Overview & Reviews

This is a tale of two Honda Accord hybrids. The original Accord Hybrid, based on a V6 Accord sedan, delivered strong performance but fuel economy well below what most people expect from a hybrid. It was also expensive, and few shoppers bought one. But Honda's second Accord Hybrid squarely hits the mark. It provides stellar fuel economy along with relatively spirited performance. It's also an excellent car overall as it offers all the room, comfort, safety, high-tech features and quality construction that have made the Honda Accord a longtime favorite. If you're shopping for a midsize hybrid sedan, the newest Accord Hybrid is certainly worth considering.

Current Honda Accord Hybrid
The Honda Accord Hybrid is an all-new model for 2014, and it features a new type of hybrid powertrain for Honda. Unlike the Civic Hybrid, for instance, which always relies on its gas engine for motivation, the Accord Hybrid has a more sophisticated powertrain that allows it to move solely with electric power at slower speeds. The result is improved fuel economy.

This powertrain consists of a 2.0-liter gasoline engine, two electric motors, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and a trunk-mounted lithium-ion battery pack. All told, it makes a combined 196 horsepower and posts an impressive 47 mpg combined EPA rating. The Accord Hybrid can also sprint from zero to 60 mph in about 7.5 seconds, making it one of the quickest non-luxury hybrids on the road.

The current Honda Accord Hybrid sedan comes in three trim levels: EX, EX-L and Touring. Standard equipment highlights of the EX include dual-zone automatic climate control, keyless ignition/entry, Bluetooth, a rearview camera, a blind-spot monitoring display, a power driver seat and a six-speaker sound system with an iPod/USB audio interface. Added perks of the EX-L include a sunroof, leather upholstery, forward collision and lane departure warning systems, heated front seats, a power passenger seat, an upgraded sound system and smartphone app integration (HondaLink). The Touring features LED headlights, adaptive cruise control and a navigation system.

In reviews, we've been impressed with the Honda Accord Hybrid. Its interior design is elegant, and the cabin's tight construction gives the impression of an entry-level luxury car, rather than a workaday family car. Both front and rear occupants will find plenty of legroom and shoulder room, and the backseat is arguably best in class with its combination of space and comfort. We also like the Hybrid's strong acceleration and secure handling around turns. There are a few downsides, such as a somewhat firm ride quality, a smallish trunk and above-average amounts of engine noise during acceleration, but overall, the Accord Hybrid is a great choice for a hybrid family sedan.

Used Honda Accord Hybrids
The previous-generation Accord Hybrid was produced from 2005-'07. Its hybrid system was less advanced than the current model but was meant for sporty performance rather than maximum fuel economy. Its combination of a 3.0-liter V6 and an electric motor produced a total of 255 hp. The sole transmission was a five-speed automatic. The EPA's estimated fuel economy varied by year, ranging from 25-28 mpg in combined driving. This was better than either the regular four-cylinder or V6 Accord of the time, but not exceptionally so.

This Accord Hybrid came in one well-equipped trim level whose standard feature highlights included leather upholstery, heated front seats, a power driver seat, dual-zone automatic climate control and an in-dash CD changer. The Hybrid differed from other Accords via its unique front grille, rear spoiler and instrumentation that let drivers keep track of the status of the hybrid powertrain. For 2006, a power sunroof, stability control and daytime running lights joined the standard features list.

In reviews, we enjoyed the Accord Hybrid's brisk acceleration, which at the time was enough to outgun pretty much any V6-powered family sedan. The downside was the disappointing fuel economy, which in our testing experience was consistently below the EPA's estimates. This original Accord Hybrid was pleasant to drive, however, as the precise steering and the well-tuned suspension provided a comfortable ride while still allowing the driver to feel confident when going around turns.

User Reviews:

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  2017 Hybrid loss of gasoline engine/error messages - 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By Bart - July 19 - 2:49 pm

  Honda Hybrid with 1,350 miles on it broke down in a highway intersection and it was at the dealer for repair for 18 days. Honda provided a rental car. The battery control module and the trunk battery pack have been replaced. The hybrid gasoline engine died in an intersection, multiple error messages appeared on the dashboard display, and it only operated in the electric mode enabling me to drive it to the dealer. Calls into Honda by the dealer resulted in Honda shipping a new battery control module and a new battery pack to the dealer for installation. Car returned to owner and appears to be repaired. Found this recall notice for 2014-2015 Hybrid Hondas: (National Highway Traffic safety Administration, recall notice JT7) "Electrical interference may cause the hybrid system to switch into fail-safe mode, disabling the gasoline engine, limiting the vehicles speed to 40 miles per hour and [causing] the [hybrid] to function only on battery power." Which is what happened to me. Gave the recall notice to the dealer. In the former recall, new software was developed and downloaded to the dealers and used in the 2014-15 recall.

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  Honda fanatic - Truly Disappointed. - 2015 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By Mike (Used to Love Honda) - April 20 - 12:17 pm

  WARNING.... If youre a HONDA fan please avoid this car. I have owned Honda Accords and Ive been extremely happy when the hybrid came out I was excited and ready to get one. My previous 2003 Accord lasted 10 year without a single problem. Ive purposely waited 9 months and 7,500 miles to provide a truthful review. ISSUE 1: The trunk rods which hold open the truck snapped into multiple pieces by 4 months. By the 6 month, the second rod which holds the trunk snapped. The dealer did fix it for free, but not until putting me in the hot seat to see if I did something. The mechanic who worked on the car informed this is the 3rd or 4th Accord Hybrid hes worked on where the rod had snapped. ISSUE 2: My wife and I enjoy going to drive in movies (I know old school). You cannot turn off the running lights if you want to run the air conditioner or radio. Really poor design that the running lights cannot be turned off. ISSUE 3: My wife and I go on long trips out of town and enjoy listening to local radio stations. However, you cannot change the radio station from the steering wheel. You have to do it manually which is placed in an awkward location. You can only change radio station for the preset channels. Another pool design. ISSUE 4: The rear view auto deeming mirror has an horrible slow dimmer, so youre hit with a bright light for 5-10 seconds. Youre blinded until its dimmed out and it reoccurs constantly. ISSUE 5: The USB charger in the front counsel is barely able to charge my Samsung Note 5. Its just not powerful enough or something is wrong. The dealer told me that how the hybrid USB chargers work. ISSUE 6: The drivers arm rest does not slide forward like the previous Accords, so unless you have long arms or youre more than 6 5" its difficult to rest your right arm and reach the steering wheel. This was a really bad design especially if you have a long drive. ISSUE 7: With 7,500 miles on the car (60% interstate & 40% city) and Im a conservative driver Ive averaged 36 mpg. ISSUE 8: The truck space is small, but I knew that when I purchased the car. So thats my fault. ISSUE 9: No spare tire can be purchased for the car and according to the dealer if you use the unit provided to fix a flat tire. It can damage the car rims. CONCLUSION: I just wanted to inform everyone of my experience and provide you a WARNING before you make a mistake. Again, I love Honda cars, but this one really let me down..... :-(

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  A VW -level problem with fuel economy - 2015 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By calcritic - January 28 - 4:17 pm

  I average 29-30 mpg in primarily city driving. Instruments tell me I am always driving in a fuel efficient way, but the gasoline running through the engine says something different. Dont notice much variation with level of traffic, but real stop and go really turns on the gasoline engine. Dealer says computer works fine, so car must work fine . Dealer kept it for a week so they could do test drives- their best average day on their own chosen time/traffic/distance was 34 mpg. Head of maintenance told me that was in line with the other Honda Accord Hybrids he sees, seemed unconcerned that was enormously lower than the "official mileage" promise. Complained to headquarters- they told me they would love to check it over, then gave me 20 reasons why they would find there were no problems. I didnt bother after that litany. Obviously Honda knows this is the mileage to expect from their Hybrid, but like VW, covered it up somehow in their tests. Truly HATE the car, would never buy another Honda even though I have been a Honda person for more than a decade. Feel like a sucker every time i drive it.

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  Nothing but trouble - GONE FROM BAD TO WORSE - 2015 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By Rajkumar Swamy - July 9 - 4:49 pm

  It is for 2+ YRS own this car. recently found out that it does not have a SPARE tire and has been nothing but trouble all this time and still facing issues. 1. In the first 60 days, twice the vehicle abruptly stopped on the road with multiple error messages related to battery overheating and engine overheating. On both occasions, the dealership could not offer much resolution. In an oil change exercise, the software was patched and the issue went away. 2. The gas mileage: Occasionally my vehicle has given me 43+ mileage in the first 6 months and started dropping to 40 miles. However, since my oil change and a couple of filter change service the mileage has dropped to 35-36 miles/gallon. Have discussed with dealership with very little resolution 3. ACC(Adaptive Cruise Control) & FCW(Forward Collision Warning): On multiple occasions, in the last 12 months both these features use to malfunction based on ‘Radar obstruction’ and in the last 10 days they have stopped working including the disabling of regular cruise control operations. This has made my long drive to work a manual exhausting effort. The dealership that inspected has advised of expensive diagnostics and recalibration which I am not sure if I truly should pay for. Overall, though I love Honda and owned a Civic for 16 years that ran trouble free for ~200K miles would highly discourage anyone looking to buy a Honda Hybrid car based on above experience.

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  Honda Hybrid-RIPOFF - 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By Frustrated - September 6 - 5:30 pm

  I purchased a new 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid EX-L in August 2016 on a Friday. Took it right back to the dealer the following Monday. Here are the items that have been replaced on my new 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid in the last 6 months-battery module, seat warmers, speakers, Bluetooth and its been in the service dept over 10 times. Seat warmers didnt work and battery drained quickly. Dealership blamed American Honda and said the technology was to new that they didnt know how to fix the car. American Honda did not respond for five months. After five months Isabel the Regional Manager met with me and tried to excuse the lack of contact to a retirement. American Honda worth billions of dollars cannot afford to overlapping reps? We sat for 45 minutes of me telling everything that was wrong with the car and assured me they were going to take care of me. A month later it scheduled for me to drop off the car for the Engineer at American Honda to finally look at the car. No one checks on me although Isabel is there, no one know whats wrong with my car as she did not pass on my notes to the services center or the Engineer and the Engineer came after hours so I never got to meet with them. All I received was notes that he drove it on cruise control on the highway at 65 and it works correctly. When I call American Honda to speak to Supervisor I speak to David who is the Gatekeeper who will not give me any information on a Supervisor to report how badly this experience was. Hondas used to be good cars, but if you look in the service centers all you see is brand new Accords. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR DO NOT BUY A HONDA ACCORD HYBRID. HONDA DOES NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR CARS. RIPOFF RIPOFF RIPOFF!

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  HONDA FAILURE-Avoid-$34,000 Hybrid that semi works - 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By Renae - March 7 - 3:11 pm

  My brand new Hybid has been in the service center 10+ times. experience has been bought the car on Friday and returned it on Monday. Instead of 700 miles to a gas tank I got 440. Im always using gas instead of the battery as my battery never fully charges and drains extremely quick. I have talked to the Poway Dealership (dont ever buy a car with them) whos response is "thats how its supposed to work" and will no longer do service on it as they have already replace a module for the battery and the seat warmers, speakers as they were not working either and now it has a rattle. Honda really failed with this one. Now I have to look into Lemon Laws regarding my brand new purchase. Please save your money, time and lots of headaches and do not buy this car. Also Honda America refuses to help even though the car is brand new.

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  Bad investment for an hybrid - 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By RA - October 12 - 8:01 pm

  Poor mpg average is 40 instead of 48-52. Radio/ radio Bluetooth is given problem and dealers can’t fix it. Bad customer service at Honda

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  Honda Accord Hybrid Poor MPG - 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid
  By Shawn Wilcox - October 29 - 3:58 pm

  My wife and I purchased a new 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid in late 2016. We expected to see around 40 - 48 Mpg from this car. With now over 1000 miles on this car we have managed to average 32.4 Mpg from this car. We have been driving this car as we would any other vehicle that we have owned. The car does not go into electrical mode unless you going under 20 Mph and is rarely seen at highway speeds of 65 Mph. We live in the Northern part of the United States and the Dealership is telling us that due to the cold weather and different gasoline blends used in Winter this is normal. We will be reviewing the mpg vs the pump calculation the next time that we fill up. The car looks and rides nice, but if you are looking to save money at the pump or think you are helping the environment by getting a hybrid car, stay away. My suggestion would be to buy the Accord with a 4 cylinder motor and skip the electric portion since it really serves no benefit besides taking up trunk room for the batteries that are never being used.