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Honda Accord Hybrid Eschews the Transmission
The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid forgoes a transmission in favor of a direct linkage to the wheels, Green Car Reports notes.
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The 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid forgoes a transmission in favor of a direct linkage to the wheels, Green Car Reports notes.
Under most driving conditions, the car's 2.0-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine is decoupled from the drive wheels and directly powers a motor-generator, which sends electricity directly to a propulsion motor but also to charge the car's 1.3-kWh battery.
But in steady-speed highway cruising, an electronically controlled multi-plate wet clutch connects the engine directly to the drive wheels in a configuration similar to the top gear in a conventional transmission.
Honda says the arrangement creates four possible drive modes: electric, hybrid, engine mode and regeneration mode.
The battery pack and controller hardware in the Accord hybrid weigh a combined 155 pounds, about the same weight of a typical automatic transmission.
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