2014 Honda Accord Hybrid

What it lacks in transmission, it makes up for in mileage and zip.

If Lieutenant Commander Spock were shopping to get a midsize sedan, we believe he had find the Honda Accord hybrid vehicle to be an entirely orderly way of transportation. Luxury car roomy interior having a silent cottage appropriate for Vulcan cogitation: test. Arrayed that is lightly consistently participating vehicle dynamics: positive and managements. Group-top energy conservation: The Accord hybrid vehicle's 50-mpg EPA city evaluation is especially germane here. That is not and Prius terrain a number we have connected with midsize sedans capable of transporting, say, five Klingons.

You will find that we did not talk about the transmission of the new Accord hybrid vehicle because it does not have one. (Head here to get a deep dive on the Accord hybrid's intelligent powertrain.)

The powertrain of the Accord hybrid has EV drive, engine drive three methods for transferring the automobile, and hybrid drive. In the lithium-ion battery, the electrical drive motor powers the front wheels via energy kept in EV drive. In engine drive, like when cruising or hastening lightly on a level road at higher rates, the 2.0-liter four helps drive the wheels through a clutch. In this mode, there isn't any physical connection between the drive wheels and also the engine.

Hybrid Vehicle style is where this Accord spends most of its own time, and here engine rate will "flare" to exactly what the hybrid system's brain believes is the the most productive rpm for any specific road load and accelerator position. There's a notable wail when the vehicle scales a grade or accelerates briskly. We were also slightly annoyed with a whirring electric motor sound at low rates as well as a slight, brief sag when the electric motor /generator spools up the engine before clutch engagement as it changes to engine from EV mode -drive mode.

But on balance, we enjoy the Accord hybrid vehicle's (mainly) seamless drive character. Compared using its arch competitor, the planet of Honda, the Camry hybrid -saver does not give the driving experience on the altar of eco frugality. The Accord hybrid's electrically raised steering system mirrors the gas engine attempt and Accord's steering ratio, plus it gives the fine grained answer we have come to value in the automobile that was vehicle.

Exactly the same is true for the new electrically assisted brakes of the Accord hybrid: While completely reengineered to make use of mainly regenerative braking, they give sharp top-of-pedal answer that is not difficult to modulate. In addition, we enjoy the Accord hybrid vehicle's amplitude-reactive shocks giving answer to curt jounce and rebound --they offer a softer speed for putt-putting around town as well as a one that is stiffer . Low-rolling-resistance tires do lose some traction, but the hybrid vehicle's 184-foot 70-to-zero stopping distance was just four feet more than that of the last vehicle Accord we examined.

Not precisely warp speed, but the hybrid vehicle gains those tenths thanks to its 11-hp joined gasoline/electric power edge as well as the electric motor's 226 pound-feet of torque that is maximum only off accelerator. Despite being 202 pounds influenced by gravitation as opposed to vehicle Accord it can this.

The most relevant reason to get the newest Accord hybrid is fuel economy. With our collective right foot that was generally hefty, we saw watched mpg in the low 40s--compelling to get a mid-size car. But does it pencil out? There is about a $3600 delta between a comparably equipped, EX-L-cut the Accord hybrid vehicle as well as routine Accord.

So what is Vulcan? We believe Spock, rationally, would take the long view--one that looks at the new mainstream hybrid vehicle of Honda to preserve understood fossil fuel resources without losing functionality. We might be more prone to stay with all the vehicle Accord.

Just a couple of years back, pundits were wondering how in the world 2025-model year automobiles would get the government-mandated 54.5 mpg CAFE bogey. We understand: with no transmission.