Honda was the primary automotive producer to promote a manufacturing hybrid-electric automotive in america, with the Perception beating the Prius to showrooms right here by almost a yr. Few remembered that a few years later, as soon as the Prius grew to become a giant gross sales success and even after Honda launched the Civic Hybrid as a 2003 mannequin. Honda upped its hybrid recreation for the 2005 mannequin yr, when the primary Accord Hybrids appeared right here. Here is a type of automobiles, present in a Denver-area self-service automotive graveyard lately.
We have been looking at discarded examples of a few of the unique hybrid machines from the center 2000s, together with the Saturn Vue Inexperienced Line and the Nissan Altima Hybrid, and I am retaining my eyes open for pure electrical automobiles within the boneyards I frequent. In any case, these articles are all about gems of automotive historical past.
The 2005-2007 Accord Hybrid had a robust 3.0-liter V6 underneath its hood, rated at 255 horsepower and 232 pound-feet, supplemented by a 13.8 kW electrical motor that added 16.1 horsepower and 100 pound-feet. A five-speed automated was obligatory. The outcome was a respectably fast automotive that delivered 28 mixed miles per gallon, beating the four-cylinder Accord with guide transmission by two mpg and the non-hybrid V6 Accord with automated by six mpg.
Sadly for Honda, the 2005 Accord Hybrid’s $30,140 MSRP ($48,481 in 2024 {dollars}) was $3,290 extra ($5,292 after inflation) than that of the non-hybrid Accord EX that yr. Gross sales have been poor as automotive buyers did the maths and determined the additional energy and modest financial savings on gasoline prices weren’t price it; maybe they felt in another way when gas costs went loopy in 2007 and 2008.
Toyota started promoting its Camry Hybrid in america as a 2007 mannequin, the final yr for this era of Accord Hybrid. Honda revived the Accord Hybrid for the 2014 mannequin yr (one yr after the introduction of the nearly-forgotten Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid).
First to supply three hybrid fashions (although the first-generation Perception was discontinued right here after 2006).