Honda Accord Hybrid: 50 MPG City - clone Toyota

EVs can have the motors and wheels tied directly.

The Accord Hybrid, like the aforementioned EVs, spins the driveshaft directly (via the motor). Like the EVs no transmission assembly.

 

How are the sales figures for the Accord hybrid? I imagine with limited availability and dealer markups, it is going to be an uphill battle for Honda to make a dent. I can't recall seeing dealer markups for a Camry, Fusion or Sonata hybrid. In my neighborhood alone, I know of 4 Camry hybrids, 2 Sonata hybrids, 2 Fusion hybrids and an Avalon hybrid. I won't even venture to recall how many Prii there are. I still have yet to see an Accord hybrid, though. I wonder how Honda corporate feels about dealerships overcharging way past sticker for the Accord when this is supposed to be the car that brings people back to Honda's hybrid stable.

 

Numbers are here: March 2014 - Hybrid Dashboard Report | PriusChat
They are low. Honda is focusing on the home market right now.

As right now, I don't think we are aware of much dealers are upmarking. The $5000 one was on the plug in version. I'm sure there will be some mark up, and I'm sure there will be some dealers that won't do so. The Toyota dealer I used for my 2005 kept to MSRP, but there were stories of some dealers overcharging for the Prius back then.

 

it's not that big a deal sales wise. i'm sure honda is testing this system so they can hopefully implement it in their next prius killer. that's where the money is.

 

There's an article about Honda's sales philosophy of hybridcars.com Apparently they are not concerned about being a #1 seller. Honda prides themselves on not selling to fleets (taxi cos, rental cos), but only selling to retailers, end users. They claim the Civic actually outsold Prius in CA when you take away all the Prius sales to taxis and rental companies.

Toyota makes big discounts on their cars. Toyota Sunnyvale openly lists 2014.5 Camry Hybrid SE for just under $26k. They are just about $29k sticker. Paper is full of Toyotas (and Nissans, Fords, Kia, Hyundai and more) at huge discounts (one some models).

Honda just about never advertises in the paper. They advertise on TV and lot though.

I've seen Accord Hybrid enough to know it's a slick and stylish car. I like Accords a lot more than Camrys. But, the steep price and newness of Accord Hybrid has me and I'm sure many others just watching for now.

 

and yet, with all those discounts, toyota's profits are higher. probably cause honda puts so much quality in there cars, the higher price still doesn't make up the difference. i suppose you get what you pay for, and some people want cheap but effective.

 

I remembered this thread, so I looked at it for an update.

He's now at 46.2 mpg.

 

There are a couple at 48+mpg.
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring Mileage
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid EX-L Mileage
Plus some at over 50mpg. Sorry about the multiple links. Fuelly did a major upgrade on the back end recently, and I'm trying to cover all the the hybrids while checking for for mislistings.
2014 Honda Accord Mileage
Eyeballing the graph, the Accord seems to be averaging out at 43 to 46mpg. Need more user reports to pin it down, but that is closer to the Prius 47 to 49 average than the Ford Fusion hybrid high 30 to low 40 one.

 

And the majority of the fillups were hampered by the cold months. Other than the usual CU test, the HAH seems to be the real deal.

 

This HAH owner has gone over 21,000 miles already and has 41 fillups

Silver Accord Hybrid (Honda Accord) | Fuelly

Their avg. is 42.6 mpg so far. quite good for a 3,600 lb, 195 HP car.

 

The Honda Accord Hybrid does not have a spare. Ruin a tire on it between Bismarck and Fargo and you will sit there forever.

 

how is the gen II hycam doing? it does have a spare. r u sure the hah doesn't and that it's not the plug in?

 

I read an Edmunds article that more and more new cars are coming with no spare but repair kits. They say many people just call roadside service before trying to put on spare anyway ...

but cannot call roadside service without mobile phone reception. And I bet there are many places on the road where there is no cellphone reception.

Is there another way to contact roadside service without using cell phone?

 

Accord Hybrid (non plug in) has no spare tire, only a fix it kit. Camry Hybrid showing about 38 MPG on fuelly, but not many owners posting up.

 

do the in car systems use satellite?

 

I know of one case, the Honda Fit with automatic transmission only, where the compact spare was replaced with a pump-and-slime kit, just to drop the weight down, squeeze a bit more mpg, and get them over a threshold for some rating, in Japan I believe. The manual transmission version had the spare, and jack; the room was there in both cases. You could buy the spare and jack, it was around $250 I think (and drop kick the pump/slime off the driveway).

Anyway, whenever I hear the song about how it's the "trend" to eliminate the temporary spare, in favour of this wheel fouling system, it leaves me incredulous. There's lots of trends, they're not necessarily in your best interest though.

 

I think it probably is correct that more new cars are coming out with tire repair kits and no spare but I would not buy any car that did not have a spare. In a perfect situation where you just have a normal flat tire a repair kit would probably work fine. If you damage a tire beyond repair that is where you would have a big time problem. I took a trip to Yellowstone a few years ago and there are places out that way where there is no cellphone reception. The OnStar system by GM will probably work anywhere and I think Toyota has a similar system that would probably work anywhere. You certainly can not depend on a cell phone. I have a new Avalon. It has a spare tire so no problems for me hopefully for a very long time.

 

Well our thoroughly used-up Durango finally gave up it's "cost more than it's worth to fix" ghost, so I pulled the plug (she served us well). Had 3-5 days to replace, so I revisited the Prius, Camry-hybrid and Accord-hybrid. Wife didn't want another Prius, and the numbers just didn't work for the other two. They are still to expensive to compensate for a TCO win. Buy the way, Honda and Toyota were the only ones that meet my reliability standards at this time. Did like the new 2014 Honda FIT (a lot better than last GEN), but after driving an SUV for almost 10 years, the Wife would not go that small. The regular Accord and Camry did not impress for the price, and basically just amount to over sized Civics and Corollas, so that's what it came down to, comparably equipped. Honda threw some mid model toys at the current Gen Civic (released in 2012) to compete with the new 2014 Corolla release, but to little to late. Sorry folks but the 2014 Toyota Corolla beat out the Civic for rear seat space vs RH turn signal camera, plus initial cost and TCO...and it has a spare. Though some of the mechanics have not changed much, the new package is quite nice. Still the most sold model in the world and most reliable. Our current Prius is still serving well, but the VW TDI's days of cost effectiveness are numbered, so I will stay informed, test drive and run the numbers every so often to keep up. This is not a hijack...so no barking please. I was actually considering and posted my experiences here regarding the Accord Hybrid as a possible replacement for the Wife's vehicle.

Thanks for the thread.

 

I'm positive that the base Sonic sedan without spare is so just for EPA numbers. Then the majority sold have a spare.

In most of the first world, the spare tire is truly optional. How many areas are totally without cell coverage, and tires are better than they were. I don't like the tire slime. I'd rather have a compressor and plug kit, but the companies have to consider the lowest denominator. For those in which repair kits are a no go; TPMS is now mandatory, and the cost of the spare will cover run flats.