Honda Accord Hybrid Review

In 2023, the Honda Accord Hybrid enters its 11th generation. But if I’m being honest, this car looks a little bit boring. It kind of looks like one of those cars that you get early on in a game like Grand Theft Auto. But is the rest of the car more exciting than it looks? Let’s go for a drive and find out.

Honda Accord Hybrid Interior

Now, with this new generation of the Honda Accord, it’s only available with two engines. The two-liter turbo is unfortunately gone, and now you just have a 1.5-liter turbo that produces 192 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque. Or you have a 2-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder with assistance from electrical motors, a hybrid which is what this one is. Now, the 2-liter engine on its own only produces about 145-ish horsepower and even less torque. But with the 181 horsepower electric motor, the total system output is 204 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque.

With numbers like that, this hybrid powertrain is pretty quick. It’s not as fast as the 2-liter Turbo from the previous generation, but it’ll really get you going. Of course, the primary focus of this engine is to provide fuel economy, and it does that really well. Officially, it is rated for 5 liters per 100 kilometers in the city and 5.7 liters per 100 kilometers on the highway.

However, during certain trips, mostly on city streets, you can actually get better than advertised fuel economy. For example, on one trip, I actually managed to get the fuel economy down to 3.5 liters per 100 kilometers. However, right now, with almost 250 kilometers of driving this past week, I’m averaging 4.8 liters per 100 kilometers.

This engine is paired with an e-CVT automatic, and although it behaves in the same way as a traditional CVT, its construction is very different. When you’re just driving around town like a normal person, it’s exactly like a CVT. It holds the RPMs wherever they need to be, and then the electric motor takes over. But when you put your foot down, like pretty much to the floor, then it will replicate virtual gears.

Speaking of acceleration, you can actually set off from a stop in pure EV mode with this car. If you’re really light on the throttle, then acceleration in EV mode is a little bit slower than the traffic all around you. So, you may have a few tailgaters behind you. But if you push the little “e” button right here on the center console, then the car goes into or you can switch it into EV mode, and you can accelerate a little bit more quickly.

Additional Battery Recharging Methods

Now, when the battery gets depleted in this EV mode, it will automatically switch back to the auto mode so that the engine turns on and recharges the battery. Another way that the battery gets recharged is through regenerative braking. By default, you just put your foot on the brake pedal, and you can adjust how much regen braking there is, or you can use the actual physical brakes. The transition from regen braking to using the brakes is seamless; you don’t feel it.

But if you pull on the down paddle of the steering wheel, then you can get more regen braking. However, as soon as you touch the throttle pedal, whatever set regen braking you have is reset. However, there is a way to lock in how much regen braking you want. You just pull and hold on the down pedal for about two seconds, and then you’ll switch into the manual mode for regen braking, and then you can adjust it to whatever you want. And as soon as you touch the throttle, it doesn’t reset. It will reset as soon as you turn off the car. But when you’re just driving, it doesn’t reset.

Honda Accord Hybrid Design

Plus, if you set it to the max regen braking mode, then you can almost use this as a one-pedal drive mode. Of course, for the last little bit, you’d still need to use the physical brakes, but anywhere above that, above let’s say 15-ish kilometers an hour, you just lift off the throttle pedal, and the car slows down by quite a bit. And finally, the last way to recharge the battery is to tell the engine to manually do it, not when the car wants to do it.

You can just hold on to the “E” button right here on the center console, and then the engine can recharge the battery. Of course, in this mode, it will use up a little bit more fuel, so your fuel economy will go down by a little bit—or it’ll get worse, probably a little bit is what I’m trying to say.

A Blend of Comfort and Cornering

The days of the sporty-driving Honda Accord are long gone. This car is more about providing a comfortable and easy-to-drive demeanor. That being said, this new generational Accord is quite good to toss through some corners. It’s no Civic Type R or even a Civic Si, but the car remains planted through the twisties. Although this is an economical hybrid-type vehicle, it doesn’t mean it has to be boring when the roads get interesting.

This 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring comes equipped with 19-inch wheels. But even with the big wheels, the ride is plush. With all but the deepest potholes being felt into the seats. The EX trim of the Accord is equipped with 17-inch wheels, which I’d bet provide a slightly smoother ride with thicker sidewalls.

As for NVH, in EV mode, all you hear is a bit of tire noise while driving on highways and a tiny bit of wind noise if you encounter a crosswind. When the engine turns on, it’s a seamless transition, and it’s quiet as well. Under normal driving conditions, it does get a bit buzzier if you push down on the throttle pedal a bit harder, but otherwise, it’s really quiet.

Interior Design and Infotainment

Now, looking at the interior of the Honda Accord, it takes a lot of inspiration from the current-generation Honda Civic. What that means is that it looks pretty good and is very straightforward to use. The controls on the steering wheel are dead simple, and the climate controls are

so simple that anybody can use and figure them out. I particularly like the fan speed and temperature knobs because they have a really nice-sounding click to them. Have a listen; that sounds very premium. I also like the little air vents that are right above them; they just look cool.

Display

The infotainment system is displayed on a 12.3-inch screen. It is not Android Automotive-based, but it does have Google built into it this time. So, you can log in through your Google account and have your favorite settings all set up. But you can still use Android Auto or Apple Car Play wirelessly. On this particular trim level, the infotainment system itself is very straightforward to use. It has nice graphics, is responsive, and is pretty well laid out, making it easy to navigate around.

As for interior space up here in the front, for my six-foot-four height, which is above average, I really can’t complain. I have plenty of legroom; I can even move the seat further back if I want more legroom. I also have plenty of headroom, although this is as low as the seat goes. So, if you are a little short, you can raise the seat and still have really good visibility out the front, sides, and even the back. So, with that, let’s go check out the back seats.

Back here, the Accord is very spacious for somebody as tall as myself. Even sitting behind my again above-average height of six-foot-four, I really can’t complain. For legroom, I have plenty of space for my feet. Headroom, though, is a little bit less; I can feel my hair just brushing up against the headliner. There is an indentation in the roof for your head, but it’s still pretty close. However, that’s not too bad because I’m just happy that I have so much legroom. This particular trim of the Accord does have heated rear seats.

You get a couple of USB-C ports and a couple of air vents to direct the air however you want it. But it doesn’t have a three-zone climate control. And of course, the cup holders are right here, and there’s a pretty huge armrest. I’m just noticing that. All in all, a great place to be in the back seats of the Honda Accord.

A Well-Rounded Choice

Finally, the trunk is massive. You can fit 473 liters of space in there; that’s enough to fit, well, me. Yep, I fit just fine back here with room to spare.

What about the price, then? The new Honda Accord is a little bit more expensive than its closest competitor, the Toyota Camry. For us here in Canada, we only have three trim levels to choose from. If you’re watching in the United States, then you have five or six different trim levels to choose from. But here in Canada, the EX Honda Accord starts at $37,000 Canadian. However, that one is not the hybrid. If you want the hybrid, then you have to move up one trim level. This Accord Touring Hybrid is $44,500 Canadian.

For the almost $45,000 price tag, this Touring Hybrid isn’t really missing anything. It has the usual gadgets that you’d expect from big sedans such as this. These are heated in all four corners, as is this. It’s got one of these up in the roof. This is all digital. There’s wireless phone charging, and it has front and rear parking sensors, which are a big help because this is a very long car. It’s actually longer than an SUV like the BMW X5. It’s also a very safe car, with tons and tons of standard safety and driver aids, as well as an award for a top safety pick plus from the IIHS.

So, is this new Honda Accord as boring as it looks?

I don’t think that it is. Sure, this new generation and even the previous generation of the Accord have lost some of its sporty characteristics that the Accords from quite a few more generations ago had. But the Accord is now not meant to be a sporty sedan. If you want a sporty sedan from Honda, then you have the Civic SI, the Civic Type R.

You can move up a class and get the Acura Integra or the Acura TLX. The TLX is getting on for a bit more money now. However, this new Accord is really easy to drive, very fuel-efficient, spacious on the inside, and has plenty of technology. I think it’s pretty much the perfect Honda sedan at the moment, apart from how it looks. But looks are subjective; they’re not objective.

And if you’d like to know more about this 2023 Honda Accord, I have a written review of it with a few more details over on my website. You can find that link in the post description or click on the pop-up banner right up there. And as always, I will see you in the next car or truck, or it’ll be an SUV next time. Anyway, thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed this video. See you in the next one.