2024 Honda Accord Hybrid: Less fuel — but less fun, too

2024 Honda Accord Hybrid Sport: Fun with a hybrid power plant?

Price: $33,445 as tested, with radiant red paint the only option at $455.

Conventional wisdom: Edmunds likes the “pleasing power and fuel economy from hybrid power train, generous rear legroom, large trunk, good visibility for driver,” but not that “certain desirable features are restricted to the top trims, all-wheel drive isn’t offered, nor is sport-oriented engine.”

Reality: Still not a bad ride, and super efficient. But some of the thrill is gone.

What’s new: The Honda Accord undergoes few changes for 2024 after a redesign last year. It’s long been a Mr. Driver’s Seat favorite.

The hybrid is not a plug-in, just an old-fashioned engine with a motor and battery capturing braking momentum to help improve fuel economy.

Competition: Kia K5, Kia Stinger, Hyundai Sonata, Volkswagen Arteon, Toyota Camry.

Up to speed: Honda touts the Accord Hybrid’s new setup, with side-by-side motors rather than in-line, which it called more responsive. These are mated to a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine.

The 204-horsepower Accord Hybrid can move with some gusto, but it felt like a fairly boring family sedan for the most part. The vehicle gets to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, according to Car and Driver.

Shiftless: Oh, wow, exciting news, there’s an actual gearshift in a Honda again. Gone from this year’s model is the push-button PRND, a welcome development. I only hope other carmakers get the message.

It doesn’t actually provide any gears, though, as the motors provide the contact with the axles, but I’m happy enough to have a user-friendly controller for going forward and backing up.

On the road: While the 2021 Honda Accord tested really gave Mr. Driver’s Seat some butterflies, this year’s model left my tummy cold and sad. It’ll go around the curves OK, but there’s not a lot of zig in its zag.

All-wheel drive is still not a prospect for Accord enthusiasts, unsurprisingly. But it would be a welcome development, likely making some of my somnambulant rides more exciting.

Driver’s Seat: People seeking a whole new look for the 2023 Accord will be sorely disappointed, but why mess with success?

Inside, the Accord dashboard and controllers look the same as ever — attractive, black with silver touches — and the speedometer typeface is easy to read. Everything works well.

The grille is covered with a screen that matches the HVAC blowers, so there’s a sense of the 1960s and ‘70s in here, but it’s a nice sense.

Friends and stuff: Rear seat legroom is immense. Foot room is not stellar, but you hardly need to worry about it, as your legs can be stretched out quite nicely without having to scooch them under the seat. Headroom is pretty good but might be a problem for a taller person.

The seat in the test model was nicely appointed and comfortable, with leather and a great armrest. The seatback is tilted at a long angle so it might be hard to stay awake, and this makes the headroom more of an issue, as the ceiling starts angling downward toward the rear window early.

The center seat passenger should be OK; the floor hump is only somewhat intrusive, and the console does intrude backward more than one might want.

Cargo space is 16.7 cubic feet, generous for a sedan.

Play some tunes: The Accord infotainment system features a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen, the Accord’s largest ever, plus a dial for volume. It mostly works really well, although adjusting the bass-midrange-treble from CarPlay takes a lot of touchscreen clicking.

It’s mostly set it and forget it, anyway. The sound is about an A- or so, bringing out some unheard notes from a few songs but not making me fall in love with what I was hearing. Noodling around with it didn’t help much.

Keeping warm and cool: The HVAC blowers feature nifty controllers that look like giant toggle switches. They make it easy to adjust the airflow.

Also easy to adjust are the dials for temperature and blower speed and the toggle button for air source.

Night shift: The interior lights cast a fairly bright glow and don’t really allow for much visibility beyond them. The headlights also sit a bit low, so together they make night driving a problem.

Fuel economy: The Accord Hybrid tested averaged 42 mpg over 950 miles. Only about 250 of those belonged to Mr. Driver’s Seat.

It goes down pretty drastically when you start pushing it, though; I hit some 36s on my shorter-trip odometer readings.

Where it’s built: Marysville, Ohio.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Accord Hybrid reliability to be a 66 out of 100.

In the end: Looking back at previous reviews, it seems the Camry Hybrid bested the Sonata Hybrid for 2023, except for passenger space. I’d stick with the Accord or the Camry for my money.