Not many midsize cars made the 2015 Car and Driver 10 Best Cars list and got a Kelley Blue Book Best Buy award. In fact, the Honda Accord was the only one.
KBB also included the 2015 Honda Accord on its list of 12 Best Family Cars, and the Honda Accord Hybrid on its 10 Best Green Cars list. Not only that, but it’s also a big fat favorite here at Cars and Me.
The 2015 Honda Accord Hybrid is available in Hybrid (base), EX-L, and Touring trim levels. All three get their thrust from a four-cylinder gasoline engine combined with two electric motors. The combined efforts of this trio produce outstanding fuel economy along with impressive performance and the ability to run the car on electric only at slower speeds and lighter loads, or gas only during more demanding circumstances, or a combination of both during regular driving.
A continuously variable transmission is standard, and fuel economy ratings are 50 mpg city, 45 mpg highway.
Base pricing, including an $820 destination charge, is $30,129 for the Hybrid, $32,875 for the EX-L, and $35,875 for the Touring.
The Accord Hybrid shares the same handsome exterior and interior design as the gas-powered Accord sedan. Also shared are other desirable characteristics including impeccable workmanship, a comfortable and roomy interior, sizable trunk and driving dynamics that transcend the average family sedan by a long shot.
My tester, the Touring model, comes standard with a superabundance of safety, technology, entertainment, connectivity and convenience features. A small sampling includes forward collision and lane departure warning systems, adaptive cruise control, navigation, FM Traffic, Bluetooth, Honda’s LaneWatch camera, a power moonroof and a superlative 360-watt stereo system whose seven speakers deliver the sounds of AM, FM, CD, MP3, XM and Pandora.
The driver’s seat has 10-way power adjustability, the front passenger seat has four-way power, and both seats have heat function.
Special praise has to be given for Honda’s continuing common-sense approach to the placement and operation of audio, information and climate controls. They are on parade inside the Accord Hybrid, especially in the navigation system, where entering a destination address is a simple, intuitive process and the system responds to input with blazing speed. If you haven’t experienced a wide range of automotive navigation systems, you might think ease of operation and quick response would be givens. But they are not. A typical scenario in the life of a navigation system is a frustrated driver lost in an unfamiliar area, short on time and patience, in desperate need of route guidance. Quite often an irritated spouse is seated nearby, lobbing unhelpful remarks. Yet some car companies think it’s cool to have a navigation system so complex you’d need all the time and patience in the world to work it, and that you might need it for guiding a space shuttle back to Earth.
Something else helps make this car a big fat favorite: Its gauges, because they’re in Seahawks colors.
2015 HONDA ACCORD HYBRID TOURING
- Base price, including destination charge: $35,875
- Price as driven: $35,875
Mary Lowry is an independent automotive writer who has been reviewing cars for more than 20 years. She is a member of the Motor Press Guild and a board member of the Northwest Automotive Press Association. Vehicles are provided by the manufacturers as a one-week loan for review purposes only. In no way do the manufacturers control the content of the reviews.
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