Honda News
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Well, chalk one up for basic economic theory: If you lower the price of a good, more people will want to own it. In the case of the 2013 Honda Fit EV, the low-volume battery-electric version of the Honda Fit subcompact hatchback, a cut in the monthly lease price did the trick. Through the end of May, Honda had sold only 83 Fit EVs this year, far from the rate required to meet its zero-emission vehicle requirements under California zero-emission vehicle laws. At the end of last month, Honda cut the Fit EV lease price to $259 a month from $389, and removed the cap on annual miles driven. That...
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Honda Fit EV Lease Price To Fall To $259, Miles Cap Removed
With lease prices for various electric cars creeping ever downwards, it was only a matter of time until Honda followed suit with its Fit EV. Originally priced at $389 per month, a letter given to us by an electric car owner revealed the lease price would drop to $259/month--now confirmed by Honda...
Antony Ingram -
The 60 MPG Honda Civic... Not Sold In The U.S.
The most frugal Civic U.S. drivers can currently buy is the 2013 Civic Hybrid. The low-key sedan manages 44 mpg in city, highway and combined driving, sips gasoline, and goes about its business with relative anonymity. In Europe, things are a little different. There, the Civic is a five-door...
Antony Ingram -
CA Drivers Want Carpool-Lane Access, Honda Gives It To Them (But There's A Catch)
Say "carpool lane" or "HOV Access" or "white sticker" or "green sticker," and most California commuters will begin to drool uncontrollably. The ability to drive in relatively uncrowded High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes with just a single person in the vehicle is a privilege that Californians will...
John Voelcker -
Honda Civic Hybrid: Battery Unreliable, Consumer Reports Says
Automaker Honda used to be the darling of Consumer Reports, with its models perpetually scoring better than average in CR testing. The 2012 Honda Civic dampened the publication’s enthusiasm for the Honda brand; it was the first Honda Civic we can recall that wasn’t recommended by CR...
Kurt Ernst -
Honda Recycles Hybrid Battery Packs Into Rare-Earth Metals For New Ones
A popular myth among detractors of hybrid and electric vehicles is that the energy and materials that go into making batteries far outweighs any good they do under ownership. Batteries aren't as damaging as many suspect though, since so many of a battery's components can be recycled. Honda is doing...
Antony Ingram -
Do you own a Honda, or maybe an Acura? You might be eligible for a discount on solar power at your home. If you think that sounds strange, you're right. Why would a solar company partner with an automaker to provide solar arrays for owners of certain cars? The answer appears to be: market research. SolarCity & Honda SolarCity installs solar arrays for homes and businesses in 14 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, plus the District of Columbia. In the video above...
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2013 Honda CR-Z Hybrid Coupe: Quick Drive Report
Honda launched the CR-Z hybrid coupe in 2010, aiming to defy the assertion that all hybrids are slow and boring. It has to be said that as defiant acts go, the CR-Z hasn't been entirely successful. Gearhead circles have criticized its so-so performance, while hybrid fans decry its average economy...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Fit EV Electric-Car Leasing Expands To Northeast
Honda has confirmed the five East Coast locations in which its 2013 Honda Fit EV will be leased, joining the West Coast markets of California and Oregon. The electric Fit will be available at selected locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey later this month. The...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Fit EV Now Available On East Coast Too
A select few drivers on the U.S. West Coast have already been enjoying Honda's token contribution to the electric car market, the Fit EV. Now their counterparts in some East Coast markets will be able to lease the small EV too. Drivers in California and Oregon have had access to the 118 MPGe...
Antony Ingram -
Best Gas Mileage You Can Get: Top 10 Hybrids
Are you in the market for a hybrid car? You probably want great gas mileage, without switching to diesel fuel, or taking the next step into plug-in vehicles. The good news is, plug-ins aside, virtually all the most fuel-efficient cars on sale right now are hybrids. Whether you're after a spacious...
Antony Ingram -
Honda To Use Wind Turbines For Energy At Ohio Plant
It's no good simply producing green cars these days--you have to be green at every stage of producing the cars, too. With GM using solar at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant and Volkswagen recently unveiling a huge solar array at its Chattanooga plant, Honda is next to display its green credentials--with...
Antony Ingram -
With the North American International Auto Show diverting much of the motoring press to Detroit, Honda has surprised us all by launching a new concept car at the Montreal International Auto Show instead. The Gear Concept Study Model is a subcompact hatchback, with more than a hint of some of Honda's classic models about it--including the original, first-generation Civic. While much of the car is resolutely modern, the front grille and round headlights aren't at all dissimilar to the early Civic, launched in the U.S. in 1972. The original Civic's utilitarian lines and humble profile have made...
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Hyundai And Kia MPG Mistakes 'Betrayed' Buyers, Honda Exec Says
Hyundai and Kia's recent EPA mileage overstating scandal has attracted sharp criticism from one top Honda Motor Co. U.S. executive. John Mendel, executive vice president of Honda's U.S. car sales, feels the Korean duo betrayed the trust of customers under competitive pressure. Mendel told industry...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Urban SUV Concept: 2013 Detroit Auto Show Preview
If you wanted a Nissan Juke before, you probably won't want one now. Honda promised last month that its Urban SUV Concept would debut at Detroit, and the sporty, Fit-based crossover you see here is the result. Hinting at a production model due in 2014, the Urban SUV is a whole nine inches shorter...
Antony Ingram -
Latest Hybrid To Be Built In U.S.: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda has announced its next hybrid, the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, will be built at its Marysville, Ohio plant in the U.S. The Japanese carmaker is investing $23 million at the plant and hiring 50 new employees, ready for production of the two-motor hybrid before it goes on sale this fall. It makes...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid Priced Sub-$41K, 115 MPGe
Honda has revealed pricing for its upcoming Accord plug-in hybrid at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. The car will be priced from $39,780 when it goes on sale January 15 in California and New York. That's just a little higher than the recently-announced price for the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi at...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Honda Civic: Updates And Live Photos From LA Auto Show
It's quite unusual for an auto company to make significant changes to a car--especially a successful one--just a year after it launched. But the 2013 Honda Civic introduced this morning at the Los Angeles Auto Show has updated styling, significant changes to the interior, and new standard features...
John Voelcker -
Poor Honda. It creates the CR-Z, theoretically the perfect mix of fun and fuel efficiency, but ends up alienating both gearheads and green buyers by building something that struggles to satisfy either party. The 2013 Honda CR-Z should fix some of the car's issues, by improving both performance and gas mileage at the same time. Visual changes There was never much wrong with the styling, but Honda has revised the front facia and now offers new color and wheel options, letting it stand out a little more. Both headlights and tail lamps now have a blue tint--similar to that of the Insight--to play...
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Next-Gen 2015 Honda Fit Getting More Efficient DI Engine, CVT
If you shop strictly by the EPA numbers today, the 2013 Honda Fit probably won't be among the top subcompacts you cross-shop. The current Fit's federal ratings, of 28 mpg city, 35 highway with the five-speed automatic, or just 27/33 mpg with the five-speed manual, aren't exactly at the top of the...
Bengt Halvorson -
2013 Honda Civic: Revised Model Debuts At L.A. Auto Show
Honda has unveiled its new 2013 Civic Sedan, which is set to debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show later this month. A new Civic may not be exciting, but as one of Honda's top-selling models it's certainly important, and one of the better-known gas-sippers on the market. Honda has revised the 2013...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Starts Sales Of N-ONE Retro Minicar
If you subscribe to the theory that Honda keeps all its really cool products in its home market of Japan, the announcement that the N-ONE retro-styled minicar has hit the market probably won’t do much to convince you otherwise. The N-ONE joins the N BOX and N BOX + models in Honda’s...
Kurt Ernst -
Honda Presents Supercharged CR-Z Hybrid Hatch At SEMA Show
There’s been talk of a more powerful Honda CR-Z in the works ever since the hybrid ‘hot’ hatch was first launched. This was mostly because the CR-Z, which was billed as the first sporty hybrid, was neither sporty nor all that fuel efficient. Its official performance specs came in...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Honda Hybrids Hit The 1-Million Mark, After 13 Years
Quick, name a Japanese carmaker that's sold 1 million hybrid cars. Yes, OK, Toyota is a right answer. But there's another one, too, as of the end of September Automaker Honda announced yesterday that its total sales of hybrid cars had crossed the 1 million mark--just a month shy of 13 years from...
John Voelcker