Honda News
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Over three sporadic model years, the hybrid version of the Honda Accord mid-size sedan has led a peripatetic life. The 2014 and 2015 Accord Hybrid was built in Marysville, Ohio, along with almost all the rest of the Accords sold in North America, its largest market. It skipped 2016 altogether, and then a slightly revised 2017 version was relocated to an assembly plant in Japan. DON'T MISS: 2018 Honda Accord prototype first drive: V-6 deep-sixed, and better Now, the new 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid—with an updated version of the two-motor hybrid system in an entirely redesigned body—is...
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2018 Honda Fit: new safety features, style, Sport model, smartphone connectivity added (update)Honda's smallest of vehicles—the Fit hatchback—has received several updates for the new model year, its fourth for the current-generation version. The 2018 Honda Fit now has incremental styling modifications, additional safety features, a new optional audio system with Android Auto and...
Sean Szymkowski -
Electric-car leases in California: Leaf, Volt, Focus vs ClarityThe state of California is undeniably the United States' premier market for electric vehicles. It's also a market where automakers actually need to sell certain volumes of zero-emission cars, which means some of the nation's best lease deals on electric cars can be found in the Golden State. There...
Sean Szymkowski -
2017 Honda Clarity Electric to lease for $269 a month, starting in AugustWhat would you pay to lease a smooth, quiet, comfortable, relatively luxurious mid-size electric sedan with only about 90 miles of range? Honda hopes the answer is $269 a month with $1,730 down, on a three-year lease that takes advantage of the federal income-tax credit for electric-car purchase...
John Voelcker -
Honda Clarity Electric, Plug-In Hybrid: first drives, impressionsIn March, we spent most of a day with the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, the first of three variants of the Clarity mid-size sedan to go on sale in the U.S. Leases of the hydrogen-powered Clarity will be limited for the foreseeable future to residents of those areas of California near to hydrogen fueling...
John Voelcker -
Toyota, Honda, Nissan, other Japan firms to fund hydrogen fuelingEarlier this year in Europe, 13 companies joined forces to create the Hydrogen Council, a global initiative to discuss and promote the use of hydrogen as a renewable source of energy. In the United States, GM and Honda have partnered up to build a production plant in Michigan that will roll out...
John Voelcker -
Innovation has no secret for GM and after tapping into hybrid and electric engine technologies, fuel-cell is its next target. In an interview with Trucks.com, GM’s global fuel-cell business director Charles Freese seemed confident that hydrogen will become a next big step in transportation. General Motors has been involved in fuel-cell technology for a little more than 50 years now. DON’T MISS: Military hydrogen-powered Chevy Colorado ZH2 launches In 1966, the automaker introduced the Electrovan prototype that became the first hydrogen fuel-cells vehicle on the road. The...
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Assessing the Honda Clarity range: how electric cars fit in, and whyThe 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell is the only model of Honda's newest sedan presently on sale, though an all-electric version will arrive later this year. The hydrogen-powered mid-size sedan with a rated 366 miles of range is the one that's gotten by far the most publicity from Honda, as its...
John Voelcker -
Honda to launch electric car in China next year too, joining Toyota, reluctantlyWhile corporate average fuel-economy standards through 2021 remain in place in the U.S., automakers are preparing their case to argue for delays in further tightening. Meanwhile, China is turning the policy screws on automakers operating in the country, telling them they must sell more electric...
John Voelcker -
2018 (?) Honda CR-V Hybrid all but confirmed for U.S. sale after Shanghai debutIt's one of the more frequently asked questions on consumer car sites: why aren't there any hybrid crossover utility vehicles? The Ford Escape Hybrid reigned alone in that segment from 2004 through 2012. Then Ford simply walked away from the segment, replacing it with the underwhelming C-Max Hybrid...
John Voelcker -
Honda Clarity Electric, Plug-In Hybrid sedans revealed at NY auto showAt the New York auto show this morning, Honda revealed the second and third powertrains for its Clarity mid-size sedan, now offered only in California with a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain. The 2017 Honda Clarity Electric and 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid are powered by a battery pack and a...
John Voelcker -
2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell: first drive of hydrogen-powered sedanThere are now three different vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells on sale in California, and we've driven them all. The 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell is the first one in which we were able to forget about the powertrain and simply drive. It's the best of the three, although that won't matter...
John Voelcker -
Even with recent efforts to expand it, electric-car charging infrastructure is nowhere near rivaling the ubiquity of gas stations. But what if electric cars didn't need to stop to charge? That's essentially what a new Honda research project aims to investigate. DON'T MISS: Honda Clarity EV electric car to have only 80 miles of range: report At the upcoming SAE World Congress Experience, a group of Honda researchers will present the findings of a paper on a "dynamic charging system," according to Green Car Congress (via Charged EVs). The proposed system allows electric cars to charge on the go...
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Honda: hybrids, plug-ins, fuel cells to be two-thirds of Europe sales by 2025Honda's green-car strategy for the next decade or so appears to be coming into greater focus. In place of its previous mild hybrids, the Japanese automaker is planning to produce much higher volumes of its two-motor hybrid powertrain, as seen first in the Accord Hybrid mid-size sedan. It also...
Stephen Edelstein -
Honda Clarity EV electric car to have only 80 miles of range: reportOne of the more eagerly awaited all-electric cars coming to market this year has been the 2018 Honda Clarity EV. It's a battery-electric version of the 2017 Clarity Fuel Cell already on sale in some regions of California, powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. But unlike most of the pure electric cars on...
John Voelcker -
Honda WR-V: how to make a crossover from a small hatchbackCrossovers are so popular right now that several automakers are even trying to pass off conventional hatchbacks as high-riding utility vehicles. The latest example of this trend is the Honda WR-V, a new pseudo-crossover for the Indian market. Despite the extra plastic body cladding and...
Stephen Edelstein -
Honda Clarity Fuel Cell marketing theme: thinking about tomorrowA 40-year-old Fleetwood Mac song, floating childrens' heads, and hydrogen molecules all kick off the marketing campaign for the 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell hydrogen-powered vehicle. Like most marketing for hydrogen vehicles, the video ad above will likely be targeted only to California drivers...
John Voelcker -
Carmakers, fuel and oil companies form Hydrogen Council to promote fuel cellsIn addition to automakers and policymakers, battery-electric cars can count on support from a variety of advocacy groups. But grassroots support for hydrogen fuel-cell cars hasn't germinated to quite the same extent. So, in the absence of a large cadre of individual consumers to act as advocates, a...
Stephen Edelstein -
Battery-electric cars are being delivered in volume today, but planned hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles from major automakers are on a more gradual timeframe. This morning, General Motors and Honda jointly announced that the two companies would establish a joint venture to produce hydrogen fuel-cell systems for future products from each carmaker. Located within GM's existing battery plant in Brownstown, Michigan, it will start mass production "around 2020," the companies said. DON'T MISS: Honda, GM To Build Factory For Fuel-Cell Production By 2025 (Jan 2016) Formally dubbed Fuel Cell System...
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Second Honda dealership achieves grid-neutral statusIf you're planning on buying a green car, have you ever wondered if you'll be making the purchase at a green dealership? As cars get more efficient, the carbon emissions related to the infrastructure for manufacturing and selling them should be considered as well. Honda has made some efforts in...
Stephen Edelstein -
Honda hybrid minivan, SUV, or pickup coming; dedicated hybrid in 2018 tooIn recent years, Honda has announced that it planned to release advanced-technology green cars in the future—without mentioning even their names, let alone any details or specifications. That's what happened two years ago with a pair of unnamed battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles...
John Voelcker -
Explaining how Honda Accord Hybrid system works: videoThe 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid mid-size sedan returned last year, ending a one-year hiatus for the model. The new version uses an updated version of the two-motor hybrid powertrain fitted to earlier hybrid Accords, which were sold as 2014 and 2015 models. That powertrain is notable because it uses a...
Stephen Edelstein -
First 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell sedans delivered in CaliforniaThe first six 2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell sedans were delivered to customers in California this week.
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Honda Clarity Fuel Cell to lease for $369 a monthHonda still says the 2017 Clarity Fuel Cell will go on sale before the end of the year.
Stephen Edelstein