Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 57 MPH, the vehicle suddenly shut off causing the driver to lose control of the steering and crash into several rocks which caused the vehicle to rollover several times. During the incident the air bags deployed. The driver sustained an injured right leg, head, and chest injuries, the front passenger sustained a neck injury and the child seated in the rear passenger seat suffered a head injury. All occupants in the vehicle required medical treatment for their injuries. A police report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was later towed to an undisclosed location and later deem destroyed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were both notified of the failures. …
My car lost power and the engine light came on when on the freeway. I was in the middle of merging from [redacted] to [redacted] on a San Diego freeway. Because of the highway interchange situation, I was in the far left lane and needed to merge about 4-5 lanes to the right to get to the next off ramp. This was so scary!! Though I had my hazard lights on, cars coming up behind me didn't expect a car to be slowing down in the middle of the freeway as the car decelerated down to 20 mph. I was very lucky that my car was not rear-ended. I used the side roads and the electric power to of my hybrid engine to drive about 7 miles to a Honda dealer. They asked me to turn off my car (big mistake). Honda had my car for 3 days and drove it about 70 miles, but could never duplicate the issue. I am [redacted] and frequently from Southern to Northern California alone. …
On January 15th while driving home with my son I attempted to accelerate around a truck when I hit approximately 60 mph the vehicle stopped accelerating and began to slow down. I did notice that the "charge bar" for the hybrid battery was indicating that it was charging. The car continued to decelerate and I pulled to the side of the road. The check engine light was flashing. I turned the vehicle off for a minute and started it back up. The car drove fine and I was able to make it home. The dealership said there were no codes saved and they had no explanation. This was a the third time in the past year this has occurred and no one can tell me what the codes are or how to fix it.
The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle decelerated unintendedly. After restarting the vehicle, the failure was corrected, and the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the fuel line, but the failure persisted. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 15,000.
I was driving the vehicle on route I287 and all of a sudden the break system got activated without touching any button and the car speed was damped down and as a result the car was pulled aside to see what had happened. The break system completely collapsed with a break sign on the dashboard appearing persistently which could not be deactivated or was not able to remove from the dashboard with several attempts made in restarting the engine. Due to the involuntary break activation on highway driving, my life as well others would have been in extreme danger and jeopardized the whole situation in continuing driving further. …
I own a 2021 Honda CR-V Touring hybrid and have had 2 incidents of what I have learned is called sudden unintentional acceleration (SUA). I bought the car new and took possession of it in the spring of 2021. The first incident occurred Nov 14, 2023 when I was parking at a restaurant. I was slowly pulling forward into a parking spot where there were unattended cars on either side of me as well as in front of me. Suddenly, without warning, I was surging with full force into the minivan parked ahead of me as well as the front end of the car parked next to it. I slammed on the brake but not before I had pushed the minvan several feet forward. I did not know how this happened but, even though I knew that I had not stepped on the gas pedal nor had something interfered with it, I assumed that I must have done something to cause this accident. …
On highway, engaged cruise control at 70 mph. Engine light came on, simultaneously with loss of power (pressing on gas pedal did nothing) and Apple CarPlay disconnect. We were near an exit and managed to drift off, at lower off-ramp speed engine again could respond to accelerator however was chugging very badly. Went to nearby oil change place. Mechanic there advised going straight to dealer a short distance further. Drove on to the Honda dealer, car still chugging and stopped the car until I could talk to the service person. When the car restarted it was no longer chugging. Service person diagnosed the following and said i basically needed a new engine: TECH SCANNED VEHICLE AND FOUND CODES P0300 RANDOM CYL MISFIRE, P0302 CYL 2 MISFIRE. …
2021 Hybrid-CR began loosing power while driving and the check engine light turned on. Pulling over to the side of the road, turning it off, and then restarting the car turned off the check engine light. After several occurrences took the car to dealership where they were not able to pinpoint the problem as the check engine light was not on at that time and warnings are not stored in the diagnostic module of the car. Driving 75 mph ALL dashboard warning lights turned on. Was able to pull over to the side of the road and had car towed to dealership. The cylinder head is bad. New cylinder heads are currently on back order and there is no date of when a new one would become available. The head can be sent to a shop for repair for $8,000 cost. Honda is aware of the issue and has offered a 75-25% split on this cost: they pay 75% and we pay the remaining 25%. …
This is the second time this vehicle has randomly lost power / internal combustion engine stalled while driving on the interstate. Vehicle was traveling approximately 70mph steady for 10 minutes when the incident occurred. The combustion engine began to shutter and stalled, check engine light began blinking. Hybrid battery went down to zero and had to make an emergency departure off the highway with no power. Vehicle had to be powered off and powered back on to resume normal operation. Because the CELlight cleared the dealership cannot look up the fault and mark it as NPF. When I search this issue, it seems to be fairly common with the 2020+ honda hybrids (crv and accords). This type of power train failure / stall is extremely dangerous especially on highways with little or no warning and time to react. …
On December 12, 2023 at 6:50 AM my Check Engine light came on while I was driving, the battery gauge went to two bars, and the car powered down on Route 24 (a state highway). I took it to the dealer later in the day and they could not find anything wrong. Unfortunately, this is the third time my car has powered down/gone into limp mode on a highway. On August 8th almost the exact same thing happened at almost the exact same spot on the highway (slightly uphill, a day after refueling). In August, Honda kept my car for a week to try to pinpoint the problem. There were no stored problem codes. The best guess of the dealer was some sort of engine misfire due to a fuel impurity. On October 12, 2022 I had the first power down experience on the NY Thruway. On that occasion, the temperature sensor malfunctioned (at least according to the messages and gauges). The dealer replaced the sensor.
NHTSA investigations
Loss of Motive Power
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 48 Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) reports and some Early Warning Reporting (EWR) field reports alleging intermittent loss of motive power in Model Year (MY) 2020-2022 Honda CR-V Hybrid vehicles.
Engine complaints in other CR-V Hybrid years
Frequently asked questions
How common are engine problems on the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid?
NHTSA has 36 complaints about the engine & cooling of the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid, 34% of the model year's 105 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid engine problems?
No. NHTSA lists no engine & cooling recall for the 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid, though it has 3 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid engine problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 60,000 miles, and 50% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 2 crashes, 0 fires and 3 injuries to engine & cooling problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.