Sorry. It didn't copy over too well.

 

I'm a little surprised. It will be interesting to see how sales of the new Toyota Camry Hybrid and the upcoming Nissan Altima Hybrid fare, by comparison.

Was there a substantial (larger than other gas-only turned hybrid variants) pricing difference between the Honda Accord Hybrid and the "old school" Honda Accord? Was it equipped in a substantially different way?

Just curious as to what HAH owners and hybrid owners think about this. I know various vehicle models are retired fairly regularly, so I don't view this as a death knell or even a bruise on the hope of having more hybrids driven by "regular Joe's". But it's intriguing that it's the Honda Accord Hybrid that gets retired first.

On the same lines, I wish Toyota would come out with a Toyota Corolla Hybrid. If I'd been in the market for a new sedan, vs. an SUV, the Corolla -- not the Camry -- is what I would have wanted in hybrid form. I don't need the size and "luxury appointments" that are more the hallmark of the Camry line. I guess this is feeds in to the HAH news actually. The Honda Civic Hybrid meets the needs of hybrid-seeking consumers... why go bigger, more expensive, slightly less fuel efficient (I presume, simply due to size of vehicle) with the Honda Accord Hybrid?

Just a stream of consciousness post since I'm in a hurry (type fast. )

 

I agree. It's a bad price point because you have a lot of choices when you're spending $33k. I figured I could get 33-35MPG in an HAH based on where and how I drive. But when you look at the competition, most are in the low to mid 20's. 25 MPG vs. 33 MPG just isn't a big enough swing to be a discriminator between the HAH and say an Audi A4 or Acura TSX. All you're left with is buying the car for the cause - which is as good a reason as any (and maybe the best reason ), but that doesn't appeal to everyone.

 

I would consider one if it had the new Civic's 1.8L hooked up with IMA. That might fit in the engine bay, but you might need a slight boost in power (currently 140hp/128ft-lb). But maybe the IMA might be enough to accomodate that drawback.

Jeff

 

I'm merging this thread with the similar one started in the HAH forum. Posts will appear in chronological order amongst the two, so the resulting thread may seem incoherent.

 

- The Camry will rock. Lots of families who wants a Prius but don't want to commit to a spaceship-looking car will pony up.

-HUGE difference. Almost $5k more than the V6. Mostly because the HAH came in one trim level- loaded. Only choice was navi and 4 colors.

- Here's my 2 cents from last year:
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...light=autoweek



- trying to met all segments of market demand. It's their duty, in a way. Everyone has different priorities, why not try to meet as many of them as possible across the spectrum?

Just a stream of consciousness post since I'm in a hurry (type fast. )[/QUOTE]

 

I still love my HAH and would buy it again.

 

Actually, I'm all for more hybrids of every conceivable description, but was just talking through why perhaps people had been opting for the Civic Hybrid over the Accord Hybrid.

 

I agree that the two biggest turn-offs for the HAH have been price and the huge v6 engine. Lets face it: the IMA is just dwarfed by the engine. On a HCH, the IMA provides about 25% of the vehicle's propulsion. On a HAH, it's about 7%.

The Accord, while well-engineered and reliable, just doesn't fly as a $33k car. A $25k i4 1.8L HAH would have sold in huge numbers.

 

If the hybrid Accord could run more in the three-cylinder mode, it might have been more able to have both economy and performance. Apparently, it used all six cylinders most of the time, making the IMA mostly a performance option.

In the past, there were discussions of new Civics and Insights that could go from four to two cylinders with cylinder deactivation. I'm left under the impression that for this to work well, the engine has to be pretty large so the remaining cylinders can be adaquate for cruising.