Honda has officially announced it will start selling the 2014 Honda Accord Plug-in Hybrid in January of 2013 (whether it will be available then or 9 months later in September 2013 when manufacturers usually start releasing the next model year we don’t know).
First drive reports of the Plug-in Hybrid Accord are positive. AutoBlog says ‘everything works well, [and] the car behaves exactly how you’d expect an Accord plug-in to work’. Honda has fit a lot of new technology into a mostly normal-looking vehicle.
The new design of the 2013 Honda Accord boosts a 7% increase in the coefficient of drag. The Accord plug-in hybrid will receive a unique front end with blue accents in the headlights, a different lower fascia, and a unique grill. The rear bumper will have a different design as well for better aerodynamics. The Accord plugin comes in one trim line and 3 different colors which are White Orchid Pearl, Burnished Silver Metallic or Crystal Plack Pearl.
As for new technology, the 2014 Accord Plug-in Hybrid comes with LaneWatch that includes a small camera build into the passenger side mirror. The camera shows the drivers blind spot in the upper info screen.
Honda approves of a 30-minute quick charge that would give the Accord Plug-in Hybrid an 8 mile range. The EPA has not yet rated the MPGe, but Honda expects it to be 100MPGe or more which would beat the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Prius Plug-in.
