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Honda
Accord Hybrid
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The Honda Accord Hybrid
is one of the peppier hybrid cars currently on the street.
With a 3-liter V6 gasoline
engine and high-torque electric motor and a 255 horsepower
rating plus acceleration from 0-60 in just 6.5 seconds,
the Honda Accord Hybrid is both green car and mean car.
The Accord Hybrid offers
more refinements as standard features than say the Honda
Civic Hybrid.
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With the Honda Accord Hybrid EX model, you get all leather,
all power, AM/FM 6 CD changer, XM satellite radio, heated front
seats, dual-zone climate control and more. The Accord Hybrid
is the first car to use Honda's Variable Cylinder Management
technology (VCM), which means three of the engine's six cylinders
may be deactivated under certain conditions to save gas. The
Accord Hybrid can do highway cruising on its three cylinders
with no loss in performance.
The fuel efficiency of the Honda Accord Hybrid (29 city, 37
hwy) does not match up to the Civic Hybrid (46 city, 51 hwy)
but it does get better gas mileage than the standard gasoline-powered
Accord (21 city, 30 hwy) and with greater spunk than most cars
in its class. The newest model of Honda Accord Hybrid is also
rumored to have a 6-speed manual transmission and a new sportier
design, but we'll have to wait and see if this comes to fruition.
According to Edmunds, "The new Civic will be offered
with two, three, four and five doors and will be produced
at Honda's six regional operations around the globe. In
the US, the Civic will be equipped with all of the same
standard safety features, including side curtain airbags
and antilock brakes, as the current Accord." As far
as safety goes, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the
2006 Honda Accord Hybrid 4-DR w/SAB achieves 4 and 5-star
safety ratings in most of its categories.
The current Honda Accord Hybrid uses an integrated motor
assist (IMA) system, which means it uses the gasoline engine
for most tasks and the electric motor kicks in when more
power is needed. This is the opposite of Toyota's system,
which operates with the electric motor mostly and revs up
the gasoline engine when more power is needed. The Honda
Accord Hybrid and other Honda hybrids do not need to be
plugged in since they use a regenerative braking system
that recharges the battery pack when the brakes are applied.
The current Honda Accord Hybrid also has an electrical
power steering system rather than a typical hydraulic system.
No fuel is used on the electrical power steering system
and there are fewer moving parts and less weight on parts
is involved, which means greater gasoline savings.
Although, Honda only planned to manufacture 20,000 Honda Accord
Hybrids for the 2005 season, the 2006 season is shaping up to
be a banner year. With gasoline prices at an all-time high and
Toyota leading the charge by introducing 10 new hybrid models
within the next few years, Honda will surely follow and may
even do some technological leading of its own.
The 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid has been introduced with no major
changes from the 2006 model year outside of the Special Edition
model. The 2007 Special Edition Honda Accord Hybrid includes
audio button on the steering wheel, a 6-disc CD changer, an
alarm and 17-inch alloy wheels. Honda decide not to mess with
a good thing this year.
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