I am new to this forum and I have a question comparing hybrids. It seems to me that the Civic hybrid was optimized for fuel economy (total horsepower roughly equal between hybrid and non-hybrid designs) but the Accord hybrid was optimized for performance, keeping the same v-6 in both versions. Did anybody on this forum buy the Accord hybrid with performance in mind, rather than just fuel economy?
--- Matt Wald

 

Matt,
I bought my first Honda in 1976, 6 over the years, all 4-cylinder, all manual until the HAH, pinching pennies all the way. Multiple appeals for selecting the HAH: Honda reliability plus the really intriguing prospects of comfort/power AND fuel economy, possible since I don't have to pinch pennies as much as before. I've not been disappointed. Responsive performance on the power end when I need it, very comfortable and quiet, and I'm up to a typical 37-42 mpg now on my regular commute 80 miles round trip in 80-95 degree weather. Punches several buttons for me.
Lewis

 

I would have to say my top reasons for purchasing this car were the performance and the "coolness" of the technology [/I]and[I] the fuel economy. I have owned Hondas before and have always found them to be great cars. But I've wanted a hybrid for a couple of years, but didn't want to sacrifice performance and comfort. I have a commute of 40 miles round trip every day and the fuel economy is definitely a big plus. I'm averaging about 30mpg in stop and go traffic in 75-80 degree weather. And the V-6 on this car kicks butt compared to the '02 MB C320 I used to have (255 hp vs 220 hp). I could have gotten a Civic Hybrid I suppose, but I've owned Civics before and smaller cars, and this time I wanted a bigger sedan. The HAH has everything I wanted in one beautiful package.

 

I would find it curious if anyone really selected the HAH on economy. I have an 03 HCH and test drove the Accord recently to decide if I wanted to trade up. In the end, the HAH costs $11-13,000 more, and gets 10-15 MPG less than my HCH. The increase in my monthly cost of ownership was on the order of $175-200 (car, gas, insurance). That's why I'd say the HAH would be a curious economical decision. I concluded from my experiment that the HAH would appeal to those already in the market for a mid-$30,000 sedan (hybrid or not) and thought the mild increase MPG would be a nice collateral benefit. If you're spending $35,000 on a car already, an extra $20-30 / month savings at the pump wouldn't register much. Which is why I thought the HAH was such a strange move - why only make the hybrid available in the highest trim level (and most expensive?). Get the HAH down to the $25-27,000 range, and economics might come into play. Anyone know why Honda did that?

 

Yeah, I was wondering why they didn't make an HAH with a small 4 cylinder engine, like the HCH. They do offer regular Accords with smaller engines (that get better economy than the hybrid) so why not a hybrid version of them? Seems a bit strange, but I suppose they didn't want to spend much on R&D or something, although you'd think it would be fairly simple given most of the design is the same as other products they offer. Perhaps they also were focused on the profit margin, considering highest trim models are where the most profit is made, it probably helped to balance out the additional costs of the hybrid system.

 

You hit the nail on the head......The Hybrid Revolution is in it's VERY early days, and to recoup extra cost of the Hybrid components and even APPROACH making a profit, Honda was required to "max out" the equipment for the HCH and the HAH, meaning the Hybrid was "above" the trim level of the "top of the line EX" model.

Someday that will change, and the smaller, less costly Hybrid models will hit the line. Toyota will probably be first, because they plan on offering "hybridization" as an option in all their cars within 10 years or so.

 

I hope they don't abandon a $20,000-something hybrid option. Once you start getting up into the $30K range, it really doesn't matter if you save $20-30 at the pump. I didn't mind getting an upper-end Civic, because it was still a decent price.

 

I don't think they will at all. Toyota started making a profit on the Prius in 2002, just 1 year after it's world-wide release. Since then hybrid components have gotten cheaper and sales are shooting through the roof.