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Honda Civic Hybrid Car

The redesigned Civic Hybrid destroys any notion that hybrids can't look cool. The reviews are unanimous:

Autobytel: "Daring new styling."
Automobile: "A real head-turner."
USA Today: "Somewhere between engaging and gorgeous."
Los Angles Times: "A handsome car."

Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times identifies the Civic Hybrid's defining characteristic as its sloping windshield. He explained, "The slicked-back windshield look is often used on concept cars but is discarded in production cars because it creates an unmanageable flat space behind the steering wheel. Honda designers turned this space to their advantage, creating a beautiful two-tier instrument panel limned in organic shapes.

Looks and Smarts

By all accounts, Honda not only designed the heck out of the Civic, they engineered it to the extreme. The Civic hybrid breaks the 50-mark for both highway and city EPA numbers, and qualifies or Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions status in all 50 states.

How did Honda achieve more power and efficiency, and cleaner emissions, all at once? Examples:

Deactivation down to zero

There are a few cars on the road that save gas by de-activating cylinders when they are not needed. The Civic Hybrid, in certain cruising modes, can deactivate ALL of its cylinders. During this time, the electric motor alone powers the vehicle. At other stages of acceleration and cruising, Honda’s variable valve system allows cylinders to open and close for the right mix of performance and efficiency.

Smaller more powerful powertrain

Honda is on the fourth generation of its integrated engine/motor design. The Civic combines a 1.3 liter iVTEC 4-cylinder engine with a 20-hp electric motor to deliver a total of 110 hp. The new powertrain is 20 percent more powerful and five percent lighter than the previous model.

Reduced friction

The Civic utilizes friction-reducing efficiency-boosting engine design, such as aluminum die-cast pistons, ion-plated piston rings, and smoother surfaces on the cylinder walls.

More efficient combustion

The Civic Hybrid uses eight spark plugs that operate in two modes: sometimes they fire one after the other, with the plug situated near the intake valve firing first and the exhaust plug firing later. Flexibility with the firing order allows for a more complete combustion of fuel in the cylinder.

More powerful electric motor

The Civic Hybrid uses an improved motor magnet design developed for the Accord Hybrid. The wire windings in the motor are now made with rectangular shaped wire instead of round wire, to provide larger wire surface area. And there's better integration of the electric motor and control units for more precise digital control. The result is increased output horsepower by 50 percent and improved maximum torque by 14 percent. When idling, the air-conditioning and accessories run exclusively off the electric motor. The AC and accessories can also run off the motor when the car is moving, depending on the driving conditions.

More powerful batteries and more of them

The new Civic Hybrid's rechargeable batteries, supplied by Sanyo, have a 25% increase in energy density. The vehicle uses 132 cells to store up to 158 volts of energy—up from 144 volts in the previous version. In both the 2005 and 2006 models, the batteries take up 1.6 cubic feet of storage behind the rear seats, which means the rear seats can't split and fold as in the other Civic models.

Improved regenerative braking

Since the 2006 model, the Civic Hybrid is less reliant on traditional braking. A brake pedal sensor sends a signal to the car's computer, activating systems that proportion braking power between traditional hydraulic brakes and the electric motor. Also, because all the cylinders can deactivate during deceleration, pumping losses are greatly reduced. This allows more—170% more—of the braking energy to be sent to the batteries. The driver doesn't feel the difference, but new advanced hydraulic boosters provide a better brake pedal feel.

Safer

The Civic Hybrid uses multiple "load paths" to limit penetration of the car's structure by absorbing more of the crash energy. Whatever energy gets through is mitigated by the car's eight standard air bags. The Civic Hybrid has earned top safety rankings from NHTSA and IIHS.

More bells and whistles

Unique hybrid rims. Optional navigation system with voice control. Input jack for MP3 player. Telescopic steering wheel. Turn signals integrated into the sideview mirrors. Two exclusive paint colors: Opal Silver Blue and Magnetic Pearl. Etc.

The Civic Hybrid fetches a slightly higher price: $21,850 or $23,350 when equipped with Honda's optional satellite linked navigation system. That's still a very affordable car. With fuel efficiency above 50, a full-hybrid system, and a sleek new design—and a price thousands below the Prius—Honda finally has a real competitor for Toyota.

Honda Accord Hybrid Car

The experiment of using hybrid technology to boost performance, rather than improve fuel efficiency, backfired in the marketplace. Case in point: the Honda Accord Hybrid.

When the Accord Hybrid first came out, it was a novel idea. Take the second best-selling car in the country, offer it with as many luxury features as possible, and soup it up to make it faster than any other family sedan on the market. This approach—using hybrid technology in a bigger engine such as the Accord’s V6—caught car reviewers and hybrid fans by surprise. Aren't hybrids supposed to be small, underpowered, econoboxes with great fuel economy?

One headline read, "Sips Gas. Hauls Ass." Environmentalists pinned the term "muscle hybrid" on the Accord. David Welch of BusinessWeek, as if shocked, wrote, "The car bursts onto the road. Yea, this car—an environmentally friend and fuel-efficient hybrid—really did burn a little rubber."

There’s only one problem: Sales of the Accord Hybrid ran out of gas. Sales reached 16,826 units in 2005, but as the field of hybrids expanded (to include the Camry Hybrid), customers vanished. Sales of the gas-electric Accord slid to 5,598 in 2006. In June 2007, Honda gave up the ghost, announcing that it was discontinuing the hybrid version of the Accord.

The removal of the Accord Hybrid from the market follows Honda’s decision in 2006 to discontinue the Honda Insight, America’s first hybrid. While the Honda Insight was the reigning fuel efficiency king for six years, the two-seat teardrop designed vehicle was not practical for many car buyers. Unlike the Toyota Prius, a runaway hit because it strikes the right balance between practicality, adequate performance and superior fuel efficiency, Honda erred with the Accord Hybrid by falling below hybrid-level fuel economy numbers and failed with the Insight because it only had two seats.

Slipping sales never meant that those who did buy the Accord Hybrid weren’t happy. By all reports, they continue to be ecstatic. Dr. Oliver Sachs, who wrote The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, loves his. The Accord Hybrid converted auto economist Dr. Walter McManus (a blogger on this site) from a hybrid naysayer to a hybrid advocate. And Dr. Leon S.—another doctor—who found the Prius and Civic short on power and amenities, finds his AH a pleasure to drive.

It’s mysterious that Honda decided to discontinue the Accord Hybrid entirely, rather than moving the hybrid powertrain into the four-cylinder Accord. Perhaps the company is starting from scratch with its hybrids, and putting its resources into the new, smaller hybrid-only subcompact expected in 2009. With the release of the yet-to-be-named new Honda hybrid, the company is likely to regain its position as producer of the most fuel-efficient vehicle available in the U.S. market—and will put the mistakes of the Insight and Accord hybrids in the rear view mirror.