page_title: Honda Civic Hybrid
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Honda Civic Hybrid / First generation (ES9; 2003–2005) / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: Zoom in of the badging of a Honda Civic Hybrid (Gasoline-Electric) Washington, D.C.
context_page_description: The Honda Civic Hybrid is a variation of the Honda Civic with a hybrid electric powertrain. Honda introduced the Civic Hybrid in Japan in December 2001 and discontinued it in 2015. In the United States, it was the first hybrid automobile to be certified as an Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emissions Vehicle from the California Air Resources Board.
  The Civic Hybrid uses an Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system similar to that of the Honda Insight. The Civic Hybrid was only marketed in sedan configurations.
context_section_description: The first generation of the Honda Civic Hybrid was based on the seventh generation Honda Civic. It was the first mainstream vehicle from Honda equipped with a gasoline-electric hybrid system and became the second hybrid model of the company after Insight. Model with manual transmission was rated city 46 mpg‑US (5.1 L/100 km; 55 mpg‑imp) / highway 51 mpg‑US (4.6 L/100 km; 61 mpg‑imp) according to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel mileage estimates, about the same combined mileage as for the Toyota Prius, and became the most fuel-efficient five-passenger sedan ever sold in North America at the time.
  The following is a list of its technical features:
  Twin spark plugs light the lean fuel-air mixtures sent to the two-valve combustion chambers.
  1.3-litre single overhead cam i-DSI lean-burn internal-combustion engine with VTEC Cylinder Cut-off System, which allows three cylinders to deactivate during deceleration. The engine generates 85 hp (63 kW) at 5,700 rpm and 87 lb⋅ft (118 N⋅m) of torque at 3300 rpm.
  Idle stop - when stopped at traffic light, the engine shuts off automatically, then restarts immediately when the driver takes their foot off the brake, contributing to both greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions.
  10 kW (13 hp) brushless, permanent magnet assist motor, which functions as a generator during deceleration recharging the battery (regenerative braking).
  Combined output of both engine and electric motor is 93 hp (69 kW) at 5,700 rpm. Maximum torque is rated 116 lb⋅ft (157 N⋅m) at 1,500 rpm for manual transmission models and 105 lb⋅ft (142 N⋅m) at 3,000 rpm for CVT models.
  144 V Nickel-metal hydride batteries with 6.0 A·h capacity.
  Honda Multimatic S continuously variable transmission or 5-speed manual transmission.
  ULEV or AT-PZEV certification by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
  Low rolling resistance tires (P185/70R14) on aluminum wheels and regenerative braking.
  Electric power-steering.
  An electric motor is sandwiched between the gasoline engine and the transmission, providing up to 13 horsepower. The motor also acts as a generator, to recharge the car's nickel-metal hydride battery located between the rear seat and the trunk, and as a starter motor.
  The motor in Civic hybrid is about a quarter-inch (6.4 mm) thicker than that of the Insight. Through improvements to the magnetic coils of the DC brushless motor, it achieves 30 percent greater assisting and regenerative torque than the previous model without increasing the size.
  It generates more torque (46 versus 36 pound-feet) than the motor in Insight. The electricity is stored in a battery consisting of 120 1.2-volt Ni-MH D-cells wired in series. The battery can charge and discharge more rapidly and efficiently though the total capacity is reduced from the Insight's (6.0 versus 6.5 AH). Efficiency of the battery modules is increased, through a reduction in energy losses. The battery is housed with the electrical controller in a package called the Intelligent Power Unit (IPU). The new packaging reduces the size of the system by 50 percent and allows the IMA equipment be placed behind the rear seat in the trunk. The unit weighs only 63 lb (29 kg) and is one-third smaller than that of the Insight.
  The two spark plugs in each cylinder can fire either sequentially or simultaneously, enabling more efficient burning during lean-burn mode and more often lean-burn operation.
  The engine can operate at a lean 22:1 air-to-fuel ratio more than 60 percent of the time on a flat road.
  The VTEC cylinder idling system of the engine closes the valves in three of the four cylinders when the car is decelerating, reduces the power lost to the engine by 50 percent, and allows the IMA to extract more electrical energy during braking. The rocker arms operating the intake and exhaust valves have two modes: valve-lift mode or idle mode. They are engaged via a synchronizing piston. During deceleration, the synchro piston disengages the lift-mode rocker arm so that the valves remain at rest, effectively sealing off the cylinder.
  An idle stop feature sh
caption: Hybrid badging used in the 2001–2005 generation
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