Finally, an auto maker that gets it

This could be really nice if this actually delivers
Salsa Over Spinach
Honda's New Hybrid Takes New Tack:
It's a Feel-Good Car, Not a Do-Good Car
October 11, 2004
The gas-electric hybrid-car market isn't up to Baskin-Robbins's level yet, but it's about to get some important new flavors.

In December, Honda plans to roll out the next major hybrid entry: a gas-electric version of its best-selling model, the Honda Accord sedan.

The first gas-electric hybrid cars offered in the U.S. market came in one style: Science Project. Honda's Insight and the first edition of the Toyota Prius generated more media buzz than sales, mainly because they were tiny, not very powerful cars once you got past the initial "wow!" of driving a car that promised to go as much as 70 miles on a gallon of gas.

The Accord Hybrid, which I got to drive briefly last week, is another proposition entirely. This time, Honda is using its hybrid technology to make a small, six-cylinder engine feel like a beefy, large-displacement six from Detroit or Munich -- but with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder Honda Civic.

The Accord Hybrid's purpose isn't just to give the Honda brand a green halo. It's to give the midpriced model line -- which trades largely on its reputation for durability and practicality -- some extra prestige with consumers who like action when they hit the gas. The Hybrid Accord will be rated at 255 horsepower, compared with 240 for the regular Accord V-6, and will generate 9% more torque.

Torque is the force that you feel in your fanny when you hit the gas; by adding what amounts to an extra motor and a battery pack to the stock 3.0 liter Accord V-6, Honda has produced a car that has more of it than a 3.8 liter V-6 Buick LeSabre -- the epitome of large-displacement Detroit sixes. This is a difference you can feel. The Hybrid Accord accelerates with far more authority than its nonhybrid sibling. Hey, that thing got a Hybrid in it? Sweet!

The Hybrid Accord delivers this improved performance with an estimated mileage of 30 miles per gallon in the city and 37 miles per gallon on the highway, compared with 21 miles and 30 miles per gallon for a regular V-6 Accord and 20 city miles and 29 highway miles for the 3.8 liter Buick. So there's the pitch: The performance of a big, high-performance V-6 with the mileage of a standard four-cylinder engine.

Get it? Honda sure hopes so, because it's floating a $30,000 price tag for the Accord Hybrid in advance of its December launch. (By comparison, a regular Accord EX is priced at about $26,650.) Getting a quick payback in gas savings for the premium hybrid price isn't a rationale for buying this car, even at current gas prices. Honda's bet is that this won't matter -- at least not to about 20,000 consumers a year.

What's noteworthy is what the Accord Hybrid says about the coming shift in hybrid-car marketing strategies. At first, hybrids were positioned as do-good cars -- their drivers were helping to save the planet from global warming. The next wave of hybrids will be positioned as feel-good cars -- high-tech cars that make owners feel smart and ahead of the pack.

The Accord Hybrid presents gas-electric hybrid technology not as spinach but as salsa -- a way to spice up the ride without carbs or excess calories. If owning a car with more horsepower than a BMW 530i and the mileage of a Honda Civic gives you about $3,000 worth of that "I am much smarter than the average bear" vibe, then this car is for you.

This isn't unprecedented thinking. Lots of car makers charge premium prices for innovative high-performance engines. Just ask Chrysler, which can't keep up with demand for its "Hemi" V-8s.

Just as Chrysler did with its Hemi-powered 300 C sedan, Honda intends to market the Accord Hybrid as the brand's "image leader." The company is aiming the new Accord at an audience that's younger (50 years old compared to 53 for the current V-6 Accord buyer); manlier (60% men vs. 56% for the current V-6); and wealthier (Accord Hybrid buyers should be earning $100,000 or more vs. just under that mark for the current V-6).

Honda has packaged a number of slick technical achievements in its new hybrid. To improve mileage, it's equipped the engine with systems that shut down three of six cylinders when the engine is just cruising -- a shift that's imperceptible, even though a six running on just three cylinders naturally tends to be rough. To fix this, Honda has designed special motor mounts and a noise-cancellation system to maintain quiet.

At a stoplight, the engine shuts off with a soft shudder. When you hit the gas, the engine pops back to life. In the city, this feature accounts for about 25% of the nine-mile-per-gallon difference between the standard Accord's city mileage and the hybrid's. Honda has sprinkled small improvements throughout the car: An aluminum hood cuts weight, as does a magnesium intake manifold.

Over the next year, consumers are going to see gas-electric hybrid cars arriving in several other forms. Ford's Hybrid Escape SUV, already on sale, is designed to prove that SUVs can get 30 miles to the gallon. Toyota's Lexus RX400 hybrid SUV is expected to use hybrid technology to boost performance without sacrificing mileage. Toyota said recently it wants to sell as many as 100,000 of its Prius sedans in the U.S.

General Motors and Chrysler, which have been slower than Toyota, Honda and Ford to jump on the hybrid bandwagon, are now showing more interest. Both GM and Chrysler plan to use hybrid systems to pump up the mileage of some of their least fuel-efficient vehicles. Their rationale is that it makes more sense to invest in improving the fuel economy of heavy vehicles that get below-average mileage than it does to stretch for incremental gains on relatively efficient small cars.

GM is starting to roll out a version of its Chevrolet Silverado with a so-called "mild hybrid" system. This is basically a beefed-up starter motor-generator system that gives the truck an electrical boost from a stop. GM says the system improves fuel economy by 13% compared with its standard pickup. The hybrid Silverado will be offered in small numbers to consumers in California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Nevada. GM has outlined plans for more hybrid trucks and SUVs in coming years. Chrysler, meanwhile, plans to offer a diesel-electric hybrid version of its big Ram pickup to fleet customers later this year.

Within two or three years, it should become clear what kind of legs hybrid technology will have in the U.S. market. Within that time, European auto makers will have to deliver on promises to make their diesel engines comply with tough U.S. clean-air rules. If they succeed, hybrids will face stiff competition from that technology.

But in the meantime, the Accord Hybrid is making a bet that its hybrid-for-power technology is better positioned not as a shade of green, but as the new black.