variety with four available trim packages, and a combined 57 MPGs every day of the week at a starting price of just $27,950, and that’s without mentioning the plug-in hybrid Prius Prime.
It’d be wrong to waste time praising a hybrid that people who don’t even care about cars know is great. But it’d also be wrong not to include the Prius when talking about the best new hybrids you can buy today. So, take that for what it is. Anyway, moving on.
2025 Mazda CX-50: Punching Above Weight
The Mazda CX-line of crossover SUVs has had a blink-and-miss proliferation in recent years. A lineup once limited to just the CX-7 and CX-9 no longer includes either. Instead, its descendants have been quietly growing in refinement. Among them, the CX-50 Hybrid is one of our favorites. With 219 horsepower between its ICE-electric powertrain and up to 38 MPG, Mazda says you net up to 100 miles of range per tank over the standard gasoline-powered CX-50 2.5 and 2.5 Turbo.
With all the luxuries and connectivity capability of a modern platform, plus a hybrid powertrain borrowed from Toyota. There’s more intrigue to be had with this unassuming hybrid crossover than just about anything else in its market segment. With that in mind, the CX-50 should be on your list of what to look at if you’re in the market for a mid-size hybrid crossover.
2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid: New Era of Trucks
Light pickup trucks have been a pain to get your hands on in North America. But gosh darnit, the Ford Maverick is a trend bucker. The Maverick, and especially its hybrid option managed to bring the light truck market back from the dead (With some help from the Hyundai Santa Cruz, admittedly.)
Available with each of the Maverick’s three trim packages, there’s nothing stopping you from adding more economy to an XL work truck or a Lariat. You don’t get the towing package that the turbo EcoBoost vehicles get. But as a daily runabout with some utilitarian use via the bed and limited towing capacity, you can do a lot worse than one of these Maverick Hybrids.
2025 Honda Accord Hybrid: Sporty Sedan, Sedate Looks
The eleventh-generation Honda Accord is looking a little bit chunky lately. Especially if you know what the Accord used to look like back in the early 2000s and even up to the mid-2010s or so, the current model is nothing short of blob-like. Even so, the 2025 Accord Hybrid is an exceptional value. A spry 204 horsepower is nearly as much as the current Prius, a hybrid that, even now, people still marvel at its sporty handling.
But more important than raw performance, fuel economy figures of 51 MPG in the city and 44 on the highway are nothing short of remarkable. A Starting price of $34,940 for a hybrid is a higher price but the fuel savings over the base ICE Accord might pay dividends on top of an ultra-modern platform with great features.
2025 Toyota Tacoma i-Force Max: At Long Last
It was a bombshell when a hybrid option was offered for the revamped fourth-generation Toyota Tacoma. With 326 combined horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque thanks to that battery-electric boost, America’s favorite mid-size pickup has more reason than ever to be the champion of its segment. For the first time in its segment, the Tacoma Hybrid has nearly as much variety as its ICE-only counterparts in a robust range of five hybrid and six non-hybrid trim packages.
Even the venerable TRD Pro Edition is only available in hybrid form, at least for the moment, as well as the mean-looking Trailhunter with Old Man Emui 2.5-inch piggyback shocks. If you’re used to boring and drab hybrids from 15 years ago, a Tacoma Hybrid will absolutely rock your world. It still will if you’re hip to modern hybrids, too! Even if the base MSRP of $46,300 for the entry-level Sport i-Force MAX is pretty pricey. Even so, people will still buy it, and rightfully so.
2025 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV: The Best Value for PHEV
Mock the Mitsubishi brand in North America all you want, but the Outlander plug-in hybrid is still one of the best values for money in the hybrid SUV sector. A 248-combined horsepower hybrid drivetrain nets you 38 MPGe in a vehicle that fits seven seats, and with styling cues that give it distinction compared to its more drab cousin, the Nissan Rogue, which might even net the Outlander’s PHEV’s clever drivetrain pretty soon.
Make no mistake, $42,045 as a base MSRP is still pricey. But with some of the best warranty deals in the industry, you do at least get lots of protection for your money. You also get DC fast charging to put that above-mentioned 240-volt garage outlet to good use. Did we mention the Toyota Rav4 Prime is almost $3,000 more expensive? Makes your noggin jog when pondering the two, doesn’t it?
2024 Kia Niro PHEV: America’s New Economy Car Darling
The Kia Niro is one of those once or twice-in-a-generation economy vehicles that’s more special than just a grocery-getter. Though it’s no Golf GTI, the Niro PHEV is special in a different way in that it looks genuinely handsome when, at least practically, it had no reason to.
But even beyond looks, the Niro PHEV’s 180 horsepower via its combined powertrain makes just a touch over a second slower to 60 mph than the same Golf GTI. For $35,765 to start, you can’t do much better than that. But for most, the Niro PHEV is just an all-around solid and practical vehicle with an excellent fuel economy of 53 MPG in the city and 54 on the highway. Not bad, not bad at all.
2024 Chrysler Pacifica: Family-Sized Fuel Economy
Let’s say your children and their friends are too grown for the meager third-row seats of an Outlander PHEV, but you still want that sweet PHEV fuel economy. Well, your options are pretty limited, but the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid isn’t the worst possible option. It’s hard to argue with 520 miles of ICE-plus-electric fuel range. With premium touches in its upper trimmed Pinnacle loadout, the Pacifica Hybrid is one of the more luxurious minivans out there.
We’ll see if that’s still the case when the 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid drops next year. But if the Carnival can beat the Pacifica Hybrid’s $51,250 base price, it’ll have a leg up already in that regard. That’s a lot of coin for a nearly eight-year-old platform. But hopefully the fuel savings make it all worthwhile.
2025 Volvo XC90 Recharge: Worth Every Penny
There was the temptation to put the Range Rover plug-in hybrid in this slot. But we can’t recommend one of those over something much more sensible and far more Swedish. The 2025 XC90 plug-in Hybrid may start at $73,000 before taxes and fees, but you do get quite alot for the money. This includes an ICE-electric powertrain with a combined 455 horsepower fed through an eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive.
Add in estimated fuel economy figures of 66 MPGe combined, and you have a vehicle that saves you more on fuel the more you drive it. Even if real-world tests by reputable testers haven’t netted quite the MPGs advertised, one reputable publication recently coaxed 58 MPGe out of it in their real-world test. As some real-world post-test consumer advice, even the real figure is nothing short of impressive.
2024 Mercedes S580e: World-Class Luxury PHEV
Say what you will about the W223 S-Class being a whale of a vehicle. But try as they might, its competition can’t seem to build a vehicle quite as refined and downright decadent as an S-Class Merc. Add a three-liter inline-six engine with a 148-horsepower electric assistor motor to a laundry list of features and luxuries that beat anything beneath a Bentley or Rolls-Royce, and this makes a modern S-Class PHEV one of if not the most lease-worthy driveway princess this side of the 2020s.
Yes, a $123,700 base MSRP is a lot of money. But how many plug-in hybrids can sprint to 60 in 4.2 seconds while massaging your entire body the length of the way? You can’t argue with that kind of logic, assuming you have the money to spend, that is.
2025 Lamborghini Temerario: The Baby Lambo PHEV
For a bonus, let’s have some fun. There’s an argument to be made that the Lamborghini Revuelto PHEV is the more exciting of the two hypercars bringing Lambo into the hybrid game for the first time. But as the descendant of the much-beloved Gallardo and Huracan, two Lambos that arguably have an even larger fanbase than the V12 flagships, the 907 horsepower twin-turbo V8-hybrid Temerario is just as jaw-dropping, if not more so than its bigger brother.
That equates to Zero to 60 in less than 2.7 seconds and a top speed of 210 mph. With a meager base MSRP of $290,000, the Temerario is a bargain compared to the $608,358 base price of a Revuelto. So, it’s a bargain? Well, let’s not get carried away.
