For those who feel uneasy about range anxiety in electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) appear to be the best solution. You can charge it up like an EV to give you a long range on battery power, and the engine kicks in when it’s out of juice. The best part is, it can still be recharged thanks to the said engine.
Most automakers these days have a few PHEVs on offer, and Honda is no exception. More recently, it has introduced the Accord e:PHEV, essentially a plug-in version of the Honda Accord e:HEV.
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Set to be shown at the Guangzhou Motor Show 2023, this version of the Accord is only available in mainland China. However, it does share the same technology as the CR-V e:PHEV, a model that’s now also available in Europe.
That means it uses a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle gas engine mated with dual electric motors and a larger battery pack. The result is a total system output of 215hp (up by 8 from the e:HEV) and 335Nm of torque from the electric motors.
Honda claims it has performance figures similar to a 3.0-liter V6 engine and up to 25km/L in mixed driving conditions. It also has an EV-only range of around 106km. With its 50-liter fuel tank, that gives the Accord e:PHEV a theoretical range of, wait for it, 1,250km. That’s something the Honda Accord models of the past couldn’t do, no matter how hard you tried.
From the outside, there’s not much that distinguishes is from the standard models. The only notable difference here is a ‘flap’ on the front fender that serves as its port for the charging socket. As far as we can tell, it looks similar to the RS variant that’s already on offer in Thailand.
Inside, it’s identical to the Japanese/ASEAN market model, albeit with the steering wheel on the left-hand side. There’s a simpler and more minimalist design with a center rotary dial to control various functions. It also ditches the traditional gear selector for a push-button unit.
As for features, is comes with Honda Sensing 360. it adds features such as front cross-traffic alert, lane-change collision mitigation, and lane-change support. Honda Connect is also standard, as well as in-car Wi-Fi.
It’s unlikely that these models will ever be sold outside of China. But given that its long-time rival, the Toyota Camry, is going hybrid-only, perhaps the folks from Honda should start thinking about it.
