http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/06/05/...rid/index.html

Honda dropping Accord Hybrid
Next generation Accord will not have hybrid version, diesel option possible.
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer
POSTED: 10:59 a.m. EDT, June 5, 2007
2007_honda_accord_hybrid.01.jpg

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The new Honda Accord, which will go on sale in September, will not be available in a gasoline-electric hybrid version, according to a company spokesman.

"We have found that our hybrid system works better on smaller cars," said Chris Naughton, a Honda spokesman.

Honda previously announced that it will introduce a new hybrid car in 2009. That car will be smaller in size and less expensive than the Honda Civic Hybrid. The Accord, a midsized car, is larger and more expensive than the Civic.

Honda currently makes a hybrid Accord that's engineered to provide a balance of performance and fuel economy, using a 6-cylinder gasoline engine rather than a smaller 4-cylinder engine.

The competing Toyota Camry Hybrid uses a four-cylinder engine resulting in considerably better fuel economy than the Accord Hybrid.

Hybrids accounted for 14 percent of Camrys sold last month, but just 1.4 percent of Accords, according to data from Power Information Networks, an auto research firm. The Accord and Camry are the two best-selling passenger cars in the United States.

"We have seen that what interests hybrid consumers is ultimate fuel economy," Naughton said.

Honda has previously said it will introduce a new 4-cylinder diesel engine in the United States by 2009. Diesel engines get considerably better fuel economy than gasoline engines without the technical complexity of gasoline-electric hybrid systems.

With cleaner diesel fuel available here, allowing engines to meet strict emissions requirements, diesel cars will become more widely available in this country in coming years.

Diesel cars are coming back

Honda has not said whether the Accord would get the diesel engine. The European version of the Accord - a car sold in the United States as the Acura TSX - is available in Europe with a diesel engine.

 

wait.. i just saw a commercial for this... what's up?

 

Hybrids are about practicality. The accord just didn't make sense.

It was 'slightly more power than the V6 Accord with the economy of the I4 Accord'

Right now it seems people want 'the power of a 4-cylinder with the economy of a moped'.

Now cars like the Lexus LS600h and GS450h seem to be an exception - those cars only offer slight improvements in economy while, theoretically, offering increases in performance and driving comfort.

But consider the kind of person shopping for a Honda Accord and the kind of person shopping for a flagship Lexus. One probably has practicality and economy on the mind moreso than the other.

The $31k Accord hybrid just didn't make sense. It was all of 2k cheaper than a much nicer Acura TL. Granted - it got 6mpg better fuel economy than the TL - but I don't think most consumers are willing to sacrifice getting the nicer car with likely better reliability and less maintenance costs (fewer things to break), for getting 6 extra miles for every gallon of fuel. If they're that concerned with fuel then they'll be shopping for something with a lot more mileage than that, anyway.

The Accord V6 hybrid did sound good in theory though because it used cylinder deactivation to run on 3 cylinders on the highway. In reality, somehow, it just didn't = "great" mileage, though...

 

If you are making a mainstream family sedan that gets the best mileage it can you don't go with a V6.

Problem with the Accord hybrid is it barely got better mileage than a 4cyl. Accord.

Accord hybrid 24/32mpg 27mpg combined
Accord 4cyl. 21/31mpg 25mpg combined
Malibu 4cyl. 21/31mpg 25mpg combined
Escape hybrid 34/30mpg 32mpg combined

http://fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

It is a tough sell when you are only getting 2mpg over your 4cyl. version at a $5000+ premium. Even worse when a hybrid 2wd SUV gets 10mpg better (41% ) and is cheaper.

Also, most people that want fuel efficiency seem to be the type of people that don't want a lot of there money going to transportation. If you want to save money you are not shopping for $31K cars.

 

What about Camry hybrid? It is right in the same class as Accord hybrid and it will continue.

I do find this rather ironic since we keep being told about the virtues of Hybrid vehicles and that demand keeps increasing (supposedly).

 

I have never been a fan of the hybrid approach. The benefits you get in return for the cost and complications just don't add up. I understand that hybrids have always been planned as an interim step, and that they have generated technological spinoffs useful in other automotive applications, but it just seemed like a costly way to get to that goal.

I like that Accord is planning a Diesel. To me that's a more cost-effective means of improving fuel economy. The problem is it's perceived as old-tech, and not as sexy as hybrid technology, and thus doesn't gain the headlines or positive public relations.

 

I think people would buy it if there was a significant increase in mpg like 30-40 mpg.

 

They should really bring the 2.2L turbo diesel from the euro accord here. Their accord (our TSX) equipped with that engine is rated at 140hp, 251b-ft of tq, and has a combined fuel rating of 48mpg.

 

This misses the bigger point-

The Accord was a crappy implementation of hybrid technology. It was basically a V6 with a helper electric motor. The car NEVER ran on just the electric motor, and it never shut the engine off when the car was moving (Toyota does both). I expect the target market for a car like this is someone like me- mid 30s techno-geek with a family, that loves cleverly-engineered stuff. This car wasn't it. Had they implemented the hybrid drivetrain closer to Toyota's, or the upcoming two-mode from GM, they may have had more success. Instead, it was a car with an electric supercharger. BORING.

I really do hope they bring that 2.2l diesel over- heck, put it in the TSX just like Europe. I've got video of that car pulling away from a TL at 125mph on the Autobahn.