Compare the2025 Honda CR-VVS 2024 Hyundai Nexo

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-V have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Hyundai Nexo doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the CR-V are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Nexo doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda CR-V has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Nexo doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the CR-V deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The CR-V’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Nexo’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CR-V EX-L/Sport-L/Sport Touring has a standard Low-Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Nexo doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The CR-V offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Nexo doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

Both the CR-V and the Nexo have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

The Honda CR-V achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Nexo has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

There are over 27 percent more Honda dealers than there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the CR-V’s warranty.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 6 places higher in reliability than Hyundai.

The CR-V’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 29 more horsepower (190 vs. 161) than the Nexo’s electric motor. The CR-V Hybrid’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 43 more horsepower (204 vs. 161) than the Nexo’s electric motor.

The CR-V has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Nexo doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better traction, the CR-V has larger tires than the Nexo (235/60R18 vs. 225/60R17).

The CR-V has a standard space-saver spare (not available on Hybrid) so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Nexo; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

For greater off-road capability the CR-V has a 1.8 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Nexo (8.2 vs. 6.4 inches), allowing the CR-V to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Honda CR-V may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 200 to 500 pounds less than the Hyundai Nexo.

The front grille of the CR-V uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Nexo doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The CR-V uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Nexo doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The CR-V has 4.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Nexo (106 vs. 101.3).

The CR-V has .6 inches more front headroom, 1.6 inches more front hip room, .7 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 2.4 inches more rear legroom and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Nexo.

The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Nexo with its rear seat up (39.3 vs. 29.6 cubic feet). The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Nexo with its rear seat folded (76.5 vs. 56.5 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the CR-V easier. The CR-V’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 28 inches, while the Nexo’s liftover is 29.7 inches.

The CR-V’s cargo area is larger than the Nexo’s in almost every dimension:

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the CR-V. The Nexo doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The CR-V has a 1000 lbs. towing capacity. The Nexo has no towing capacity.

A Maintenance Minder is standard on the CR-V to save the owner time and money by calculating maintenance intervals for oil changes, spark plug replacement, air filter replacement, tire rotation, radiator flush, brake pad replacement, transmission fluid replacement, and vehicle inspections, based on actual driving conditions. This takes the guesswork out of keeping your vehicle in top condition and helps it last longer. Hyundai doesn’t offer a maintenance reminder on the Nexo.

When two different drivers share the CR-V EX-L/Sport-L/Sport Touring, the memory seats make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position. The Nexo doesn’t offer memory seats.

The CR-V EX-L/Sport-L/Sport Touring’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Nexo doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

On a hot day the CR-V’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Nexo can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The CR-V’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Nexo’s power mirror switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The CR-V’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Nexo’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Honda CR-V, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The CR-V was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “5Best Trucks/10Best” for 2024 and 4 more times in the last 23 years. The Nexo has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

Motor Trend selected the CR-V as their 2018 Sport Utility of the Year. The Nexo has never been chosen.

The Honda CR-V outsold the Hyundai Nexo by almost 1500 to one during 2023.