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"Good Riddance, Honda Accord Hybrid"

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Arroyo, Jun 7, 2007.

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  1. Arroyo

    Arroyo Member

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    Earlier this week, Honda Motor Corporation announced it will pull the plug on the gasoline-electric Accord Hybrid. I say good riddance.

    If there is ever a car without a compelling reason to exist, it's the Honda Accord Hybrid. It probably sounded like a good idea when it was on the drawing boards: Be the first gas-electric hybrid designed to maximize performance rather than gas mileage.

    So when the Accord Hybrid made its debut back in 2004, it was outfitted with a six-cylinder internal combustion engine and an electric assist motor. The combination generated 255 horsepower, and did it in a fashion that's clean enough to be rated by the EPA as a Level II Super Ultra Low Emissions (SULEV II) vehicle.

    The problem? 255 horsepower isn't all that much power. For the same money, you can get a non-hybrid Volkswagen Passat 3.6L that generates 280 horsepower. And guess what? The Passat is also a SULEV II-rated vehicle. A better performance alternative to the Accord Hybrid can even be found in Honda's own backyard, in the form of the 258-horspower Acura TL sedan.

    Since the Accord Hybrid was not designed to maximize gas mileage, it's fuel efficiency is predictably unremarkable. Under the revised EPA standards, it gets a combined city and highway average of 27 miles per gallon. The four-cylinder Accord does almost as well at 25 miles per gallon (26 if you opt for a manual transmission). In California, the four-cylinder Accord also meets EPA's SULEV II rating - and you'll save about $10,000 off the sticker price. For another $5,000 less, you can get a non-hybrid Honda Civic that significantly beats the Accord Hybrid in the gas mileage category.

    Evidently, all of this has not gone unnoticed by the buying public. Honda sold a mere 439 Accord hybrids in the United States last month. By contrast, Toyota Motor Corp. sold 24,009 of its less-expensive and gas mileage-leading Prius model during the same month. But an even closer competitor to the Accord Hybrid is Toyota's Camry Hybrid. Unlike, the Accord, Toyota opted to maximize gas mileage for the Camry Hybrid - and with a combined city and highway average of 34 mpg under the EPA's new standard (39 under the old standard), it trounces the Accord Hybrid in fuel efficiency. Moreover, the sticker price on the Toyota version is $26,820 - about $5,000 less than the Accord Hybrid. Even Ford's Escape Hybrid SUV gets a combined average of 32 mpg under EPA's new standard - far better than the Accord Hybrid.

    So, where does this leave the Honda Accord Hybrid? Out the door, evidently. Honda doesn't make too many mistakes, but the Accord Hybrid represents an unremarkable application and execution of hybrid technology. It excels in neither performance, gas mileage, nor emissions control. Honda made the right move when it decided to pull the plug on the vehicle.

    Back Seat Driving, June 7, 2007

    [​IMG]
    2005 Honda Accord Hybrid
     
  2. justifyd

    justifyd New Member

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    I'm actually a little surprised at their poor sales. It received so much positive press coverage that I figured it would offset the higher price and "hybrid" stigma. ("Performance hybrid" is an oxymoron in most circles.) Guess my predictions were wrong... I can only conclude that decades of targeting the Accord as a family sedan for the value-conscious prevented the "performance" and "hybrid" labels from drawing in those segments.

    Perhaps Honda deserves more sympathy and less criticism. The 28/35 MPG ratings for the hybrid represent a 40%/20.7% improvement over the 20/29 MPG ratings of its EX-L V6 sibling, all while outperforming it. In essence, Honda found a way to improve the mileage about 30% without sacrificing performance capabilities. They just picked a model with the wrong target market. (A lot of people claim relatively weak performance and price premiums for the hybrid system are key reasons why demand for hybrids is pretty low overall.)

    I may be one of few here that feel this way, but I hope they don't give up on their strategy. It's anecdotal postulation on my part, but I would imagine a modest increase in mileage across a wide portion of their production would compare quite favorably to a larger increase in mileage across a much smaller percentage of their production. (Realistically, you won't get both anytime soon. Until technology improves by leaps and bounds, the "high and wide" scenario is just wishful thinking.)

    I looked up those other cars Arroyo mentioned:

    VW Passat 3.6L Sedan w/automatic: 19/28 MPG.
    Acura TL 3.2L w/automatic: 20/29 MPG.

    I'm confused: How are these better than the Accord Hybrid, given that the main argument against the AH is its performance hybrid setup? I see a car with 90+% of the performance potential of the others and vastly better fuel economy. Sounds like a winner combination to me (irrespective of the sales data). What did I miss?

    - Justifyd
     
  3. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Justifyd @ Jun 7 2007, 09:46 PM) [snapback]457765[/snapback]</div>
    I believe the performance market is all about the horsepower & acceleration numbers. I remember when they changed how horsepower was calculated. Huge outcry over how the car is now less powerful just because the number is lower--nothing else changed. The economy market works the same way on mpg. Did you notice the outcry over how the Prius is now less fuel efficient?
     
  4. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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