Honda V6 Accord Hybrid to Be Introduced this Year

Those who have been dreaming of an Accord with V6 performance and the fuel economy of a Civic will soon be rewarded. Honda announced earlier today that it would be launching its V6 Accord Hybrid this autumn. The new model will use Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system and will achieve fuel economy equivalent to a four-cylinder Civic while providing V6 performance, thanks to its Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) technology. The V6 Accord Hybrid is clearly intended to compete with Toyota's mid-size Prius and it is poised to do so well, with projected fuel economy equal to the compact Civic in a mid-size package, and performance surpassing that of its Accord V6 Sedan sibling, already powerful at 240-horsepower.
The good news isn't over. Along with the announcement of the 2005 Accord Hybrid, Honda promises to make use of its brand-new VCM technology in another model, to be introduced later this year. Honda stated that "VCM allows for the deactivation of three of the engine's six cylinders under certain conditions, such as highway cruising, to deliver even greater fuel efficiency with no sacrifice in performance" and left ample room for speculation as to what new VCM-enabled model would be released next. Discuss this story in our Online Forum.