Obsession with 0 to 60

A Hybrid with some punch

Finally, tree huggers can use the passing lane.

Although some still consider hybrid gasoline-electric cars as too expensive for mass appeal, Honda's Accord Hybrid, which goes on sale in about a month, raises the bar by exacting no compromise in performance.

It's notable also as the first hybrid based on an existing midsize sedan, the nation's second-best selling car and one with a near-bulletproof reputation.

While Toyota's Prius has been a hit because it offers good fuel economy and the interior space of a midsize car, the Prius takes a full 10 seconds to accelerate from zero to 60 mph. Although that is two seconds less than Honda's Insight or Civic hybrids, all three can be outrun by any number of bargain basement subcompacts or hulking SUVs.

he first hybrid to use a V-6 instead of four-cylinder engine, the 255-hp. Accord Hybrid accelerates to 60 in 7.5 seconds, Honda says - a half second quicker than a conventional 240-hp. Accord V-6, despite being 176 pounds heavier - something even the most conservative driver will appreciate when merging onto a highway.

Fuel economy for the Accord Hybrid is EPA estimated at 30 mpg in the city, 37 on the highway - significantly higher than the 21 and 30, and 24 and 34, respectively, of the conventional Accord V-6 version and the four-cylinder version. Environmental Protection Agency estimates are notoriously optimistic, though, and the sample car's trip-average fuel economy gauges never showed more than 34 mpg on a 20-mile, mostly parkway test drive.

Either way, this newest hybrid doesn't come close to either the Prius' EPA rating of 55 mpg combined city and highway or the Prius' real world economy, which Consumer Reports' testers pegged in the mid-40s. So, despite unremarkable performance, the Prius has been a runaway best seller; Toyota said recently it was doubling production and would ship 100,000 Priuses to the United States next year.

Then there's the Accord's price to consider; at about $30,000 to start - exact figures haven't yet been announced - the Accord Hybrid will cost almost $10,000 more than a Prius and about $3,400 more than a comparably equipped conventional V-6 Accord. That difference among Accords is likely to be greater if the hybrid commands its sticker price (as does the Prius), while conventional Accords sell at a discount.

Even if the difference is only $3,400, that buys 1,511 gallons of gasoline at $2.25 a gallon. If the hybrid gets 8 more miles per gallon than the conventional Accord and both cars are driven 15,000 miles a year, the savings total only $444 a year - and it takes 7.6 years before dollar savings begin.

For that reason, Honda expects the hybrid Accord to account for only about 20,000 of 400,000 Accords likely to be sold in the United States next year. It expects to sell another 25,000 Civic and Insight hybrids.

Dan Bonawitz, Honda's U.S. vice president for corporate planning and logistics, says most Accord Hybrid buyers won't be opting for this model just to save money on fuel. "I think we'll see a premium level buyer," he told reporters at an event yesterday for New York area media, "a buyer who wants to do right by society without giving up performance."

The Accord works similarly to the other hybrids, using an electric motor to supplement the gasoline engine. The battery pack that powers the electric motor is recharged by the gasoline engine and by the car's momentum during braking.

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