2025 Kia Niro vs. 2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid Comparison

If it’s too early in the process for you to buy an electric vehicle (EV), but you like the idea of buying less gas, then perhaps a hybrid is the way to go. Fortunately, there are plenty of options, and two that warrant a close look are the 2025 Kia Niro and the 2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid.

The Kia Niro is an impressive runabout with a surprisingly large cabin. At the same time, the Honda CR-V offers a lot of room and rugged exterior styling that might make you wonder if it’s ready to head off the pavement.

Let’s check out these two hybrid SUVs.

2025 Kia Niro

The Kia Niro is a big vehicle in a small package. It’s among the smallest in the class using its exterior measurements, but the engineers have made it surprisingly spacious inside.

The Niro is a compact crossover with an attractive exterior shape and room for a family of five while remaining nimble and quick in urban environments. It’s also a comfortable ride for a long trip, offering plenty of cargo space behind the second row for whatever you may need to take.

Pricing starts at $28,365, including the destination charge.

Kia Niro Highlights

Outstanding fuel economy: Powered by a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder hybrid engine, the Niro gets 53 mpg in the city, 54 on the highway, and 53 combined. With class-leading fuel economy, you can simply get in the car and just drive.

Sustainability: The cabin was designed with sustainability in mind. Many parts use recycled materials. The paint on the door panels is made without using various toxic substances. The headliner is made of recycled wallpaper, and the seats are covered with polyurethane made from eucalyptus leaves.

Leading warranty: It may feature new technology, but it gets Kia’s same old 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty — best in its class.

Check this week’s Fair Purchase Price or see the Niro models for sale near you.

2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid

Last year, the Honda CR-V Hybrid got a new trim level, Sport-L, which settles in between the Sport and Sport Touring models. It’s an attractive and capable vehicle, and two of the three trim levels can be had with front-wheel (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) powertrains.

All three iterations of the CR-V Hybrid are powered by a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder paired with two electric motors. The combination produces 204 horsepower. It also gets an EPA-estimated 43 mpg city, 36 mpg highway, and 40 mpg combined in FWD. Those numbers drop only slightly in AWD, coming in at 40 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 37 mpg combined.

The entire lineup is a good value, with prices starting at $36,000, including the destination charge.

Honda CR-V Hybrid Highlights

Take it with you: The CR-V Hybrid offers plenty of room to haul people and stuff. Behind the second row is a substantial 39.3 cubic feet of space. Fold that second row down, and you’re looking at 76.5 cubic feet of volume — excellent for a compact SUV. The smaller Niro offers 22.8 and 63.7 cubic feet of cargo capacity.

Leather seating: Starting with the new Sport-L, the CR-V Hybrid’s interior is furnished with black leather seats (with orange contrast stitching — if you had any doubts that it was rugged). The Niro Hybrid uses synthetic materials for all its seating surfaces.

Safety first: The automaker’s Honda Sensing suite of active safety features includes automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and adaptive cruise control. Kia’s Drive Wise suite is also impressive.

Check this week’s Fair Purchase Price or see the CR-V Hybrid models for sale near you

Similarities

As is so often the case with small utility vehicles, they are alike in several areas. They carry five passengers, feature a hatchback for easy access to cargo, and offer attractive styling.

Conclusion

These hybrid SUVs are similar but not the same. While they look good on the outside, they don’t look the same. In fact, the Kia Niro is significantly shorter than the Honda CR-V Hybrid. This costs it some cargo space. On the other hand, the Niro gets much better gas mileage, and the starting price is nearly $8K less. Make sure to drive each, but they’re different experiences, so you may need to let your budget be your guide.

The Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price for any individual used vehicle can vary greatly according to mileage, condition, location, and other factors. The prices here reflect what buyers are currently paying for New 2025 Kia Niro vehicles and New 2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid vehicles in typical condition when purchasing from a dealership. These prices are updated weekly. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) quoted includes the destination fee, but does not include tax, license, document fees, and options.

	2025 Kia Niro	2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid
Popular Powertrains
Engine	1.6-liter hybrid 4-cylinder	2.0-liter hybrid 4-cylinder
Horsepower	139 hp	204 hp
Torque	195 lb-ft	247 lb-ft
Transmission	6-speed automatic	CVT
Fuel Economy	53 city/54 hwy/53 combined	43 city/36 hwy/40 combined
Also Available		AWD
Specs
Basic Warranty	5 years/60,000 miles	3 years/36,000 miles
Powertrain Warranty	10 years/100,000 miles	5 years/60,000 miles
NHTSA Overall Safety Rating	N/R	5 stars
Max Seating Capacity	5	5
Wheelbase	107.1 inches	106.3 inches
Overall Length	174.0 inches	184.8 inches
Width	71.8 inches	73.5 inches
Height	60.8 inches	66.2 inches
Turning Diameter	37.3 feet	37.3 feet
Headroom, Front	40.5 inches	40 inches
Headroom, Rear	39.5 inches	38.2 inches
Legroom, Front	41.5 inches	41.3 inches
Legroom, Rear	39.8 inches	41 inches
Shoulder Room, Front	56.2 inches	57.9 inches
Shoulder Room, Rear	55.4 inches	55.9 inches
Cargo Volume	22.8/63.7 cubic feet	36.3/76.5 cubic feet