Honda Accord Hybrid vs. Lexus CT200h: A tale of two hybrids

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2014 (4073 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was the best of hybrids. It was the… not-so-best of hybrids.
It was the age of reason. It was the age of “What is the reason?”
It was the epoch of spaciousness. It was the epoch of claustrophobia.

I gave myself a difficult task when I took control of the Lexus CT200h: Do something few other journalists have done. Like it.

And by the end of my week, I came away with a greater appreciation for the car than I’d had previously. It is extraordinarily well-built. Gaps between panels outside and trim pieces inside are insanely tight.

The interior, while cramped, is gorgeous. The stitching, the materials, the placement of controls are all first-rate. It is without question a beautiful premium small car.

And then you put it into Drive.

In “normal” and “eco” modes, the car is pokey. Put it into “sport” and it’s actually quite zippy, but at the expense of all that fuel economy you paid so dearly to get.

As for handling, the CT200h is outstanding. It’s exceptionally level in turns, aided in no small part by the distribution in weight mandated by the front-engine, rear-battery layout of this particular hybrid.

As the week went on, as the fuel consumption meter absolutely refused to rise above six litres per 100 kilometres, I found myself more and more accepting of the compromises, particularly with fuel at $1.30 a litre or more.

I mean, real-world average city fuel economy of 6 l/100km is pretty darn good. And I got comfortable in the close quarters of the cabin, too.

And then, in a scheduling quirk likely quite unfair to the CT200h, I stepped out of it and into the Honda Accord Hybrid.

Sitting in the Accord Hybrid feels just like a regular Accord: It’s spacious with a high level of fit and finish. I would argue the work quality of the fit and finish of the Accord is on par with the CT, even if some of the materials and details aren’t.

In the trunk, you have almost a full Accord trunk: For the hybrid battery, there’s a box that takes up about a quarter, maybe a bit more, of the floor, but it also has a shelf on top where you can put stuff.

And here’s the kicker: Without taking any exceptional steps to squeeze out the best fuel economy, the Accord is now sitting at 5.6 l/100km as an average of city and a small amount of highway driving. Almost half of a litre per 100 km than the CT.

Considering many hybrids till now had either only slow-speed or no-speed EV mode, seeing the Accord Hybrid duck into electric-only mode at 100 km/h – and the fuel consumption gauge fall to zero – was refreshing.

For Honda, the Accord Hybrid is a departure from the company’s typical approach to hybrid technology, which was the series hybrid, which meant the car would only ever run on gas or gas-electric, but never just electric. The newest Accord Hybrid runs a bit like a locomotive: It uses electricity almost exclusively to propel the vehicle, and when the demand calls for it, either because you’re asking for more acceleration than the battery can provide or the battery is getting low, a gas motor kicks in to drive a generator to throw additional juice to the electric drive.

Like most hybrids, the Accord and CT use smaller gas motors running on the Atkinson cycle, which in the simplest of terms uses different timing and a different crankshaft to favour efficiency over power, mated to electric motors. With most hybrids, such as the CT, the gas motor and the electric motor or motors both provide propulsion. Such a system uses a less-powerful gas motor to save fuel and uses the electric drive to supplement or replace entirely for a period the gas motor.

If there’s one advantage the CT has over the Accord, it’s the unique factor. While the CT is based on Toyota’s MC platform, which comprises such models as Corolla, Matrix, Avensis and the short-lived Lexus HS200, the CT’s exterior design is unique across the two Toyota brands. The Accord Hybrid looks like almost any other Accord, save for blue lamellas on the front grille and the hybrid badge on the sides and rear.

As well, the CT has a 50 more litres of cargo room, considering you can fold the rear seats, unlike the Accord. The CT offers 405 litres of space to the Accord’s 348.3 litres (or 359.6 on non-Touring models).

The Accord Hybrid starts at $29,645. As-tested, ours came in at the Touring trim level, with a base price of $35,745. The CT200h starts at $30,950. As-tested, ours had the F-Sport package, which is largely a cosmetic and features package (the only performance upgrade are to higher-performance shock absorbers), for $38,400.

On the Accord, the Touring adds heated rear seats (front seats are heated on both models), power sunroof, leather, navigation and projector-beam LED headlights, among other features. On the CT, the F-Sport adds Lexus display audio and controller, power sunroof, backup camera, LED fog lamps, LED headlights and a host of upgraded trim pieces, among other features.

For the CT, one inescapable conclusion kept reappearing: I like driving it. Do I like it at nearly $40,000? Not so much. What I might get really excited about is a conventional powertrain model, perhaps a CT180t, with a 1.8-litre turbo, or a CT200d with a diesel, and about $5,000 worth of hybrid technology taken off the starting price.

The Accord Hybrid, save for the reduced trunk space and loss of fold-down rear seats, is an Accord. If you like Accord, you’ll like the hybrid version.

Specifications

CT 200h

Engine: 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder with Lexus hybrid drive
Power: 134 hp (combined)
Transmission: planetary gearset continuously variable automatic transmission
Steering: electric power-assist rack-and-pinion
Suspension: MacPherson struts with stabilizer bar and coil springs, front; double-wishbone with stabilizer bar and coil springs, rear.
Brakes: four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, brake assist and brake-force distribution
Fuel economy: 4.5 l/100 km city, 4.8 highway, 4.6 combined, Natural Resources Canada estimates; 6.0 l/100km combined, observed
Price: $30,950, base; $38,400 as-tested

Accord Hybrid

Engine: 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder with three-mode hybrid electric motor
Power: 196 hp (combined)
Torque: 122 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm
Transmission: continuously variable automatic transmission
Steering: electric power-assist rack-and-pinion
Suspension: independent strut with stabilizer bar, front; independent multi-link with stabilizer bar, rear
Brakes: four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, brake-force distribution and brake assist
Fuel economy: 3.7 l/100km city, 4.0 highway, 3.8 combined, Natural Resources Canada estimates. 5.6 l/100km combined, observed.
Price: $29,645, base; $35,745, Touring (as-tested)