Honda

Honda has formally unveiled the all-electric Prologue, indicating that the brand hasn’t given up on electrification. The midsize crossover boasts an agreeable estimated range of (up to) 300 miles and is designed to cater to more mainstream tastes.

As a preeminent manufacturer of modestly sized combustion engines, it makes sense that the company would want to stick to what it knows best. Like several other Japanese brands, Honda has been hesitant to embrace electric vehicles with the same zeal as its European or American rivals. However, external pressures are beginning to force the issue, and this seemed an agreeable solution for the company.

Among the TTAC team, we’ve long joked that we could easily maintain our readership if we limited our daily coverage to one or two makes and models. While virtually everyone reading and commenting on our daily stories is an enthusiast of some persuasion, we can generally count on our readers to be pragmatic and practical when it comes to either buying a new car or recommending a new car to others. While exotic sports cars are fun to think about, most of you just need something to get back and forth every day without worry.

One of those pragmatic and practical cars that seems to be the darling of our loyal readership is in front of you today, the 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid. Except for that one guy in the comments frantically mashing out the name of a certain EV maker in every statement in all caps as if afflicted with some sort of digital Tourettes’, I’ve got to believe that a solid percentage of our readership would list the Accord at the top of their most-recommended vehicles. Indeed, your author has happily owned a few Accords in his lifetime, and others around the virtual office have done so as well. Let’s see if the latest lives up to expectations.

Ford, Honda, and BMW have announced plans to create a new “vehicle-to-grid company” that’s aimed at standardizing vehicle charging via a singular platform. The service also seeks to return excess energy to the electrical grid, effectively converting EVs into publicly shared batteries.

The business will be known as ChargeScape and, according to the automakers' press release, seeks to “create a single platform that will seamlessly connect electric utilities, automakers and their interested EV customers to manage energy usage for a broad pool of EVs.” The scheme could be one way of addressing concerns that modern power grids couldn’t endure widespread electric vehicle usage while helping to position the involved companies in an industry that’s being heavily incentivized by the government.

Believe it or not, Honda’s been around in the U.S. for decades, and to Celebrate, the automaker opened the American Honda Collection Hall to show some of its most iconic models. The display will be open during regular "Cars and Coffee" events starting in October.

Last month, we reported that Honda and Acura would join Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). The Japanese automakers rely on General Motors’ EV technology for some new models, and the U.S. company committed to Tesla’s standard early on, so it wasn’t a surprising development that Honda would follow suit. Yesterday, the automakers confirmed the reports and put a timeline on the commitment, stating that they would implement the plugs in new EVs starting in 2025. 

Honda and Acura leaned on General Motors’ Ultium technology to accelerate electric vehicle development, so it’s unsurprising to see the Japanese automakers following their American counterpart’s lead in some areas. GM announced that its new EVs would move to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), and American Honda Motor Company’s CEO recently confirmed that the Japanese automaker would follow suit.

A handful of Honda models, and one from Acura, are under recall over a defect that could limit braking functionality. Impacted vehicles include the 2020-2021 Honda Civic, 2021-2023 Honda Passport, 2021-2022 Honda Pilot, 2020-2023 Honda Ridgeline, and 2020 Acura MDX. 

Once upon a time, the Honda HR-V was a nice little affordable urban runabout with a cramped interior, unremarkable dynamics, and boring styling.

The 2023 Honda HR-V is a much nicer package, with a roomier, nicer cabin and styling that will get noticed – though not necessarily in a good way.

Honda says their first volume electric vehicle, the Prologue, will play nicely with wireless Google built-in plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Why are we mentioning a seemingly trivial item? Because alert readers know Prologue is baked using General Motors ingredients – and GM recently indicated it plans to swear off smartphone integration in favor of its own interface.

Honda released an updated CR-V in 2023 with refined styling, a much-improved interior, and better tech. More changes are in store for 2024, as Honda plans to release a new hybrid Sport-L trim that slots in between the EX-L and Sport Touring trims. 

Ahhh the Honda CRX. This little sportster powered more than a few sport-compact dreams back in the day.

Today's used car of the day is a 2018 Honda Civic Type R that's priced higher than a new one.

Honda raised the curtain for its second all-electric model for the European market this week. The e:Ny1 is an atrociously named battery-powered crossover that serves as the electrified counterpart to the Euro-spec HR-V. While not a formal debut, the Japanese manufacturer is teasing the EV’s design language and offering up some relevant details — perhaps foreshadowing things to come in North America.

Modern car seats are notoriously uncomfortable. We can blame manufacturers for cutting costs while seeking to standardize snazzier equipment elsewhere. Buyers often don’t consider the importance of seat comfort, especially when they’re only spending 10 minutes on a test drive. However, worsening road conditions have made us long for prior decades when car companies went overboard with the springs and foam. 

The industry knows this and the phenomenon may even help explain the popularity of crossover vehicles, which often have softer suspensions than their sedan counterparts. But Honda is working on something that would bring the buffering inside the cabin. 

Honda has sent us a brief on its hopes and plans for the near future.

Not surprisingly, there's a fair amount of optimism and some gestures toward EV plans.

We've covered the Honda Civic Type R's Nurburgring time twice already because we find it pretty interesting to see what a FWD sports car can do.

That said, we also know that manufacturers love to tout the 'Ring times whenever they can.

We're wondering, do you care?

Yesterday, our man Matt Posky ably wrote about the 2023 Honda Civic Type R and its record-setting lap at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, circling the Green Hell in 7:44.881, enough to best the 2019 Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R by over half a second.

This got us thinkin’: with a time like that, what other cars did it beat?

When it comes to performance vehicles sporting front-wheel drive, the Honda Civic Type R is usually the model everyone looks to as the benchmark, and the eleventh generation seems to be no different. The manufacturer has announced that the 2023 Honda Civic Type R is now the fastest front-drive production car to ever lap Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Conversation icebreakers and clickbait listicles often start with a similar conceit - a hypothetical question meant to get you thinking and talking. The listicle, of course, answers these questions in a way alternately designed to enrage the reader or to promote whatever crap is being sold by the shady owners of the website that week, but it’s a great method of encouraging conversation.

Recalls on much older vehicles aren’t the most common, but they happen. Honda recently issued one for the 2007-2011 CR-V, but only for owners living in salt-belt states. The nasty cold-weather road elixir can accumulate, causing the frame to corrode and potentially the rear trailing arm to detach. Automakers often issue long warranties against rust-through and other types of corrosion, but few stretch to this length and potential mileage.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking a look at 2022 and 2023 Honda Civics over steering issues.

Specifically, so-called "sticky steering".

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a notice that nearly 450,000 Honda and Acura models are being recalled over seat-belt latches that may malfunction. 

The IndyCar season starts this weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Honda is previewing the hybrid tech we'll see in the series in 2024 with a CR-V-based race vehicle.

It’s hard to keep anything a secret these days, especially when it comes to car nerds on the internet. Honda’s “super secret” museum at its Torrence, CA headquarters is a poorly-kept secret, but regardless of its visibility, it appears the spot is closing at the end of the month. 

The Takata airbag fiasco appears to be a never-ending struggle with Honda recently having to issue a stop-drive notice on roughly 8,200 automobiles manufactured about 20 years ago. Due to the massive scale of the Takata airbag recalls, there are still more than a few units out there that have yet to be replaced. Though it seems like those in possession of these dangerous inflators had to have been living under a rock to have missed any mention of what turned out to be the largest recall campaign in automotive history.

There are only two hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCEV) on sale today. One is sold by Hyundai, and the other by Toyota. Honda sold one for several years until 2021 when it discontinued the Clarity FCEV. The automaker now says it plans to develop a hydrogen-powered CR-V for the U.S. market and promises a launch by the end of 2024.

There are some obscure facts that only hardcore auto enthusiasts get, but VTEC is almost universal. As evidenced by the number of memes and videos of people pretending to be blown away by “VTEC kicking in.” Unfortunately, Honda’s ditching VTEC, at least on its 3.5-liter V6.

Yes, it's true -- there are still Honda CRXs out there.

Things are slowly starting to normalize in the new car market as automakers regain footing after a brutal few years of supply chain disruptions and a pandemic. But while it might be getting easier to buy a new car, desirable new cars are a different story. Some dealers take reservations, some don’t, and most add thousands to the bottom line on cars like the Toyota GR Corolla and Honda Civic Type R as demand far outstrips supply. As it turns out, the situation is the same everywhere, including Australia, where Honda dealers say the Civic Type R’s first-year allocation has sold out in less than 24 hours.

We’ve been hearing about a supposed Honda-Sony EV project for a long time, but it finally appears there’s something real to talk about. The duo used CES 2023 as the launchpad for their new EV prototype, dubbed Afeela. 

The Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are old rivals, but the Honda recently got an overhaul for 2023, giving it an edge over its aging competitor. Honda debuted the car late in 2022 and now says the new Accord is hitting dealers’ lots. 

Would you pay $100K for a new Honda Civic Type R?

It’s easy to pile on with criticism of the metaverse and Mark Zuckerberg’s ridiculous virtual reality fantasies, but there are plenty of practical uses for the technology. Honda used VR to continue pushing forward with vehicle design during the pandemic. 

Spend your Sunday evening gazing upon the words of Alex Dykes as he reviews the 2013 Honda Accord EX.

A new study shows that a lot of Tesla buyers are coming to the brand from Honda and Toyota.

Honda is chanting the mantra in which the automotive industry magically delivers “a collision-free society” by leveraging the latest technology. Though this is hardly a novel marketing strategy, even for Honda, and one that predictably requires you to be patient because the company says it won’t be arriving as standard equipment until 2030.

Today's QOTD is straightforward and simple. The Honda Accord is one of the most well-known (and most popular, in terms of sales) nameplates on market. So when there's a new one, which happens every four to five years, people take note.

While some brands are running away from the full-size sedan segment as if it were populated with venomous rattlesnakes, others are re-upping their wares on a decently regular basis. The latest? Honda, with its venerable Accord.

Just don’t think it’s going to make as much power as it once did, okay?

Hello there and welcome to the first edition of the TTAC Quick Drive. This is basically a short version of a car review that we will apply either when a test vehicle doesn't really need a full review (perhaps its a mild refresh and mechanically unchanged) or we didn't get a lot of miles on a car (perhaps we drive a vehicle at an event for only 15 minutes). We may also use this to preview the full review of a vehicle that will publish later.

The Honda Pilot has been with us for four generations now, showing up for duty after the suits at Honda finally figured out two decades ago that Americans were serious about their thirst for XL SUVs. For 2023, the model earns new looks, a revamped interior, and a more powerful V6 engine.

Honda hasn’t sold the Prelude in more than 20 years, but a crop of new rumors have us hoping to see an electrified version of the iconic Japanese coupe. Australia’s Drive uncovered a story from Japan’s Best Car publication that says Honda will bring the Prelude name back in 2028 on a new EV. 

On Tuesday, Honda teased the arrival of the 11th generation Accord – offering a series of darkened photos and just enough relevant information to whet one’s appetite.

Just a bit ago, Matt wrote about how the 2023 Honda Civic is dropping its value-priced LX trim. He pointed out that Honda has done this with other models.

For 2023, the Honda Civic LX is getting the boot – effectively making the Sport the new base trim. But this also means the model will become $2,100 more expensive than the previous generation. The good news is that the Sport comes with more features, though that may be of little consolation to cash-strapped buyers that had hoped the sickly global economy would result in cheaper and more practical automobiles taking the stage.

It has been exactly 45 years since Honda announced it would put plans in motion to begin building vehicles in the United States. Given that important date in company history, we shouldn’t be too surprised it chose today to announce they are investing several billion dollars in Ohio, all earmarked for EVs.

Honda has dabbled in EVs, but its first mass-market model doesn’t go on sale in the U.S. until 2024. The Prologue will be the inaugural Honda EV for our market, and today, the automaker shared details and images of the new SUV.

It’s not too common for an employer to ask for a cash repayment from its employees, but that’s exactly what happened late last week near Columbus, Ohio. The sudden chargeback has resulted in angry Honda employees who are balking at their employer’s request.

One could be forgiven for worrying that when Honda updated the Civic, it would muck things up. Make a good thing worse. Especially when it comes to the enthusiast-oriented Si trim.

The eleventh-generation car debuted last year as a 2022, and the Si version followed soon after. As most of you no doubt know, the Si is the hopped-up performance version of the Civic, though it’s not the highest-performance trim. That would be the Type R, which is currently on hiatus for the moment – the 2023 Honda Civic Type R will bow soon.

The new Civic Type R is one of the most anticipated Honda vehicles in decades. Besides a few teaser images, the automaker has been characteristically mum on specs and details. That changed late yesterday when Honda dropped a load of new information on the car, including horsepower and engine specs.

Honda is reportedly considering tweaking its global supply chain to create a firm distinction between the Chinese and global markets. While the whole world has seen production stymied by restrictive protocols introduced in response to COVID-19, the Chinese Communist Party has retained a zero-tolerance policy that appears to have totally upended its economy and resulted in continued factory stalls. That's bad news for several Japanese automakers that have stepped up their reliance on Chinese production.

Last year, roughly 40 percent of Honda's automotive production (which includes part sourcing) came through China. This year, the company is allegedly wondering how to tear itself away from the market without losing the ability to sell cars to its massive population.

The 2023 Honda CR-V gets a fresh redesign that brings an equipment shuffle and commitment to hybridization.

Honda is showing off the 2023 Civic Type R prior to its official debut on July 20th to whet global appetites.

While the manufacturer said “the camo is coming off” in its latest round teasers, the model remains heavily obscured to maintain hype before the big reveal. Though the vehicle has historically not strayed all that far from mainstream Civic variants, often adding some aerodynamic enhancements to make the Type R more stable at speed. Based on what we’ve seen of the camouflaged test mules, that looks to be the recipe once again.

Honda is recalling more than 112,000 Ridgeline pickup trucks for gas tank straps that can rust away over time and potentially break loose from the frame, causing a leak or possibly a fire.

One of the things this author has always appreciated about the Honda Ridgeline is its car-like qualities. More than once, the phrase “Accord on stilts” has escaped my lips when talking about the Ridgeline with fellow auto scribes, and I meant it as a compliment.

Imagine my dismay to find that the refreshed 2021 Honda Ridgeline felt jussssst a bit more “trucky” than before.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has listed its’ automotive recalls for June 2 through 9 and the list includes Audi, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, and Honda vehicles for various types of recalls.

Honda has begun teasing out the electric Prologue in earnest, with its latest offering being a sketch of what appears to be a lifted Civic. Though what we’re actually seeing is the brand’s newest “adventure-ready” SUV tapping into the same inoffensive design language that now graces the ever-popular sedan.

The styling is neutral, perhaps even a little dull. But it’s unlikely to put anybody in a bad mood and is still rounded off in all the places one would expect from an EV. The Prologue looks as though it could come from Lucid, just with a dash of rugged design from Rivian and underpinned by Honda’s current design language. There’s little to gripe about, though there’s also not much to ogle.

Ahead of Honda’s planned EVs offensive for the United States, the automaker has announced a deluge of hybrid variants of existing products. However these new vehicles will come at the expense of the Insight, which the company had just confirmed will be discontinued after 2022. In its stead will be new hybrid trips for the CR-V, Accord, and Civic — the latter of which served as the template for the passing model.

As if the 2023 Honda HR-V hasn’t been teased enough. The wraps are finally off, yet we still know little about the mechanicals.

“Early morning, April 4, shot rings out in the Memphis sky” — so goes the lyric from one of my favorite ’80s rock songs, U2’s great “Pride (In the Name of Love), referencing the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., which of course took place on a fateful spring day.

Now that I’ve burned that lede from the list of possible references to be used someday, let me pivot to something that’s happening this coming April 4 — something much less serious than the death of a civil-rights activist.

The wraps come off the 2023 Honda HR-V.

Much like the V20 Toyota Camry covered by Rare Rides recently, Honda’s CA generation Accord was a big, important step forward for Honda’s mainstream sedan. Designed for a global market and manufactured in many different countries, the CA Accord put the nameplate on the minds of many a middle-market American consumer. Let’s take a trip back in time, to when cars were still square.