The 2014 Honda Accord is the recipient of Green Car Journal’s 2014 Green Car of the Year award. The new model beat out the Toyota Corolla, the Mazda3, the Audi A6 TDI and the BMW 328d in winning the latest award.
The Green Car of the Year award is juror selected and is always announced on the second press day of the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Accord is the second Honda model to win the award in the past three years. Two years earlier the Honda Civic Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) model garnered the award.
Earth Dreams Technology
Honda outfits every 2014 Accord with its Earth Dreams Technology powertrains including a 2.4-liter four cylinder engine. Honda pairs this engine with a continuously variable transmission or a six-speed manual transmission. The Accord is rated as high as 27 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway.
Customers may also opt for a 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The larger engine is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission or a six-speed manual transmission. The V-6 Accord is rated as high as 21 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway.
Earth Dreams represents a number of technological advances over earlier generation Honda powertrains. For example its gasoline engines make use of variable valve timing and employ a lift electronic control system to improve thermal efficiency and to reduce friction. The result is better fuel economy and fewer emissions. The new technology also encompasses improvements to its diesel engine line, its transmissions, and to its hybrid systems.
Accord Hybrid Models
But it is the Honda Accord Hybrid that leads the model line in fuel efficiency and has the lowest emissions. The standard hybrid, powered by a 2.0-liter four cylinder engine paired with a continuously variable transmission and an electric motor, is rated at 50 mpg in the city and 45 mpg on the highway. A plug-in version of the Accord Hybrid is also available, making 47 mpg in the city and 46 on the highway. Moreover, when this model runs on a combination of electricity and gasoline it makes a fuel economy equivalent to a whopping 115 MPGe.
In presenting this year’s award Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com said, “With its efficient internal combustion, hybrid, and plug-in choices, the 2014 Honda Accord delivers exactly what consumers are looking for today. It all comes together this year for the Accord in ways that speak to significant environmental performance built into a mainstream, volume model that’s a joy to drive. The Accord is a deserving winner of Green Car Journal’s 2014 Green Car of the Year.”
Green Car of the Year
Responding on behalf of Honda about the Green Car of the Year Award was Mike Accavitti, senior vice president of Automobile Operations at American Honda. Said Accavitti, “Led by the 2014 Accord Hybrid, the entire Accord lineup really embodies the promise of the Honda brand to deliver both fun-to-drive enjoyment and outstanding fuel efficiency at the highest level. I want to say thank you to Green Car Journal, not just for honoring Accord, but for shining a spotlight on the environment and our shared vision for an ultra-low carbon future.”
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