Honda Sales Target for Accord Hybrid in ‘05: 20,000
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Under the Hood of the Accord Hybrid

Accordima_2

Honda’s new Accord Hybrid, due to be in dealer showrooms 3 Dec 2004, is a mild hybrid. (See earlier post: A Short Field Guide to Hybrids.) The electric motor in the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) powertrain supports the gasoline engine, but it is never the sole source of motive power as the motor in the Toyota Prius can be.

The result, while increasing fuel economy, delivers gains in horsepower and torque over a standard Accord EX V-6 sedan. The result is the highest-performance hybrid on the market to date—and an acceleration of the inevitable blurring of the popular interpretation of “hybrid”.

Let’s take a look at some specs. The table below compares the new Accord Hybrid to the 2005 Prius and 2005 Civic hybrid.

       
  2005 Accord Hybrid Sedan 2005 Toyota Prius 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid
Gasoline Engine      
Type V-6 Inline 4 Inline 4
Displacement (liters) 3.0 1.5 1.34
Horsepower 239 76 85
Torque (lb-ft) 232 82 87
BMEP (psi) 174.6 135.1 160.4
Acceleration 0-60 (seconds) 7.5 10.4 11.6*
Electric Motor      
Power Output (hp) 16 28 67.05 13.4
Torque (lb-ft) 100 295 36
Electrical System      
Type of Battery Ni-MH Ni-MH Ni-MH
Output 144V (120 cells @ 1.2V) 201.6V (168 cells @ 1.2V) 144V (120 cells @ 1.2V)
EPA Mileage Estimates      
City/Highway/Combined mpg 30/37/33 60/51/55 46/51/48

*Results from testing on 2003 Civic Hybrid. One independent review produced a 9.8 sec 0-60 figure for the 2004 Civic Hybrid, but that is an outlier.

Note that the engine in the Accord is literally twice the size of the engine in the Prius, and packs more than 3 times the horsepower. When the IMA electric motor kicks in, the Accord hybrid offers a combined 255 hp, and it accelerates more rapidly than the standard Accord.

The electrical side of the hybrid is smaller and less capable than that of the Prius—and that makes perfect sense given the different roles the two electric motors have.

The gasoline engine in the Accord hybrid is basically the same as that in the Accord EX V-6, except for a few modifications to reduce space and weight and to allow for the installation of the IMA motor and new Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system.

VCM, Honda’s version of cylinder deactivation, switches the engine between six- and three-cylinder combustion.  When high output is required, such as during startup and acceleration or when climbing hills, the engine operates on all six cylinders to deliver enhanced performance.  During cruising and at low engine loads, the system idles the rear bank of three cylinders for improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.  Further, the idled cylinders remain sealed, alleviating the pumping losses associated with intake and exhaust and giving fuel economy a further boost

The Accord hybrid is the first to feature such cylinder deactivation on the gasoline engine. The VCM system is similar to the VTEC-controlled Cylinder Idling System used on Civic Hybrid, but is more sophisticated.  Where the Civic Hybrid’s cylinder idling deactivates three of the engine’s four cylinders during deceleration only to help improve regenerative braking efficiency, the Accord’s VCM system deactivates the engine’s rear bank of three cylinders during a variety of driving situations.

Other features in the hybrid include:

  • Idle Stop and Start. The IMA system incorporates an idle-stop feature that temporarily turns off the gasoline engine when the vehicle comes to a stop from speeds over 10 mph. When the brake pedal is released, the IMA's motor restarts the engine and power is available immediately.

    Unlike the idle-stop feature in the Insight and Civic Hybrids, the Accord Hybrid system continues to operate even while the car’s automatic climate control system is in use.  This is made possible by the introduction of a new hybrid air conditioning system, which uses air compressors powered by both the gasoline engine’s drive belt and the electric motor. Idle-stop is unavailable only when the car is first started on an extremely hot day when maximum cooling is required.

  • Regenerative braking. Accord Hybrid’s efficiency in generating electricity from braking energy is enhanced by a more efficient IMA motor/generator, the ability of the engine and transmission to minimize friction through the VCM system and a modified 5-speed automatic transmission.  Exploiting these friction-saving features during electricity generation, the IMA motor is able to convert 95.2 percent of the available kinetic energy into electricity to store in the IMA’s rechargeable battery pack.  This is an improvement of almost two percentage points over the previous Civic Hybrid's generator efficiency (93.5%).

  • Intelligent Power Unit (IPU).  Located directly behind the rear seatback, the IPU controls the power for the IMA system. The IPU consists of the Power Control Unit (PCU—or the IMA’s brain, a rechargeable Nickel Metal-Hydride battery module, and an integrated cooling unit.

With all of that, the Accord hybrid delivers improved fuel efficiency over its non-hybrid cousins, but still falls far below that offered by the Prius—half of the city mpg, in fact. (See table above.)

By Honda’s calculations, the Integrated Motor Assist System accounts for 60% of the gains in city fuel efficiency, while Variable Cylinder Management (15%) and idle stop (25%) are responsible for the rest. During highway cruising, the VCM system  provides the majority of the increase (57%), while IMA (38%) and a lower drag coefficient and greater aerodynamics (5%) also contribute.

As more mild hybrids appear on the market, or as larger full hybrids emerge, the size of the aggregate fuel economy benefit due to hybrid technology will begin to decrease. In other words, unless everyone drives a Prius, we’re still looking at fuel economy ranges that, while much better than that provided by pure gasoline platforms, are very similar to those offered by non-hybrid diesels.

There is no magic technology right now that will let drivers roar around in big, powerful cars and trucks while only sipping fuel. At this point, radical adjustment in consumption has to come from consumer behavior and buying patterns. The incremental benefits of hybrid technologies are important, and should be implemented. It’s just not enough on its own.

Comments

Matt

This is interesting and better than we talked about. The Accord is going to start at $30,000.
Mom

JC

Hi...

I think some of your figures are wrong. I seem to recall the electric engine of the Prius having upwards of 60hp, and the Civic Hybrid taking around 12 seconds to do 0-60.

Mike

Hmm. Figures are from the Toyota and the Honda media sites -- i.e., more tech background than on the retail product pages, but I will check them again. Thanks for spotting.

Mike

Hmm and maybe a yikes. I jotted down the 9.8 seconds from an autos.com review. Honda assigns an 11.6 sec 0-60 for its 2003 Civic Hybrid (so you’re just about spot on, JC) and I can’t find anything subsequent to that for the 05 version. I've asked, and we'll see what they come back with.

Re: the Prius, you’re right! I accidentally took the battery peak hp rating rather than the motor output—which is 50kW or 67.05 hp. Thanks, and I'm correcting the chart.

JC

No problem.

I had test driven both, and for me the Prius was the better vehicle of the two. The ability to move along on just battery is priceless during gridlock. Plus Electric AC is great during summer gridlock.

The Accord Hybrid will have electric AC, so it's competitive in that area. It will, no doubt, also handle and stop much better than the Prius does.

Mike

Different driving needs and patterns, different selections. It is great to have more of a choice.

On the acceleration question: Honda isn’t providing acceleration data on the car, leaving it up to magazines’ testing. From a quick review of those, the 9.8 is more of an outlier, and I'll swap it out, but footnote it. I thought there was more consistency in the results. Good lesson for me.

Ed

Does anyone know what sort of generator efficiency the Accord Hybrid gets? I'm looking for the percentage of energy in the gas that goes into the engine compared to the electrical energy that comes out of the generator. Having a tough time tracking down that figure.

Mike

From Honda:

During driving, the motor...is more efficient, now converting 97.5 percent (versus 94.6 percent efficiency of Civic Hybrid IMA) of the available electricity into motive energy in assist mode.

Is that what you’re looking for?

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