TrueDelta Reviews the Real Gas Mileage of the 2014 Honda Accord
2014 Honda Accord Real Gas Mileage: Pros
Year
Comment
2014
We start with the downfall of the first Honda Accord Hybrid: it failed to deliver the mpg people expected from a hybrid. EPA ratings of 24 mpg city, 32 mpg highway were well above the regular V6's 18/26, but not much better than the four-cylinder's 21/31. Genius wasn't needed to discover the root cause: Honda had paired a 16-horsepower electric motor with a 240-horsepower V6 (for a combined 253--the two didn't climax together). Quite simply, the electric motor was too small--it couldn't power the car on its own--and the 3.0-liter gasoline engine was too large (if able to deactivate three cylinders while cruising).
Honda hasn't made the same mistake again. The new Honda Accord Hybrid joins a far stronger, 166-horsepower electric motor with a 141-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine for a combined 196 horsepower. For the latter, Honda modified its new, significantly more efficient "Earth Dreams" engine to run, like Ford's and Toyota's hybrids, on the Atkinson-cycle (the intake valves remain open for the first bit of the compression stroke).
Honda's big idea isn't with the motor or the engine, though, but in how they are connected to the front wheels. There's no conventional stepped automatic transmission this time around. Nor is the transmission a planetary gearset CVT, as in Ford and Toyota hybrids. Nor is it a belt-and-pulleys CVT, as in the Honda Civic Hybrid. Instead, the new transmission barely warrants the term. It's a one-speed.
You won't find a one-speed transmission in any car powered by a conventional engine because a single ratio would be either way too tall for performance at low speeds or way too short for efficiency at high speeds. A conventional engine is only powerful at high rpm but only efficient at low rpm. For acceptable performance and efficiency, a transmission must be able to shift gears to put the engine at whatever rpm is appropriate for the current task (accelerating or cruising).
In contrast, electric cars DO tend to have single-speed transmissions, as their motors deliver acceptable efficiency and power over a much wider range. Given that the new electric motor is strong enough to accelerate the Accord on its own, Honda lets it do this up to 43 mph. At that point the fixed transmission ratio is a good match for the gasoline engine, and a clutch engages to connect it to the wheels. (At lower speeds the engine only comes on as needed to charge the battery pack.) Brilliant in its simplicity, this single-speed design dramatically reduces internal friction and weight.
The payoff: the new Accord Hybrid is rated 50/45, vs. the Fusion Hybrid's 44/41, the Camry Hybrid's 40/38, and the regular Accord's 27/36. In suburban driving the trip computer reported averages from 38.5 to 54.8, and 43 overall for the week (tying the MKZ Hybrid). I found it fairly easy to crack 50, spectacular for a midsize sedan.
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2014 Honda Accord Real Gas Mileage: Cons
Year
Comment
Some people used to buy cars with manual transmissions because of their superior fuel economy. The tables have turned in the past decade, and automatics now tend to be at least as efficient as manuals. Also, when paired with the manual transmission the Accord's V6 loses its fuel-saving cylinder-deactivation feature and spins faster in top gear. So while the V6 with automatic manages EPA ratings of 21 mpg city, 32 highway, the manual does much worse, just 18 city and 28 highway. The trip computer average was 21 for my week with the car (with a one mpg bump from some highway driving the last day). Not awful, but I've seen better from some larger, more powerful, all-wheel-drive cars. The Hyundai manages about the same, 18/27. People who buy either car with a manual transmission do so entirely because they're more involving and consequently more fun to drive.
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What Our Members Are Saying about the Real Gas Mileage of the 2014 Honda Accord
2014 Honda Accord Real Gas Mileage: Pros
Year
Body/Powertrain
Comment
2013
4dr Sedan 278-horsepower 3.5L V6 6-speed automatic FWD
Great fuel economy. I have the V6 and I usually average between 28 and 29 mpg overall. I do mostly highway driving and some suburban roads. And I'm usually doing about 70-80 mph on the highway, so you can do even better if you were to be driving 55-60 mph.
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2013
4dr Sedan 278-horsepower 3.5L V6 6-speed automatic FWD
Outstanding fuel economy. Regularly exceeds EPA estimates. Recent 100 mile highway trip with no AC produced 37.2 mpg. Unbelievable for V6.
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2014 Honda Accord Gas Mileage (MPG)
Unlike other fuel economy surveys, TrueDelta's Real-World Gas Mileage Survey includes questions about how and
where a car was driven. So you can get an idea of the Honda Accord's
real-world MPG based on how and where you drive a car.
TrueDelta Reviews the Real Gas Mileage of the 2014 Honda Accord
What Our Members Are Saying about the Real Gas Mileage of the 2014 Honda Accord
6-speed automatic FWD
6-speed automatic FWD