Actually, what you are looking at is the amount of power the Honda is putting out. Between 5 & 7 means you are using 50 to 70% of the available power or, as Honda indicates in their manual "output of the electric motor".

Yes, the engine noise does ramp up when going up a hill, but that is perfectly normal. Mine .... ops my wifes Honda hybrid does the same thing. BTW, using premium gas will not help. Just use "top shelf" gas ex: Costco's, and your Honda will be happy.

What driving mode are you using? ECO, Normal or Sport. We use ECO 100% of the time .....unless my better half isn't with me then I use the sport mode.

 

Actually Top Tier gasoline. 87 AKI is correct.

 

Thanks. I usually drive in Eco. Thanks for the tips on gas.
So if I am at 50-70% does that mean I can give it more gas to go faster up the hills?

 

Thanks. I usually drive in Eco. Thanks for the tips on gas.
So if I am at 50-70% does that mean I can give it more gas to go faster up the hills?

Yes, you can "put the pedal to the metal" as my Daddy used to always say!

 

I’m usually in ECO. But on hills I will switch to sport for a brief period then flip it right back to ECO.

 

Is the hybrid battery low when going uphill? It may switch off and you'll be driving with ICE only.

 

In the 2023-2025 Sport Touring, when using the Honda nav system, the car gets elevation information from the nav system. If a hill is close ahead the system will put more charge into the hybrid battery for more boost up that hill.

A friend, shopping for a new CR-V, was told by the salesman that the 2026 no longer knows this trick; that Honda will be using Google Maps for their nav system. That extra battery boost is the Predictive Eco-Assist which is no longer listed for the 2026.

 

Yes this is a hybrid that can seem a bit underpowered on long uphill grades. When I took my 2025 CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring on the same road (LA to Las Vegas) I'd traveled many times before in my V6 Toyota Highlander, on one long 6% grade, the engine was getting unusually loud. I'd never heard that around town. The next time I take this trip, I suppose I could just take the Highlander. But I think the best option is just to slow down a bit, and instead of going up a 6% grade at 75 mph (the speed limit here is 70 and many are going 80), I slowed down to maybe 65 and just joined the RVs and vans in the slow lane. Besides, there are some key advantages of the CR-V over say, my Highlander; not only is it considerably quieter and more comfortable, it's getting about 35 mpg on the highway, as opposed to the 21 the Highlander gets.

 

This is the answer. When the battery is depleted on long, steep grades, it’s 145 hp pulling 2 tons! Slowing for a little bit reduces stress on a couple levels. You’ll catch to the go-fasts at the next traffic light anyway.

 

I had a large hill to go up in NE AL/NW GA, Appalachian foothills. It's a two lane state road and about 2-3 miles with a steep grade. I knew it was coming and adjusted my driving before I got there to have a good bit of battery. It didn't do too bad. It's also curvy enough that you don't want to go too fast, so it was fine. With a steep grade on an interstate, I'd probably just slow down and stay with the trucks. I find the noise disconcerting.

 

Went on my first real road trip with my CR-V (2024 Sport L), and it did great, 39.1 mpg over 1200 miles - some city driving but a lot on the highway (and don't tell the Virginia HP but did go over 80 a little).

Try Interstate 68, especially the Maryland portion - I ran up to 75% and I could sense the car was crying going up the mountains. Some of it is how steep the hill you are climbing is. Some of these grades were 7%.

 

I remember when first turbo engines were introduced on large scale on economy cars, everybody was wining about the fact they are not revving as happily as the NA ones.
Now is the opposite.
Objectively the power and torque is at least similar and for sure adequate.
Drive the car as required, it will be fine. It is how a naturally aspirated engine makes power, it revs up.

 

This is one area that the 1.5 DIT does well. In mountain driving I sometimes do going to Vail CO it does very well and gets good mpg doing it. Of course, I use tier 1 gas and do frequent oil changes

 

if you know a hill is coming up, maybe a couple miles before it, put it in sport mode, this will make the battery charge to almost full. then switch to econ and see if it makes a difference going up the hill. Unfortunately where I live there are not many hills to try it out.

 

I did something similar, altered driving to have a full battery before going up one. Having a full battery definitely helps. I didn't know you could do sport mode to get it full, thanks for the tip.

 

Drove up to Big Bear today from Los Angeles. On the long steep climb up hwy 330, I noticed hybrids AND e-cars were struggling. Yikes. We, in our ICE powered ride, climbed smoothly and predictably. Im holding off another vehicle until they get this sorted out in hybrids and e-cars. Im sure they will.