I see that in the US market (and I assume worldwide) Honda has dropped both versions of its Accord electric vehicles...the hybrid and the plug in electric...for 2016. I assume this will be so for SE Asia/Thailand as well. They say they'll be back with at least the hybrid in 2017.

However, one has to wonder...with low sales numbers and oil at $40-50 a barrel how anyone can make a case for e/hybrid vehicles.

They always were going to be a massive liability especially when the batteries need changing.

On the Prius the batteries at one time were 10 years or 100,000 miles....So just the originals would be hitting the 10 year mark soon....Not sure what the cost would be....

Personally I hated to be stuck behind them.....43-44 MPH was supposed to be the optimum speed for economy AND they had no qualms about settling in to the number 1 lane at that speed adamantly refusing to yield to the traffic and go to a slower lane - and the bay area was full of those things....

They were actually pretty quick....

Think the Honda was a pretty weak sister to the Prius - a late bloomer after their 1st attempt at a hybrid

(Insight) a huge debacle setting them back market wise then - if not still as that market sector jumped to the Prius & never looked back.....

In CA you akways saw Hondas in the Toyota used car lots - never saw Toyotas in the Honda second hand used car lots - they couldn't bear the comparison...

Different dynamics in that Thai market, due to preferential taxes for Hybrids. I have not heard anything about the Accord Hybrid being dropped here.

On the Prius the batteries at one time were 10 years or 100,000 miles....So just the originals would be hitting the 10 year mark soon....Not sure what the cost would be....

Personally I hated to be stuck behind them.....43-44 MPH was supposed to be the optimum speed for economy AND they had no qualms about settling in to the number 1 lane at that speed adamantly refusing to yield to the traffic and go to a slower lane - and the bay area was full of those things....

They were actually pretty quick....

Think the Honda was a pretty weak sister to the Prius - a late bloomer after their 1st attempt at a hybrid

(Insight) a huge debacle setting them back market wise then - if not still as that market sector jumped to the Prius & never looked back.....

In CA you akways saw Hondas in the Toyota used car lots - never saw Toyotas in the Honda second hand used car lots - they couldn't bear the comparison...

Well my wife and I have test driven both a few months ago. Prefer the Camry as a softer ride ...both were quick ....

Not sure why they dropped it in the US. But personally I don't think hybrid/plug in hybrid are a thing of the past. To the contrary. I think more vehicle will be available with plug in hybrids because they are just using energy in a smarter way. And they also provide great performance - just have a look at what Porsche has developed or what BMW is developing.

Not sure why they dropped it in the US. But personally I don't think hybrid/plug in hybrid are a thing of the past. To the contrary. I think more vehicle will be available with plug in hybrids because they are just using energy in a smarter way. And they also provide great performance - just have a look at what Porsche has developed or what BMW is developing.

Absolutely not a thing of the past - but with what can now be achieved FE wise from downsized, direct injected turbo engines, which are also substantially less complex, they are having a bit of a softening in the US market. Once gas prices go up again, the next wave will be more like the Porsche and BMW designs - i.e. mate already high efficiency forced induction engines with electric motors, and more focus on plugin hybrids over regen-only ones, so they spend more of their time running on electricity, and offer better than combustion-engine-only performance.

Basically, what Porsche have done with their 2nd gen plugin hybrid systems.

Edited November 22, 201510 yr by IMHO