The 10 Cheapest Hybrids You Can Buy in 2025

We did it, folks. The average transaction price of a new car has finally crested $50,000. High fives all around to every dealership sales manager and subprime loan shark involved.

For the rest of us with modest budgets, financial literacy, and self-respect, there are still cars out there that are genuinely affordable. And with EV adoption increasingly proving to be impractical for many (whether that’s due to upfront cost or charging concerns), a hybrid is the current sweet spot for buyers wanting efficiency and frugality.

If you want to minimize both what you’ll pay at the pump and at the dealership, these vehicles from Honda, Kia, and Toyota are the ones you’ll want to look at. Prices are based on starting MSRP with destination included.

Here are the 10 cheapest new hybrid cars of 2025.

10. Kia Sportage Hybrid: $31,735

Fuel Economy: 42 MPG Combined

Kicking off the list is the 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid, specifically the base LX that starts at $31,735. The compact crossover was redesigned for 2023, bringing with it this Hybrid variant, and it gets a facelift for 2026, adding S and X-Line trims to the half-electric versions. An e-motor is helped out by a 1.6-liter turbo engine to make 232 total horsepower (5 more than last year’s Sportage Hybrid), and it’s rated for 42 miles per gallon combined by the EPA.

It’s one of the more strikingly designed vehicles in its segment and conspicuously the only entry to make it onto this list. Hybrid versions of the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Hyundai Tucson are all too expensive to crack the top 10.

9. Honda Civic Sedan Hybrid: $30,490

Fuel Economy: 49 MPG Combined

Named Motor1’s Best Car of 2024, the excellent Honda Civic Hybrid is the ninth cheapest hybrid on sale today, coming in at $30,490 for a 2026 Sport, including destination. It uses Honda’s 2.0-liter, two-motor hybrid system, putting out 200 total horsepower and 49 combined miles per gallon.

On driving dynamics, practicality, and general nice-ness, it’s arguably the most desirable vehicle here and the one I’d personally take for my own garage. If outright affordability is what you’re after, however, there are thriftier options. Eight of them, to be exact.

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8. Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid: $30,445

Fuel Economy: 42 MPG Combined

Like, for example, the 2026 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid, which comes in eighth with its $30,445 starting price for a base S model. The Alabama-built small crossover got a mild refresh for 2026, featuring a new body-colored grille and a bigger available touchscreen.

All-wheel drive is standard with the Hybrid, as is 196 combined horsepower and 42 miles per gallon. The Corolla Cross also happens to be the last traditionally shaped, high-riding SUV on this list, making it the cheapest hybrid crossover on the market. (Yes, the Niro that shows up later is more affordable and indeed described as a “crossover” in Kia literature, but you know what I mean.)

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7. Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: $30,295

Fuel Economy: 51 MPG Combined

Mid-size sedans aren’t nearly as popular as they once were, but two of them still show up here, holding down the fort for electrified, low-riding, reasonably spacious motoring. The first of these is the 2025 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, which can be had in base Blue form for just $30,295.

A 2.0-liter four-cylinder and electric motor combine to deliver 192 horsepower to the front wheels and a whole 51 miles per gallon. Now sporting a Robocop front end that replaced the catfish theme a couple of years ago, Sonatas aren’t as common a sight as they were in, like 2012. It’s not a bad car in its own right, but sales are a fraction of what they once were, and if I had to put money on it, the Sonata is the car on this list most likely to be discontinued sooner rather than later.

6. Toyota Camry: $30,195

Fuel Economy: 51 MPG Combined

Undercutting its Hyundai rival by about the price of a couple of tanks of gas is the 2026 Toyota Camry. Starting at $30,195 for a base LE model, this car was redesigned for 2025 and is now sold exclusively as a hybrid.

Toyota’s hybrid powertrain uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and electricity to put down 225 total horses and a Sonata-matching 51 miles per gallon. All-wheel drive can be had and adds 7 extra hp and $1,525 to the invoice, while cutting combined mpg down to 50. Getting a Camry definitely won’t help you stand out (so far in 2025, it’s Toyota’s second-best-selling model), but its efficiency, space, dependability, and low price are hard to argue with.

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5. Ford Maverick: $29,840

Fuel Economy: 38 MPG Combined

As the lone pickup truck and only American car on this list, the 2025 Ford Maverick comes in fifth, starting at $29,840 for a base XL.

This small truck can be had as a gas-only vehicle, but the standard powertrain is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid with front-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is also optional. That base powertrain makes 191 horsepower and gets 38 miles per gallon combined. There’s 8.1 inches of ground clearance, a 54.4-inch bed, and 2,000 pounds of towing capacity standard, but this thing can tow 4,000 pounds if you opt for the 4K Tow Package. Stick with the entry XL trim (as you should), and the Mav even comes with 17-inch, recession-chic steelies.

4. Toyota Prius: $29,745

Fuel Economy: 57 MPG Combined

Like Coke is to soda, the Toyota Prius is and has been the prototypical hybrid car since it landed around the turn of the century. Starting at $29,745 for a 2026 LE, the newest edition is the fourth-cheapest hybrid you can get.

A 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid setup is good for 194 ponies, but opting for electric all-wheel drive ups that to 196. More crucially, the front-drive Prius claims the title as the most efficient car on this list, achieving a beastly 57 miles per gallon combined per the EPA. A longtime poster child for dorky, emotionless efficiency, the new Prius looks genuinely cool now and is patently not-terrible to drive, too. As it currently exists, you might even be able to call it a passion purchase, especially compared to the even more pragmatic machines that top this list.

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3. Kia Niro: $28,435

Fuel Economy: 53 MPG Combined

The Niro is also available as a plug-in and full EV, but the entry-level, regular-hybrid 2025 Kia Niro is the third-cheapest hybrid available, starting at $28,435.

In base LX form, Kia’s crossover-wagon-hatchback thing gets 53 miles per gallon from a 1.6-liter four-cylinder hybrid making 139 horsepower. The Kia Niro is the sort of car most people (even those whose job it is to write and think about cars) tend to forget about, but don’t think that means it’s not a practical, tech-forward, and reasonably stylish machine.

2. Hyundai Elantra Hybrid: $26,695

Fuel Economy: 54 MPG Combined

Just falling short of being the cheapest new hybrid on sale is the 2026 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid. Starting at $26,695 for a base Blue model, this car uses a 1.6-liter four-cylinder hybrid to make 139 horsepower (not-so-coincidentally identical to the Kia Niro above).

Here, the EPA bestowed a combined rating of 54 miles per gallon. Redesigned back in 2020, the current Elantra is sharply designed, and a well-conceived interior chock full of both screens and buttons makes it usable as well. Given the style, tech, efficiency, and price, the value here is strong, and (for the first few years of its life, at least) should feel like a materially nicer car than the sole hybrid that undercuts it…

1. Toyota Corolla Hybrid: $25,770

Fuel Economy: 50 MPG Combined

Namely, the 2026 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, which starts at an industry-lowest $25,770 for a base LE. Believe it or not, Toyota still restricts the Corolla’s Hybrid powertrain to the sedan bodystyle. Nevertheless, it’s a 1.8-liter four-cylinder-based system making 138 total horsepower and good for 50 combined miles per gallon.

Prospective Corolla customers should keep in mind that this current generation has been around since 2018, and a new one is around the corner. Toyota recently put out a concept teasing a Corolla concept that rocks a radically different design and is set to be heavily electrified. That one may or may not come with a price inflation that would knock itself off its Cheapest Hybrid perch, but until then, the Corolla Hybrid is the least expensive hybrid you can buy new in 2025.