Honda News

  • 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid

    The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid has no transmission. To be more precise, there's nothing in a form we'd normally recognize as a transmission—no conventional automatic transmission, no automated dual-clutch system, no belt-and-pulley continuously variable transmission (CVT) either. There's no torque converter, either—not even a drive clutch to slip the engine from a standing start. Enough about what the Accord Hybrid doesn't have; here's what it does have: In addition to a lean four-cylinder engine, there are twin electric motors (each purposed and configured differently), a compact...

  • New Honda Fit Hybrid (Japan-only model)
    No Start-Stop For 2015 Honda Fit To Avert Acceleration Lag: Report

    Honda says start-stop will make the 2015 fit too slow off the line.

  • 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid
    2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Priced From $29,945, On Sale Oct 31

    The 2014 Accord Hybrid will be priced slightly higher than other midsize sedan hybrids, but it will also have class-leading fuel economy.

  • 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid
    2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Gas Mileage: 47 MPG Combined

    The official EPA-rated gas mileage figures for the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid are in, and they’re pretty much in line with those released by the automaker back in June. The popular family sedan scores a 50-mpg rating for the city cycle, a 45-mpg rating for the highway and a 47-mpg combined...

  • New Honda Fit Hybrid (Japan-only model)
    All-New Honda Fit On Sale Today (In Japan), Including Fit Hybrid

    Honda's all-new Fit launches today in its home country of Japan, and with it comes the latest version of the Fit Hybrid--with Honda's completely new hybrid drivetrain technology. Where once the Honda Fit Hybrid sold in Japan and Europe used the same mild hybrid Integrated Motor Assist (IMA)...

  • 2013 Toyota Prius liftback
    Does Toyota's Hybrid Leadership Blind It To Electric Cars?

    Many who follow the progress of plug-in electric cars wonder why Toyota, despite its leadership in hybrids, lags other carmakers in its electric vehicles. The business principle of The Innovator's Dilemma suggests that the company has been slow to embrace electric cars not despite its hybrid...

  • Honda Micro-Commuter Prototype  -  Tochigi, Japan  -  11/2012

    America's wide open spaces have never been conducive for small car sales success, but the story is quite different elsewhere. We already know how popular the tiny kei-class cars are in Japan, for example--but some automakers are exploring even smaller vehicles to meet future transportation needs. Honda is the latest carmaker to confirm testing of an urban minicar according to Autocar, based on the Micro Commuter concept shown last year. Like the Renault Twizy minicar, Honda's concept is an electric vehicle, a 15 kW electric motor powering the rear wheels and a small lithium-ion battery pack...

  • New Honda Fit Hybrid (Japan-only model)
    All-New 2015 Honda Fit Appears, Hybrid Model Too (Not For U.S., Though?)

    The Honda Fit today is the oldest subcompact sold in the U.S., but there's an all-new one on the way. Now Honda has released the first official photos of the entirely redesigned Fit for the Japanese market, though only so far in the form of the Fit Hybrid model not sold in the U.S. The images show...

  • GM's Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Milestones
    GM, Honda Latest Automakers To Collaborate On Fuel Cell Tech

    The puzzle is almost complete: General Motors and Honda have signed an agreement to work on the future of fuel cell technology. They're the latest large automakers to announce a fuel cell technology share agreement, as car companies continue to explore the future of alternative propulsion. GM and...

  • 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid
    2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Arrives This Fall, Rated At 47 MPG

    The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, a mid-size sedan that competes with hybrid models of the Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, and Toyota Camry, will go on sale in October, its maker said today. 47 mpg combined With a more powerful electric motor than its competitors, the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid...

  • 2013 Honda Fit EV drive event, Pasadena, CA, June 2012
    Price Cuts Work: Waiting Lists For Electric Honda Fit EVs Now

    Well, chalk one up for basic economic theory: If you lower the price of a good, more people will want to own it. In the case of the 2013 Honda Fit EV, the low-volume battery-electric version of the Honda Fit subcompact hatchback, a cut in the monthly lease price did the trick. Through the end of...

  • 2013 Honda Fit EV drive event, Pasadena, CA, June 2012
    Honda Fit EV Lease Price To Fall To $259, Miles Cap Removed

    With lease prices for various electric cars creeping ever downwards, it was only a matter of time until Honda followed suit with its Fit EV. Originally priced at $389 per month, a letter given to us by an electric car owner revealed the lease price would drop to $259/month--now confirmed by Honda...

  • Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC diesel (European version)

    The most frugal Civic U.S. drivers can currently buy is the 2013 Civic Hybrid. The low-key sedan manages 44 mpg in city, highway and combined driving, sips gasoline, and goes about its business with relative anonymity. In Europe, things are a little different. There, the Civic is a five-door hatchback rather than four-door sedan, and the styling is a little more space-age. Oh, and the diese variant has the potential to hit 60 mpg. 55-60 mpg (in our hands) That's no pie-in-the-sky claimed figure either--though Honda does quote an official 65.3 mpg for the 1.6-liter, four-cylinder diesel Civic...

  • 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid
    CA Drivers Want Carpool-Lane Access, Honda Gives It To Them (But There's A Catch)

    Say "carpool lane" or "HOV Access" or "white sticker" or "green sticker," and most California commuters will begin to drool uncontrollably. The ability to drive in relatively uncrowded High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes with just a single person in the vehicle is a privilege that Californians will...

  • 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid
    Honda Civic Hybrid: Battery Unreliable, Consumer Reports Says

    Automaker Honda used to be the darling of Consumer Reports, with its models perpetually scoring better than average in CR testing. The 2012 Honda Civic dampened the publication’s enthusiasm for the Honda brand; it was the first Honda Civic we can recall that wasn’t recommended by CR...

  • 2000 Honda Insight
    Honda Recycles Hybrid Battery Packs Into Rare-Earth Metals For New Ones

    A popular myth among detractors of hybrid and electric vehicles is that the energy and materials that go into making batteries far outweighs any good they do under ownership. Batteries aren't as damaging as many suspect though, since so many of a battery's components can be recycled. Honda is doing...

  • SolarCity
    Elon Musk & SolarCity Offer Honda, Acura Owners Subsidized Solar Power

    Do you own a Honda, or maybe an Acura? You might be eligible for a discount on solar power at your home. If you think that sounds strange, you're right. Why would a solar company partner with an automaker to provide solar arrays for owners of certain cars? The answer appears to be: market research...

  • 2013 Honda CR-Z hybrid coupe [UK specification]
    2013 Honda CR-Z Hybrid Coupe: Quick Drive Report

    Honda launched the CR-Z hybrid coupe in 2010, aiming to defy the assertion that all hybrids are slow and boring. It has to be said that as defiant acts go, the CR-Z hasn't been entirely successful. Gearhead circles have criticized its so-so performance, while hybrid fans decry its average economy...

  • 2013 Honda Fit EV drive event, Pasadena, CA, June 2012

    Honda has confirmed the five East Coast locations in which its 2013 Honda Fit EV will be leased, joining the West Coast markets of California and Oregon. The electric Fit will be available at selected locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey later this month. The car has been on sale on the West Coast since July 2012. For $389 per month over three years, based on an MSRP of $36,625, the Fit EV is available for lease only. Honda's electric Fit is one of the most efficient electric vehicles on sale, EPA-rated at 118 miles per gallon equivalent, or 29...

  • 2013 Honda Fit EV drive event, Pasadena, CA, June 2012
    Honda Fit EV Now Available On East Coast Too

    A select few drivers on the U.S. West Coast have already been enjoying Honda's token contribution to the electric car market, the Fit EV. Now their counterparts in some East Coast markets will be able to lease the small EV too. Drivers in California and Oregon have had access to the 118 MPGe...

  • 2013 Toyota Prius liftback
    Best Gas Mileage You Can Get: Top 10 Hybrids

    Are you in the market for a hybrid car? You probably want great gas mileage, without switching to diesel fuel, or taking the next step into plug-in vehicles. The good news is, plug-ins aside, virtually all the most fuel-efficient cars on sale right now are hybrids. Whether you're after a spacious...

  • wind farm
    Honda To Use Wind Turbines For Energy At Ohio Plant

    It's no good simply producing green cars these days--you have to be green at every stage of producing the cars, too. With GM using solar at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant and Volkswagen recently unveiling a huge solar array at its Chattanooga plant, Honda is next to display its green credentials--with...

  • Honda Gear Concept Study Model
    Honda Gear Concept: The Original Civic, Reincarnated?

    With the North American International Auto Show diverting much of the motoring press to Detroit, Honda has surprised us all by launching a new concept car at the Montreal International Auto Show instead. The Gear Concept Study Model is a subcompact hatchback, with more than a hint of some of...

  • 2012 Hyundai Veloster: Six-Month Road Test
    Hyundai And Kia MPG Mistakes 'Betrayed' Buyers, Honda Exec Says

    Hyundai and Kia's recent EPA mileage overstating scandal has attracted sharp criticism from one top Honda Motor Co. U.S. executive. John Mendel, executive vice president of Honda's U.S. car sales, feels the Korean duo betrayed the trust of customers under competitive pressure. Mendel told industry...

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