Published

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.
#hybrid

Share

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.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Chevy Develops eCOPO Camaro: The Fast and the Electric

    The notion that electric vehicles were the sort of thing that well-meaning professors who wear tweed jackets with elbow patches drove in order to help save the environment was pretty much annihilated when Tesla added the Ludicrous+ mode to the Model S which propelled the vehicle from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds.

  • UPS to Test Electric Delivery Truck

    United Parcel Services of America Inc. is partnering with Los Angeles startup Thor Trucks Inc. to test a fully electric Class 6 delivery truck.

  • On Ford Maverick, Toyota Tundra Hybrid, and GM's Factory Footprint

    GM is transforming its approach to the auto market—and its factories. Ford builds a small truck for the urban market. Toyota builds a full-size pickup and uses a hybrid instead of a diesel. And Faurecia thinks that hydrogen is where the industry is going.

Gardner Business Media - Strategic Business Solutions