Honda Adds Luxury to Accord Hybrid November 2004

Get ready to learn something more about gasoline-electric hybrid technology: It can make V-6s more powerful and fuel-efficient.

The world's first V-6 gas-electric hybrid, the 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid, goes on sale early next month as the most powerful Accord sedan ever, with 255 horsepower, up from 240 horses in a regular Accord with V-6.

The new five-passenger Accord also is likely to rank as the second-best midsize sedan in fuel economy, with an expected rating of 30 miles a gallon in city driving and 37 mpg on the highway.

This is even better than the 26/34 mpg rating for a four-cylinder-powered Accord and means an Accord Hybrid driver could go about 600 miles -- or from Washington, D.C., to Raleigh, N.C., and back and then some -- on a single tank of regular gas.

Starting price for this top-of-the-line Accord will be up there -- about $30,000 or so for the manufacturer's suggested retail price and destination charge. Final pricing will be announced closer to the car's arrival in showrooms.

The current top Accord, the 2005 EX sedan with V-6, navigation system and XM satellite radio, has a manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $29,215.

Meantime, other gas-electric hybrid vehicles -- all with four-cylinder engines -- have lower starting prices. For example, Honda's 2005 Civic Hybrid starts at $20,165; Toyota's 2005 Prius at $21,415; and Ford's 2005 Escape Hybrid at $26,970.

The Accord Hybrid, though, will come with the most standard luxury features.

These include five-speed automatic transmission, 16-inch alloy wheels, front-seat side air bags as well as curtain air bags for both rows of seats, driver's seat with eight-way power adjustment, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, dual-zone, automatic climate control, glasses holder, XM satellite radio and heated front seats.

Even leather-trimmed seats are standard. In contrast, leather seats are the No. 1 requested amenity among Prius buyers, according to Toyota spokesman Mike Michels.

He noted Toyota executives had a long debate over whether it would be appropriate to offer animal hides in a vehicle that's supposed to be environmentally friendly. Further, he said, leather can add weight.

The result: Toyota doesn't provide leather-trimmed seats from the factory, but U.S. dealers can sell them to customers.

Honda executives said they didn't have that concern because the Accord Hybrid, though it is a low-emission vehicle, is positioned as a car with a "new level of performance."

When a driver accelerates hard, all six cylinders in the engine operate, plus the 12-kilowatt electric motor helps out.

During these times, the strong, confident sounds of the V-6 are heard, just as they are on a regular V-6 Accord.

Note that the maximum torque in the Accord Hybrid is 232 foot-pounds at 5,000 rpm vs. 212 at 5,000 rpm in a regular Accord V-6. That helped explain why my head was pressed into the head restraint of the Accord Hybrid when my driving partner first started up.

There also wasn't any lack of power in the Accord Hybrid as we sped onto the highway.

Indeed, the Accord Hybrid felt perfectly normal. There was no balkiness or roughness or weird noises as the power came on and no real way to detect, without looking at special displays in the instrument panel, where all the power was coming from.

All a driver has to do is drive.

Gas-electric hybrids combine internal-combustion engines with electric motors and special batteries to provide power. There's never a need to plug in these vehicles.

Electronics manage where the power comes from and when, depending on driving conditions, while always seeking to maximize fuel efficiency and, particularly in the Accord, performance.

But there's another system at work in the Accord Hybrid that boosts fuel economy, too.

The Variable Cylinder Management, or VCM, system deactivates three of the engine's six cylinders when they're not needed, such as when the car is cruising.

At that time, VCM keeps intake and exhaust valves closed on three cylinders so there's no combustion going on in the rear bank of engine cylinders.

Indeed, in the test car, it was impossible to detect, just by listening or feeling the ride, that only three cylinders were working.

There is one way in which the Accord Hybrid is palpably different, though. Unlike a traditional Accord, the V-6 in the hybrid may turn itself off when the car is stopped at a traffic light -- to save fuel and reduce emissions.

It will turn itself back on automatically when the driver presses on the accelerator.

To keep a driver from worrying that the eerie quiet means the car has stalled or broken down, a bright green, blinking "auto stop" light illuminates in the instrument panel when the vehicle engine turns off that way.

The Accord Hybrid body and size are pretty much the same as for a gasoline-only Accord, so you can count on a rather subdued, though pleasant appearance.

Interior dimensions are virtually identical. Only the trunk is smaller -- 11.2 cubic feet vs. 14 cubic feet in a gasoline-only Accord.

The reason: The hybrid's nickel metal hydride battery pack must be stored in the back. This pack provides energy to run the electric motor and holds the regenerated energy that comes from braking as well as energy created by the engine.

Another change from the traditional Accord: The hybrid doesn't come with a spare tire. It has a tire repair kit that will repair flats.

Although the kit may not be as familiar to drivers as an old-fashioned spare, executives said they wanted to keep weight down so fuel economy and performance are optimized. As it stands, the Accord Hybrid weighs about 175 pounds more than a comparable gas-only Accord V-6.

The word "Hybrid" -- the only label on the outside of the car indicating it is such -- is on the back of the sedan.

Inside, the Accord's special displays in the instrument panel help a driver understand what's going on with the powertrain at any time.

But they don't quite have the same graphic interest that the Prius provides, with its sizable sketch of the vehicle's power grid in the center of the dashboard.

The front-drive Accord test car drove so smoothly and quietly, having the usual, well-placed controls and automatic transmission gear shifter, I didn't have to keep track of any of the sophisticated power technology. I could just drive, or ride, in comfort.

One complaint: There are two fuel-economy displays inside the car, and they don't always agree.

In the test car, they differed by 0.3 mpg or more. Executives said it was because they get input from different electronics.

It would be better if Honda provided the hybrid's fuel-economy figure in just one location.

Honda administrators look to sell about 20,000 Accord Hybrids in calendar 2005. In each of the past two calendar years, the automaker sold nearly 400,000 gas-only Accords, making it one of the top-selling cars in the United States.

The target buyer for the hybrid is "an affluent, well-educated professional around 50 years old and (with) household income of more than $100,000," said Robert Bienenfeld, senior manager of product planning at American Honda Motor Co. Inc.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not provide crash-test ratings for the 2005 Accord Hybrid, and there has been no safety recall of this upcoming model.

Because the 2005 Accord Hybrid is new, Consumer Reports magazine does not provide a reliability rating.

SOURCE: Seattle PI

Hybrid Car Links

Hybrid Cars

What are Hybrid Cars

Hybrid Car Pros & Cons

How Hybrid Car Works

Hybrid Car History

Future Hybrid Cars

Advantages Of Hybrid Cars

Disadvantages Of Hybrid Cars

Hybrid Sports Cars

Hybrid Car FAQs

Hybrid Car Facts