Put down our deposit for 2012 HCH with the new lithium-ion battery. Hoping the new design does better than what most of us have experienced with our NiMH packs on HCH-IIs.

Anyone else "doubling down" on Honda hybrid products?

 

Eagerly looking forward to your report – when will you get it?

Now kick some butt at Greenhybrid to get a new HCH-III sub-forum added!

 

Unfortunately, no firm delivery date. The dealer said sometime mid-August or later. My wife wanted a particular color they didn't already have on order, so our car is a trade with another dealer, making it still harder to predict when we'll actually see it.

Two of my hopes for the new model are already dashed ... no fold-down back seats and no sunroof. Prius has had both for some time and Inisght has a fold down seat. Curious what's happening with Civic nowdays, I saw Honda is no longer selling it in Japan, it seemed to be cannabalizing Accord sales and Japanese preferred Fit and Insight as "small cars".

So perhaps as a "rest of the world" model they will invest less in product development in the future?

 

only the hch3 will be sold in Japan. the regular non-hybrid civics dont make sense to the japanese so they are not sold there.

ks

 

Well, the '12 came in a week ago and I now have driven enough to form some impressions. The new model stays in glide noticeably longer, you can cruise up to mid-40 mph on level roads with a light foot running only on the battery.

The ride is a bit different. Consumer Reports was really tough on it, and I can see where some would consider it a step backwards. It's a bit jiggly and bouncy by comparison with a II; if you're tried driving one of the new Insights, you'll recognize the sensation. It seems like they were focused on putting on a softer, quieter ride on good roads and I think they succeeded with a bit of a trade off everywhere else. But just different, not bad. I can't tell any difference in the steering and handling, but then I never tried any sporty driving in this or the '06 to compare.

More fancy controls and displays and standard bluetooth. Still spacious, comfortable and easy to see out of. Assuming the better mileage pans out and the new Lith-ion battery holds up, it will be a nice car.

 

TommyT:
Check out cleanmpg.com as Wayne just tested the new 3. He was a bit hard on it even thou it gave excellent free- way mileage. The best of any hybrid he has tested this year. H

 

Link ?

 

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41152 H

 

Yeah, no folding seats but at least the trunk is now same size as regular Civic methinks. I guess I might try test driving one. On the other hand there are plugin Civics And Priuses coming out.. Tough choice

 

Pics!