2025 Honda CR-V eFCEV: A New Era in Hybrid Technology

For all the complaints about battery electric vehicles’ issues with range, weight, and charging infrastructure, these are all things that are slowly being improved. One alternative that had a bright future as an alternative to BEVs was the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which allows for all-electric driving without the hassle of charging. You simply refill the car’s onboard hydrogen storage tank at a fill-up station, much like pumping gas into a traditional car; an electrochemical process onboard converts the hydrogen to electricity for powering the drive motor(s).

One problem: If you think public EV chargers are few and far between (they aren’t, in reality), then hydrogen fill station availability—confined largely to California—will make you weep. Honda thinks it has a solution for getting FCEVs out into the market that’ll work even without ready access to hydrogen: the eFCEV. It’s bundling the tech into the 2025 CR-V eFCEV SUV.

So, What’s an “eFCEV?”

The 2025 Honda CR-V eFCEV is, in essence, a plug-in hybrid—or, more accurately, it’s something closer to a range-extender EV. It’s tough to tell even which power source is the primary one and which is running support, though. In a regular range-extender EV, the onboard battery and electric drive motor(s) are replenished by a gas-fed generator (like in the upcoming Ram 1500 Ramcharger). Here, the hydrogen fuel cell seems to fill that role. But it could work backwards, too—say the hydrogen runs low, and you’re nowhere near a filling station. Find an EV charger instead, plug in, and keep going.

Drivers can charge the CR-V’s 17.7-kWh battery via a Level 2 Charger at home or on the go, or fill up its hydrogen tanks at a public station; either way, the result is electricity that’s sent to power the drive motor. The battery capacity alone is enough to drive the CR-V eFCEV up to 29 miles of driving range—about average in the scheme of gas-electric plug-in hybrids, but low for a range-extender EV—while factoring in a full tank of hydrogen fuel ups the total figure to 270 miles.

While Honda states it’s the first FCEV that allows for charging its battery separately, that’s technically not correct. The Nikola Badger was the first, but that truck never actually made it into production. The two functional prototypes and intellectual property related to the Badger are now owned by Dave “Heavy D” Sparks and lives within the Embr Motors brand. Honda is the first to bring such a vehicle to the market, but only under a lease program only within California, just like its earlier Clarity FCEV.

The Great Big “But”

The CR-V eFCEV having the ability to travel at least some distance on onboard electricity alone without being tethered to California’s hydrogen infrastructure is great in theory—it allows for FCEVs to enter the market and be usable, relying on prevalent public EV chargers while the hydrogen infrastructure ideally grows over time. However, in practice, 29 miles of EV-only range is modest at best and hardly allows for travels far beyond the reach of hydrogen fill stations.

Indeed, that EV-only range surely covers most people’s daily needs—but then again, numerous plug-in hybrids offer even more EV-only and total range, relying on gasoline for their other power source, thus freeing them up for travel anywhere in America.

Moreover, while the CR-V is one of the most popular new vehicles on the market, with a right-size footprint and roomy interior, the eFCEV version suffers some compromises. Cargo room is reduced compared to the hybrid and gas CR-V models. Furthermore, disappointment looms when it comes time to charge up using a Level 2 AC charger, either at home or at many stores which have begun installing alongside DC fast chargers. Honda hasn’t given the eFCEV DC fast-charging capability, so you’ll always be stuck in the (AC) slow lane when it comes to charging, limiting the convenience of quick on-the-go public charging.

Oh, and just a few months ago, Shell—one of the leading suppliers of hydrogen filling stations—closed its refilling stations in California, shrinking the state’s already sparse network of hydrogen stations. Could the tide turn? Hydrogen optimists always think so—and we count Honda and Toyota among those cheerleaders, as they’re among the only major automakers still exploring hydrogen fuel cells—and the Biden Administration began investing in hydrogen filling stations in October 2023. However, that push wasn’t enough to keep Shell from closing stations and, for now, hydrogen hasn’t had its Tesla Supercharger moment that it desperately needs.

All of which makes the CR-V eFCEV a curious oddity: an EV with limited plug-in range that can be extended by way of an alternative fuel that’s extremely rare.