2025 Honda Accord Hybrid: Nice ride, but is that enough reason to buy?
The Honda Accord has long been a Driver’s Seat favorite, with nice manners, good power, and overall strong fuel economy. But does it measure up to the competition?
2025 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring: Always a pleasure.
Price: $40,395 as tested. No options on test vehicle (except for the plethora of features a Touring level Accord adds).
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver likes the “attractive exterior styling, accommodating cabin,” and that “most models come with an efficient hybrid system.” They disliked that the “base model lacks frills,” that there’s “no all-wheel-drive option,” and adds “We miss the days of the stick-shift Accord.”
Marketer’s pitch: “Step up to the Accord Hybrid.”
Reality: They mean that “step up” figuratively. (See Driver’s Seat, below.)
What’s new: The Accord has long been one of Mr. Driver’s Seat’s favorite sedans. It’s smooth and comfortable, and even fairly luxurious.
The Accord Hybrid is becoming quite popular, garnering 50% of Accord sales in 2024. It gets new standard features for 2025.
Competition: Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Kia K5, Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota Prius.
Up to speed: The Honda Accord Hybrid moves like a calm, efficient sedan. So even in Sport mode it doesn’t really have a feeling of oomph. I had a couple starts into heavy traffic and sweated whether I’d get rolling fast enough to suit my nerves and my fellow drivers’ impatience.
The 6.7-second 0-60 time bests the nonhybrid Accord by almost a second, according to Car and Driver. Still, I couldn’t feel all those 204 horses in the real world, but it may have been me.
Shifty: The Accord now comes with a shift lever rather than a row of buttons, a change for the better, I’d say, even if there aren’t really gears to be shifted.
There are power control paddles on the steering wheel, but the two electric motors negate the need for a real transmission. Everything works fine, so I never felt the need to go fake-shifting fake gears.
On the road: The Accord Hybrid’s handling at first seemed very straightforward — until I hit the Sport-mode button. Then the low-to-the-ground Honda turned into a four-door sports car, feeling like it was riding on rails. For a front-wheel-drive sedan, it definitely takes on the curves nicely.
We rolled up to State College to watch Sturgis Kid 4.0 don his cap and gown. The sedan provided a decent ride on the turnpike and beyond and snaked through 322 and the Seven Mountains through Pennsylvania’s vast interior nicely.
The Accord Hybrid’s rainy weather handling left a bit to be desired, though. Any time water pooled on the road, I needed to slow down quite a bit to keep from sliding around. Here’s where all-wheel drive would help.
Driver’s Seat: Here is where the previous “low to the ground” reference is less than satisfying. Getting into the Accord is almost like getting into a Miata — you’re way down now, as the late, great Karl Wallinger sang.
The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat, never a fan of sedans, decried the lack of height adjustment for her seat.
Otherwise, the Accord Hybrid carries on Honda’s tradition of easy-to-follow steering wheel controls and clear, readable gauges. The black dashboard could be surprisingly glare-y in the sun though because of its slight angle downward.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat provides comfort as nice as the front. Headroom is on the short side, while legroom and foot room are great. The center passenger will face a bit of a foot hump, while the console intrudes a bit.
Cargo space is 16.7 cubic feet. The rear seat folds down to create a pass-through.
In and out: As previously noted, duck.
Play some tunes: Sound from the Bose Premium Audio System with 12 speakers is pretty good, about an A-.
A lone volume knob sits outside the 12.3-inch touchscreen. The screen has a readable home menu and fairly easy operation.
Keeping warm and cool: The dashboard vents have a cool egg crate pattern and nice levers that direct airflow. The vents can blow hard, but the seat ventilation didn’t seem up to the task, even in 70-degree weather.
Fuel economy: The vehicle averaged about 36.5 mpg over 800 miles, about half of which were Mr. Driver’s Seat’s. I actually was lifting the average, which is unusual. It’s especially disappointing because these numbers are not that great.
Where it’s built: Marysville, Ohio. The U.S. and Canada supply 55% of the parts, while Japan provides another 20%.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports gives the Honda Accord a reliability rating of 3 out of 5.
In the end: As much as I enjoyed the Accord Hybrid, that test of the 2020 Prius revealed an average fuel economy of 50 mpg in a sedan with all-wheel drive. That’s eye-opening.