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

BUT, it's great to see so many hooves out there for people to try! The previous posters are correct, not everyone is interested in the Prius design. Just glad more and more people are thinking about MPG. That's a victory for all of us.


iPhone ? - now Free

 

The reason I mention the performance of the camry is not to make the prius look bad. It's because someone was looking at buying the new Accord hybrid. which would be a more powerfull larger car than the prius. That made me think about our camry hybrid.

sometimes I enjoy the speed that our camry has, but I also like my prius c. my current tank has over 200 miles in town driving with 74.? mpg. I like the mpg game! and I also like a fast car from time to time. Camry hybrid is a great car, and so is the prius line!

 

Good point. I get a poker, blackjack, AND roulette table in mine!
Enough to set up a nice little home party!

(I hit "reply quoting message", but I don't seem to get the quoted messages that the rest of you do. If there is some FAQ or special instructions I'm missing, please let me know.)

 

Prius absolutely will still make sense. Accord Hybrid to be production constraind I heard and most looking to spend $30k will opt for bigger trunk and more goodies in conventional EX-L. Last weekend, salesguy was talking down the hybrid because he doesn't have hybrids to sell until December, but has lots of EX-Ls....

sales guyy kept blabbing about some test where journalists got 42 MPG highway in conventional Accord (In other words, just get non-hybrid, it has great mileage too, according to him)

 

^^^
Of course he's blabbing that way. He wants to sell you something now and collect the commission.

If you/another potential customer waits for whatever, there's a greater chance that you won't buy their vehicle then.

 

IMHO, and only IMHO...

The Accord Hybrid doesn't make much sense right now from a practical perspective, being that the definition of "practical" includes a reputation/precedent of reliability and durability.

It needs to be remembered that "innovation" is just another word for ver. 1.0, and Honda hasn't been exactly hitting homers when it comes to hybrid drivetrains. Obviously IMA and e-CVT are entirely different creatures, but they both represent out-of-the-box re-imaginings of the split-power-path hybrid, both along the lines of reducing complexity (and flexibility) in a bid to reap gains in efficiency (price-to-performance in the case of the IMA, and transmission efficiency via almost-direct-drives in the e-CVT). The troubles with the IMA and its batteries are well-known. Whether Honda has learned anything and have been able to translate those lessons into this entirely different approach is unknown, and will probably remain unknown until some years have elapsed to see if the e-CVT and its battery pack stands up to wear-and-tear. The reduction in flexibility (it seems like you can only suck power off of the ICE in serial hybrid mode; this car is engineered so that it spends a good amount of its usage not in serial hybrid mode) has me a little concerned.

My personal impression of Hondas (from my experience with their non-hybrid vehicles) is that they are more optimized for performance, i.e. engineered with less of a wear/abuse factor. Much more of a Mitsubishi Zero than a Vought Corsair.* Given knowledge of the ver. 1.0 status of the e-CVT and this impression of Hondas, the Accord Hybrid does not give me the warm-and-fuzzies at all.

* - It needs to be mentioned that I recommend more Hondas than Toyotas to people knowing that most people do not use cars the way I (and some others) do. A lot of average drivers will find it easier to enjoy the greater and easier-to-attain performance, and won't need the heavier-duty capabilities that I associate with Toyotas. But the e-CVT is a bridge-too-far as something I might recommend without a significant caveat.

 

KFC does chicken better
Toyota does Hybrid better .... And still improving .... honda still generations behind

 

Honda Accord Hybrid is a car I'll watch from sidelines to see how it works out for others over several years. The limited trunk / cargo capacity is bit of a turn off, but the elegance is a turn on. Not that it matters all that much to me cause mine is paid for and I sure as heck don't want to spend for another car, no way, yuck!

I'll be interested to see what Toyota can come up with in the next Prius liftback too!

 

The current Prius, is the third generation, built as a hybrid from the ground up. When I decided on a hybrid, it was a Toyota Prius or nothing.

 

Hybrid equals Prius! Now that is a marketing dream!

 

First test I have read so far. Unlike the Fords, it actually does very well on the real-world tests.

"But things are rarely as simple as EPA numbers suggest. For starters, we didn't get 47 mpg combined out of the 2014 Accord Hybrid; we got a 46.3 mpg average over 881 miles. Our best tank, a 60/40 mix of highway and city driving netted an impressive 53.9 mpg.

​

The Accord EX-L didn't fare as well. We averaged 25.4 mpg over 620 miles: well below its 30 mpg EPA combined claim. The EX-L's best tank, a 36.3-mpg effort, happened on the highway-heavy 116-mile Edmunds evaluation loop. On this same loop, at the same time, the Accord Hybrid managed 47.5 mpg."

2014 Honda Accord Hybrid vs. 2013 Honda Accord EX-L on Edmunds.com

 

Nice article from Edmunds and the car sounds very promising. Unfortunately some people are waiting to buy one now and can't even get it. Wouldn't be surprised if availability is limited for months. Sounds like a given that the car gets great MPGs and it's a pleasure to drive. Hopefully it will be as reliable as it is good.

 

Looks like the only MPG liar amongst them is the Fusion Hybrid. The only places I hear about great FH mileage is in threads online

 

where are the 2014 Accord hybrid fuelly results? I can't find them. Seems odd to me that they are not listed. How many have been sold one or two???

I will believe that the Honda Accord hybrid is great after it has some actual results. not reviews but actual consumers who own one. I really hope it is even better than they say, but I want to see the results of real people.

 

On fuelly they show 41+ on the 2013 and 42+ on the 2014. the car seems about the same size as our camry hybrid and the mpg is also about the same. I am not sure if it requires preimum fuel, if not seems that it works ok to me.

 

I prefer the CMAX reports since they;re are a heck of a lot more cars reporting. I believe the other mpg site showed an average of around 39/40 for the FH as well. Pretty awful as compared to the 47 claimed. If my V (claimed 42 combined), got 32-35, I'd be beyond PO'd.

As for the Accord Hybrid? The Edmunds review of an 800-mile plus road test in varying conditions delivering 46.3, I'd say that was pretty substantial. When the Fusion Hybrid failed to deliver, many reviewers went out of their way to drive like hypermiling greenies. Their results still fell far short of 47.

I went to this site.
Compare Side-by-Side

2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid EPA 47 Combined Site Ave 40 88 Vehicles reported

2013 Toyota Camry Hybrid EPA 41 Combined Site Ave 41.7 5 vehicles reported

2013 Toyota Prius V EPA 42 Combined Site Ave 41.4 21 vehicles reported

The 2012 model year is very consistent with the 2013 models. 2014 is very consistent for Toyota, and creaps higher for the Fords. One thing I've noticed since last November, surprisingly the Fords tend to skew higher, much higher for certain respondents.

Toyota's EPA combined rating is extremely accurate, even conservative. The Prius V seems to be dead on. Ford's are always extremely optimistic, even unobtainable. So no, having a 47 rating and getting 40/41 is not OK.

Especially given that the test reviews invariably are less than most real-work mileage results, probably do to Testing. Very few testers have any problem getting close or even to the Toyota estimates. The newer Avalon hybrid reviews showed how easy it was for the tester to achieve the epa combined amounts, as is true for the new Accord Hybrid.

 

I agree that it is bad for epa mpg to be off so much. however the mpg for the FH is about the same as the hycam and the prius v. So the real problem is the inaccurate epa numbers.

I have limited exposure to hybrids, I have only owned 12 hycam, and 13 prius c, and know someone who has a civic hybrid. I am able to get amazing city mpg in both of out toyota hybrids. the civic hybrid is a piece of junk! same mpg as the gas civic. I am happy to see improvements in hybrids and more choices in models.

One 500+ mile tank I was able to get 71.7 mpg calculated from odometer and gas pump. but over the long run my mpg is much lower still above epa. I would also be upset if my mpg was way lower than rated. that is why I like to see what people actually get over time.

 

fuelly.com admin added 2014 Accord Hybrid as an add vehicle choice, but no one has signed up yet.

It went on sale Oct 31st and sold 23 units that day. We'll know in a week how it did for November. Production seems quite limited for now: No Accord Hybrids listed in stock when I check large Honda dealers around here. The hybrid engine and trannies are coming from Japan, then assembled into the car in Ohio.

It's early on for the car, but things should pick up eventually.

 

Why would the epa numbers be inaccurate when both the Camry, Prius V, and the Avalon be so darn close?
Every single Toyota I've owned I've not been surprised by the gas mileage. My new Prius C is no exception.

Why is it when For makes outrageous claims, not supported by anyone, then it's the fault of the tests? Perhaps the tests can be gamed, but if so, it's the fault of those that game it. Toyota doesn't seem to have any problem producing numbers that are within reason, and fairly simple to achieve.

So I totally disagree with you. Ford's epa numbers are inaccurate. It's pretty easy to see from what people are actually getting.