A Honda hybrid with a plug? Accord e:PHEV surfaces in China in resurgence of plug-in tech for Japanese brand

While Honda is only just rolling out ‘self-charging’ hybrid technology across its Australian range, eschewing its global catalogue of fully electric vehicles, it is also launching plug-in hybrid technology across its range overseas.

Thanks to filings with the Chinese ministry of industry and information technology, the Accord is the latest model to get a plug-in hybrid overhaul.

While Honda has never had plug-in hybrid models in Australia, it has had several plug-in hybrids for the US market, including the Clarity hatch, and previous-generation Accord.

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The new Chinese-market Accord e:PHEV has slightly tweaked styling compared to the model available in Australia, which trades out the chrome highlights on our car for contrasting black detailing, thinner headlight strips and an alternate rhomboid grille design.

Images filed with the ministry also show alternate alloy wheel designs and a completely redesigned rear, with more contemporary light fittings, complete with a bar across the rear and PHEV badging. Otherwise the Accord mostly follows the same design tropes as the updated left-hand-drive version of the Accord, which was revealed for the US-market late in 2022.

The e:PHEV system is also available on the Chinese-market CR-V and its alternatively-styled spin-off, the Breeze. In these applications, the system combines a 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine with an electric motor and relatively large 17kWh battery pack allowing a claimed purely electric cruising range of 65km in the case of the CR-V.

The new Chinese-market Accord e:PHEV has a completely redesigned rear.

The Accord is currently available in Australia as either a combustion car, or as a ‘self-charging’ hybrid. Given the brand’s resistance to even launching its readily-available right-hand-drive fully electric models in Australia, and the extremely limited appeal of the Accord and sedan segment generally, we wouldn’t expect to see the PHEV arrive in Australia.

For context, the current-generation Honda Accord sold 96 units in 2022 and 90 units in 2021, even shorter than Honda’s own expectation of 150 units annually. It costs from $57,900 for the 1.5-litre turbo model, or $61,900 for the 2.0-litre hybrid, competing primarily with the Camry SL hybrid (from $48,490).

The e:PHEV system is also available on the Chinese-market CR-V which has a claimed purely electric cruising range of 65km.

Honda’s next moves in Australia will be to launch the ZR-V small SUV, which size-wise slots between the HR-V and CR-V, the Civic Type R, and possibly the new-generation CR-V.

Honda was down 19.1 per cent year-on-year, moving just 14,253 units off the back of a new ‘agency’ strategy, direct sales model, and a more limited range consisting of only highly specified variants in hybrid or combustion form. Its future volume aspirations will be underpinned by the new CR-V and ZR-V, although the brand has not completely ruled out the return of the once-popular Jazz, which is currently on-sale just over the ditch in New Zealand. Currently it is a 1.5-litre combustion car only, and costs from the equivalent of $25,621 AUD.