Does the Prius still make sense when midsize-car Hybrids are getting almost 50mpg?(Accord Hybrid)

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bisco, Hybrid Accord may not make much dent in Prius sales, but the Accord lineup already makes a huge dent in a lot of other's sales, like 28k units / month here.

With $27k in hand, I'd buy a non hy Accord 4-door (no Coupe!) over a Prius today but you probably already knew that.
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I don't think Accord Hybrid will 'cost about $27k'. The Civic Hybrid stickers over $24k, is much smaller with a mild hybrid 1.8L.

Accord Hybrid will have a 120 something kW traction motor, Much bigger than Civ Hy. Bigger everything.

If they have a base Accord Hybrid, I'll bet you the sticker with destination is closer to $29k, but with fabric and no nav.

They may not have a base model, only a loaded out model above the V6 Touring with sticker from $34 to 35k.

We'll see. Doesn't really matter to me. I don't want to throw that much into a car and will be looking to keep the sticker price a little under $25k. I don't seem to drive quite enough to justify a hybrid, only 9 to 10k miles per year.

I would prefer a trunk over liftback at this point: Easier to open, closer, more secure storage, don't need to check if tonneau cover is closed in certain areas, plus I've grown to like the look of trunked sedans the most. They're everywhere and I don't mind that.

I've grown weary of the funky handling and turning ability of Prius, lot of body roll, wallow. Being 6'2" doesn't help at all in Prius: Need little bigger seat with full power.

Road noise is elevated in Prius, drowns out the JBL on rougher freeway. To me, Accord looks better and that matters to me.

 

There's no contest which is more practical. And with so many people transitioning from SUVs, which didn't have a trunk either, the sedan requires quite a bit of a cargo-space downgrade. Then taking into consideration how much storage is sacrificed with plug-in batteries in trunks, it makes for a very interesting situation going forward.

 

Heheh... and if you go to a non-hybrid, maybe you'll find yourself full-circle back to the Prius family, like you were w/that Accord...

Leaf is real quiet and as DaveInOlyWa put it, Prius feels like a noisy rattletrap, in comparison. Too bad I need to keep the miles down on my Leaf a bit. I'm racking them up a bit too quickly for my 12K mile/year lease. I figured it'd be more than enough given my commute is only ~25 miles roundtrip.

 

cycle, i think you have it backwards, camry is making the dent in honda sales.

 

I don't care about 0 to 60 times per se, but I do care about a drivetrain that can carry me over a steep freeway (Dublin Grade) without the wheezy sounding engine.

Camry Hybrid can blast over the steep grades around here and I'm sure HAH and reg Accord can too.

Now if you live in flatlandville (much of USA) ....

 

guilty as charged.

 

No. This will be my last venture into Prius. My mistake again, but it's not for me. I've got a dark side that's usually drawn to - sportbikes, etc.... Prius is just too nice and the shape is just not gonna work. ... neither will CT. But will keep cautious eye on Accord Hybrid.

If I needed to carry larger items often, yes, but I don't. But, no changes anytime soon.

Oh man, I can't stand being in Leaf. So not for me.

 

I agree. They have to find a way to 'hide' the traction battery, something Prius does so well. I happen to think hybrids are in their juvenile stage: batteries are large and expensive, drivetrains are fairly large.

Prius liftback does a good job obviously with MPGs and emissions, but falls short in my book on climbing power, handling, comfort, style and quietness. Doesn't help being 6'2".

 

i think that's the magic of gen II prius, it was designed around the battery. hycam II is better, but still a much smaller trunk than camry and tiny passthru. someone needs to design a midsize hybrid sedan from the ground up, but it might be too expensive. just like we're all hoping gen IV pip will hide the battery better, but probably not.

 

Yes, liftback is class'd as midsize due to interior room. But, midsize sedans Camry, Acc, Son, Fusion ... fall into the 185 to 190 ish inch length and 72 or 3 inch width. At 175 x 69, liftback not a true midsize.

Prius is not really a 'midsize' car as known in the states, but I think it is a tweener in size.

 

I had a chat with a Honda service advisor with 18 yrs experience. He was quite candid that he dealt with Many 2006 - 2009 Civic Hybrid premature battery failures. Replacing the traction battery also caused a software update, but left the car getting something like 32 MPGs. He said the replaced battery would get 15 yr / 150k mile warranty, but at 32 MPG ... and maybe sluggish and all, who would care.

Sounds like Honda Sport Hybrid is all about 'switching' modes: EV, serial hybrid, clutched ICE vs. 'blending' in Toyo, Ford power split. ....

I'm having a tough time imagining how the Accord Hybrid is going to get well over 40 combined real world.

Isn't serial hybrid not so efficient : ICE > Gen > Motor > wheels?

Motortrend, C&D say they haven't seen anything like Sport Hybrid.

 

Interesting. Is it due to your height and proportions? It's no problem for me but I'm nowhere even close to being tall.

Leaf leases were pretty cheap... (not sure about now).

 

Accord 4-cyl CVT is 30 combined now.

Welp, they made Accord Crosstour and have sold some, but not many. Acura tried TSX Sportwagon, but I think that's been a bomb. My niece wanted to bow her head seeing profile pic of Sportwagon .... I think it reminds some people of a hearse.

 

Can someone explain to me what hypermiling would really boil down to in heavy (Bay Area) traffic?

When I want to get around, I just drive, mostly to make it home safe. What does hypermiling entail?

 

As you know, I'm very particular about seating layout.

There is no telescoping steering wheel in Leaf. After scooting seat back, wheel far away and tilted up funny at least to me.

I'll never buy another car without at least 10-way power adjustable seat either, whether said car is new or used.

 

Have you ever owned a car you were 100% happy with?

 

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Well not in a real sense...My trips in heat and humidity were so short, stop and go, that the 2 bars combined with slow speeds never got the EV working. A few drives to the bank are about 2 miles round trip. Took a long trip yesterday, about 20 miles LOL Mileage went up 4 mpg overall on the tank.​

The mileage went down more sitting in the driveway with the ac on waiting for car to be loaded."​

Are you seriously that uptight? Read the entire posts, not just the delusional hallucinations ​

I did really short trips this week in ​

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hot and humid weather, and my battery level and speeds were insufficient to bail out my gas mileage. Lighten up dude.​

The water levels didn't rise by the lake, no glaciers drowned my house, and I've not said a bad thing about my new Prius V since I've bought it.​

 

I think what will bring hybrids more into the mainstream is to first make them very good cars. To me that means:

Good power to mix well with traffic on city and open highways. My Prius falls short on Dublin and Adrade Grade, could I tolerate the 'adequate power' going to Lake Tahoe?

Find way to hide traction battery, like Prius liftback. Expensive traction batteries in trunks that take up space, block pass through: Deal breaker for many. Most want enough room to pack it all in, just in case.

Consumers a leery of big, expensive traction batteries.

They get the base model LE or LX for under $22k + TTL and skip the $25k + hybrid.

 

I had a '86 Jetta that I drove from '91 to '99 (my only car) and put about 100k miles on it. I wasn't 100% happy, but liked it a lot until bought cases for new drums and needed more cargo space. I like Jetta 'cause it was kinda fun to drive.

Prius not so much fun to drive and I'm not into hypermiling. I always say, it's 'ok'.

Car and Driver, Motortrend, Consumer Report ... I don't think there's any outfit worth their salt that can claim Prius is much fun to drive in traditional sense. Road noise is not cool at this point, but maybe Goodyear Assurance making it worse.

anyrate, they are only cars and not worth sinking too much money into.

 

Classifying car sizes by exterior dimensions, not usable interior space, rewards inefficient designs. People accustomed to such inefficient designs are commonly surprised by the Prius interior.