Honda dropping the Accord Hybrid ( Next Accord to hit 60 MPG )
06-04-07, 07:44 AM
#1
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Honda dropping the Accord Hybrid ( Next Accord to hit 60 MPG )
Honda dropping the Accord Hybrid
Posted on Monday 4 June 2007
Honda will not launch a hybrid version of its next-generation Accord sedan when the revamped model goes on sale in the second half of the year. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Honda will instead promote a new range of petrol-electric hybrid versions of the new Civic and another subcompact model currently in development.
Under a new program, Honda’s midsize and large vehicles, including the next Accord, will feature a new clean-diesel powertrain that’s scheduled for introduction by 2009.
Last month, we reported that Honda was working on an affordable, high-volume model that would be hybrid only, as well as a new hybrid sports coupe for launch in 2009. The senior vice president of Honda Motor Europe, Ken Keir, told reporters from Automotive News that the entry-level hybrid will be a family-targeted model and be offered to worldwide markets for around $25,000.
In early May, Honda also announced that it would launch a hydrogen fuel-cell sedan next year to be based on its four-door FCX Concept car. It will be very interesting to see if Honda manages to live up to its bold claims, but we for one welcome the introduction of a cleaner lineup.
Posted on Monday 4 June 2007
Honda will not launch a hybrid version of its next-generation Accord sedan when the revamped model goes on sale in the second half of the year. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Honda will instead promote a new range of petrol-electric hybrid versions of the new Civic and another subcompact model currently in development.
Under a new program, Honda’s midsize and large vehicles, including the next Accord, will feature a new clean-diesel powertrain that’s scheduled for introduction by 2009.
Last month, we reported that Honda was working on an affordable, high-volume model that would be hybrid only, as well as a new hybrid sports coupe for launch in 2009. The senior vice president of Honda Motor Europe, Ken Keir, told reporters from Automotive News that the entry-level hybrid will be a family-targeted model and be offered to worldwide markets for around $25,000.
In early May, Honda also announced that it would launch a hydrogen fuel-cell sedan next year to be based on its four-door FCX Concept car. It will be very interesting to see if Honda manages to live up to its bold claims, but we for one welcome the introduction of a cleaner lineup.
06-04-07, 08:05 AM
#3
Lexus Champion
It was just setup all wrong.
Revised 2008 EPA rated mileage, power, and MSRP:
Hybrid Accord V6 Hybrid, everything but nav: 24/32, 253hp, $31,685
Acura TL, everything but nav: 18/26, 258hp $33,625
IMO the prices are close enough to be a wash.
So now you just have to consider if you want 6 more miles per gallon and the added question mark of more new technology to break and the cost of battery replacement 10 years down the road, or a significantly nicer all around car (the TL) with its nicer interior, leather, stereo, body work, warranty/dealer service, etc, etc.
I think far more people would choose the TL.
Revised 2008 EPA rated mileage, power, and MSRP:
Hybrid Accord V6 Hybrid, everything but nav: 24/32, 253hp, $31,685
Acura TL, everything but nav: 18/26, 258hp $33,625
IMO the prices are close enough to be a wash.
So now you just have to consider if you want 6 more miles per gallon and the added question mark of more new technology to break and the cost of battery replacement 10 years down the road, or a significantly nicer all around car (the TL) with its nicer interior, leather, stereo, body work, warranty/dealer service, etc, etc.
I think far more people would choose the TL.
06-04-07, 08:08 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
I gave the Accord Hybrid a brief examination and test-drive when they first started coming into the D.C. area (they were very hard to get then and I wasn't allowed to drive it long enough for a good review, so I didn't formally write it up). I can say that I liked the fact that the styling, dash and gauges were conventional (I've never liked the Prius), but overall (based on a brief test-drive only) the Hybrid's power level and EPA mileage figures didn't strike me as worth the extra money over a conventional Accord, and, of course, dealers were marking them up anyway, even on top of that.
06-04-07, 01:07 PM
#6
Lexus Champion
So I think their reasoning was 'we can run on 3 cylinders on the highway which will do even better on the highway than the 4-cylinder model, plus have the hybrid electric power for around town'.
It was a good idea in theory and I don't doubt that we'll see it again before long.
So let's see a small, light weight, quality made diesel hybrid with displacement on demand and a CVT transmission. Oh - and a solar cell roof.
That'd be perfecto!
06-04-07, 01:50 PM
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Honda will not launch a hybrid version of its next-generation Accord sedan when the revamped model goes on sale in the second half of the year.
[...]
Under a new program, Honda’s midsize and large vehicles, including the next Accord, will feature a new clean-diesel powertrain that’s scheduled for introduction by 2009.
[...]
Under a new program, Honda’s midsize and large vehicles, including the next Accord, will feature a new clean-diesel powertrain that’s scheduled for introduction by 2009.
Bring on the diesels!!
(hey, a Honda with torque... that'll be a first)
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06-04-07, 02:24 PM
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Toyota cutting hybrid costs, claims every car produced will be hybrid by 2020
Hybrids are definitely the future, whether they be gas/electric, diesel/electric, etc....
06-04-07, 02:27 PM
#10
Lexus Champion
I actually think that most hybrids don't make a very strong cost/benefit case at the moment, but I do believe that with various refinements and improvements such as the incorporation of lithium ion batteries, manifold-absorbed heat, solar power, plug-ins at the house, etc, etc... that they will begin to make more and more sense.
That doesn't at all mean I don't think we need diesels.
There's no reason we can't have both!
06-04-07, 05:33 PM
#12
Well, it was a lukewarm effort to be honest. High price, only a few extra hp and decent FE. I test drove one and it felt like a normal Accord EX-V6 which is exactly what Honda wants. When I drove it, it would shut off at the traffic light, then after 20 secs or so, restart. The heater wasn't on and the A/C wasn't at full blast so I'm not sure why it needed to restart the engine. The cylinder deactivation worked well and it's almost always on the moment you lift off (although isn't turning off 6 cylinders like the HiHy/RX400h/GS450h better than simply 3?).
Honda set out to provide a performance hybrid (back in the days when hybrids were "weak") but yet there wasn't enough performance to justify the cost. 1 second faster to 60 was all they could achieve. I believe the TCH is also 1 sec faster than the 4 cylinder and yet cheaper than the HAH.
Hmm... $25k for an entry level hybrid? Isn't the Prius at $22k?
Honda set out to provide a performance hybrid (back in the days when hybrids were "weak") but yet there wasn't enough performance to justify the cost. 1 second faster to 60 was all they could achieve. I believe the TCH is also 1 sec faster than the 4 cylinder and yet cheaper than the HAH.
Hmm... $25k for an entry level hybrid? Isn't the Prius at $22k?
06-04-07, 07:18 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
06-04-07, 08:02 PM
#14
06-04-07, 08:39 PM
#15
I sure hope Honda doesn't do a diesel. Honda is my second favorite company, and S2000 is my favorite car, and a Honda with diesel is just wrong. Leave the diesels for "Yurope", let them suffer, and bring some high revving sweetness to USA.
But on the serious note, diesels are certainly not the future, they are the past. Alternative fuels... unless we are talking about nuclear power, everything else more Sci-Fi than anything, and isn't realistic.
They way I see it, in the near future more and more cars are going to be Hybrids, and eventually become fully electric. All we need is a decent network of recharging stations and more efficient batteries, and of course people need to get over Chernobyl, and a network of Nuclear power plants needs to be built. Nuclear power plants are the most efficient way to generate electricity, with minimal cost, and without burning coal of oil.
But on the serious note, diesels are certainly not the future, they are the past. Alternative fuels... unless we are talking about nuclear power, everything else more Sci-Fi than anything, and isn't realistic.
They way I see it, in the near future more and more cars are going to be Hybrids, and eventually become fully electric. All we need is a decent network of recharging stations and more efficient batteries, and of course people need to get over Chernobyl, and a network of Nuclear power plants needs to be built. Nuclear power plants are the most efficient way to generate electricity, with minimal cost, and without burning coal of oil.
Last edited by Och; 06-04-07 at 08:52 PM.