But the reality of a hydrogen economy seems too far into the future to be taken seriously today; therefore HEVs are the only non-diesel

The Civic Hybrid's 110-horsepower and 123 lb-ft of torque allows it to move away from stoplights with more power than is necessary to keep up with the flow of traffic and zip along the highway with more than enough speed to cause problems with the authorities. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

alternative that makes any sense. And with this in mind, how well does the Civic Hybrid perform? Well, that depends on what I mean by perform. In the traditional sense of the word, its 110-horsepower total output, maximized at 6,000 rpm, and 123 lb-ft of torque, available way down at 1,000 rpm thanks to the electric motor portion of the drive system, allows it to move away from stoplights with more power than is necessary to keep up with the flow of traffic, zips along the highway with more than enough speed to cause problems with the authorities, and goes about each process in a controlled and stable manner.

Actually, while all Civics offer a larger, more

The new Civic Hybrid is smooth, quiet and overall a dream on the open highway, accelerating quickly via its efficient continuously variable transmission. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

comfortable interior, I was especially impressed with the new Hybrid, which is smooth, quiet and overall a dream on the open highway, accelerating quickly via its efficient continuously variable transmission and maintaining Chicago's rather rapid highway speeds for long periods of time without any compromise when compared to a conventionally powered Civic sedan. I should mention, however, that overall the Civic's ride, whether in hybrid, regular sedan or base coupe guise, while smoother over uneven pavement, is sportier than the outgoing Civic, managing corners with less body lean and braking in a more controlled manner thanks to a fully independent, control-link MacPherson strut front and reactive-link double wishbone rear suspension setup. So, it performs extremely well, to answer the first portion of that question.