Yup you read that right! The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid has an EPA rating of 50 mpg in the city, making it the most efficient hybrid four-door sedan currently on the market.
Yup you read that right! The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid has an EPA rating of 50 mpg in the city, making it the most efficient hybrid four-door sedan currently on the market. But of course after all of Ford’s drama, the next question is… does it actually get 50 mpg? Yes! Honda invited us out to San Antonio, Texas to get some seat time behind the all-new 2014 Accord Hybrid, which is going to arrive in showrooms on Halloween.
Many hybrid fans will remember that this is not the first time that Honda has released a hybrid Accord. Back in the early 2000s Honda’s engineers thought they had something cool by mating the Accord’s V6 with an electric motor. The Accord Hybrid didn’t get exceptional gas mileage, but it did have a little more power than the standard Accord. Was it worth it? Not at all and no one really wanted it. When Honda released an all-new Accord for the 2008 model year, the Accord Hybrid was gone. Now fast forward to 2014 and Honda has learned its lessons from the last model and has joined the masses by creating an Accord Hybrid that is powered by a four-cylinder engine and an electric motor.
But rather than just create a simple hybrid system like what powers the Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion, Honda’s engineers went even further and created a system that functions a lot like the Chevy Volt’s powertrain. The 2014 Accord Hybrid is powered by a 2.0L Atkinson-cycle engine and two electric motors. The first interesting tidbit is that the Accord Hybrid doesn’t have a transmission like a CVT or a six-speed automatic. Instead it has a single speed gear set like an electric car. It doesn’t stop there. Rather than power the Accord Hybrid most of the time like other hybrids, the four-cylinder engine is more of a generator, which sends electric power to an electric motor, that then powers the car. During some instances the four-cylinder can send power to the wheels, but its rare.
Ok so it’s different, but does it make sense? Well over our short drive throughout San Antonio, the Accord Hybrid’s powertrain was very impressive. It’s incredibly smooth and doesn’t have that weird sound that models like the Prius and Camry have when the gas engine takes over. Most of the time it felt like we were driving an electric car, since the stange sounds coming from the hood were closer to what we expect from a full electric car, than a hybrid. Hybrid buyers usually only buy a hybrid for their efficiency and the Accord Hybrid will not disappoint. We were able to average in the 54 mpg range, which is more than the 47 mpg EPA combined rating. Some guys that performed a few hypermilling techniques were able to even get in the 80 mpg range! The best part was that we drove the Accord Hybrid like a regular car and still managed to beat its posted EPA ratings.
If it wasn’t for the hybrid badges and blue trim pieces most buyers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the Accord Hybrid and the standard versions. So if you like the way the standard Accord looks and feels, you will not be disappointed here. The Accord Hybrid feels almost exactly the same behind the wheel as the standard Accord.
Honda wouldn’t state what percentage of buyers it expects to opt for the hybrid version of the Accord, but it shouldn’t have a problem like it did with the previous Accord. If you’re wondering if Honda will put this same powertrain in another vehicle, the answer is yes. The biggest hybrid model in Honda’s lineup is now the most efficient, so we can only hope for bigger things from the next-generation of Honda hybrids.
