I’ve spent a month with the CR-V RS e:HEV before, and I love it. However, I must admit that the price is too steep. The Civic is more attainable at under PHP 2-million but it doesn’t offer the full-flavored experience of the CR-V, mainly because of the size limitations (the battery was shoehorned between the seats and trunk as not to eat up luggage space). It also sits too low on the ground, which, at my age of 34 is a bit cumbersome. Will the HR-V fill the sweet electrified spot in Honda’s lineup?

The first car assigned to us was the Civic RS e:HEV. It’s the most energetic among the three with its lighter body and same powertrain as the CR-V RS e:HEV—a 2.0-liter engine paired to an electric motor. Acceleration is more in your face, making overtakes a breeze, while maintaining agility on the road. Again, the ride is too low for my liking, but I must admit that despite my size, weight, and additional occupants with me, the suspension never bottomed out.

Aside from the low ride height, the other thing that puts me off with the Civic is the weaker regenerative braking it has. Honda said it’s because of the size limitations of the car that they couldn’t fit the CR-V’s braking system into the Civic. Now, why is this important to me?

As I said before, I had a lot of time with the CR-V beyond media duties. It was my car for a month and I’ve grown fond of its regenerative braking system. Its strength allows me to operate the car with only the throttle. This gave me significantly less right leg fatigue as I didn’t have to switch my foot from brake to throttle to brake during rush hour traffic. Of course, this is only doable in the city but that’s where most of the carmageddon is anyway.

The CR-V is also great with its dimensions. It's wide enough even for bigger people like me, while the clearance is just enough for the average Filipino height. It’s one of the few crossovers in the market where I can sit directly without having to tiptoe or duck too much. Combine this with the strong braking and Honda Sensing suite, and the CR-V is top tier good.

How did the HR-V RS e:HEV fare against these two? I wasn’t expecting it to match the high points of the CR-V or Civic, but it did. For one, it’s just as comfortable as the CR-V. Sure, there’s less soft touch materials here but the space is just right for me. And just like the CR-V, getting in and out of the HR-V is easy on the knees.

As for my pet peeve, the HR-V RS e:HEV has stronger regenerative braking than the Civic; almost on-par with the CR-V. There wasn’t much traffic in Baguio during this time of the year so I wasn’t able to confirm if it can also do the one-pedal driving. The charging from the regeneration is better than the Civic though, again because of how strong it is.

The HR-V RS e:HEV isn’t perfect though. First, the cabin could use more insulation to keep things quiet especially for road noise. It’s good on asphalt roads but on raw cement and whatever EDSA is composed of these days, it left me wanting for louder volume in my music just to drown out the noise.

The powertrain also made its presence known once we’re on Kennon Road. The HR-V RS e:HEV has a smaller mill at 1.5 liters. Total power is at 131 horsepower and 253 Nm of torque. It’s not far from the 300+ Nm of the CR-V and Civic but when you’re on an uphill road, especially steep ones, every digit matters. You can trick it to climb using EV mode if there’s enough charge but if not, the engine almost literally roars to life. There’s no tachometer in here, but it sounds like to goes to 3,000 rpm when it switches on.

Another caveat of the smaller engine is it’s not as snappy when doing overtakes or sprints. You’ll really have to put it in sport mode just to get past your imaginary haters.

The upside to that is the fuel savings. Our more than 200-kilometer journey from Solaire North in QC to Baguio, to Mt. Camisong Forest Park in Itogon, Benguet consumed an average of 24 km/L—that’s very impressive with three people in the car (four if we’re realistic about my weight) and the steep mountain roads.

Going down from Baguio is also fun since you can just play around with the paddle shifters for the braking level, and not always rely on the brake pedal. It’s the same when you’re on the highway and would prefer a gentle (or manual input) on the acceleration. You can flick the paddles for braking, then push the throttle on your own. You don’t have to switch between the brake pedal and accelerator, giving you less fatigue for a long drive.

The best part about the Honda HR-V RS e:HEV is the price. For P 1,799,000 you’re getting a, in my opinion, better overall performance package than the Civic because of the regenerative braking, while having almost equal space and ergonomics as the CR-V. It hits some snags here and there, but no car is perfect unless you modify it to your liking. It has good performance, but not as lively as the Civic. There’s a lot of room and creature comforts, but not as much as the CR-V. But it’s the most attainable one while providing just as good fuel economy which is the main point of hybrid technology. In the end, however, it’s the most balanced as it should be. I mean, if Thanos had to choose among these three, there’s no doubt in my mind he would get the HR-V.