A Rugged, More Capable Hybrid For The Everyday

During my drive of the 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid, I was offered a chance to drive the outgoing model, a hybrid dressed in a lovely shade of red, on a short loop near the vineyard where my group stopped for lunch. What wasn’t so lovely was how small the touchscreen was, nor how low it was placed. The TFT gauge cluster was fine, but not so great to look at. Perhaps my thoughts were colored by being in the new CR-V Hybrid for nearly the entire day. After all, it had a 9-inch touchscreen (a 7-inch screen is standard on the Sport and Sport Touring trims, the 9-incher an option for the latter trim) filled with all the apps you could ever need on the first screen, plus fewer menus to dig through.

While Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (the latter in both wired and wireless formats) are present and correct, the hottest features for the 2023 CR-V and CR-V Hybrid are push buttons and knobs. The HVAC unit, along with the touchscreen, are all controlled by physical switchgear (just remember to push down on the Home and Back buttons on the touchscreen, as they blend in well with the rest of the unit).

Cameron Aubernon/SlashGear

As for the instrument cluster, it’s all-new, too, for 2023. On one side, an analog speedometer with warning lights. On the other, a TFT display with digital speedo, range indicator, trip computer, driver attention monitor, etc. All of the fun tech is framed by a handsome dash featuring honeycomb detailing and toggle switches on the vents to move the air around. Sound is handled by a 12-speaker Bose sound system. 

The Honda Sensing suite of safety tech now includes traffic jam assist, traffic sign recognition and low-speed braking control, plus updates to the collision mitigation, road departure, adaptive cruise control and lane keeping systems. With the exception of the low-speed braking control and parking sensor systems — which are available from the EX-L on up — all of these additions and updates are on all trims of the 2023 CR-V and CR-V Hybrid.