Regardless of their superior engineering, Honda’s hybrid cars have never been seen as serious competitors to Toyota’s Prius. However, the very first Honda hybrid, the Insight, outdid the Prius in the year 1999 in terms of sales in the United States. However, Toyota has continued to be the kind in hybrid sales. The original Honda hybrid car had a three-cylinder gas engine and a small-sized motor-generator. In 2014 and 2015, the Accord hybrids entered the U.S. market and had a cylinder engine of 2-liter capacity. They also had two motor-generators that could provide gas-only, electric-only, or electric propulsion and mixed gas.

The new 2017’s Honda Accord will be launched this spring and will be available in all the 50 states of the U.S. This mid-sized four-door car has numerous driveline changes aimed at improving performance and mileage. While the starting price has not yet been stated, hints indicate that there will be a slight increase from 2015’s Accord’s base price of $30,140. Contrary to previous times, there will not be any plug-in version since Honda has a plan of offering a special, dedicated plug-in vehicle.

Honda says the new car will have a dual hybrid system with a four-cylinder engine with a capacity of 2 liters. The system is linked to the first motor generator through a computer-monitored clutch while the second generator is connected directly to the car’s differential. Fully electric mode through the second motor is enabled by disengaging the clutch. When the charge of the battery is finished, the engine is cranked by the first motor, which then generates the electric power to be used by the second motor.

While only limited engineering details have been released by Honda, it has been stated that the new Accord will incorporate a battery pack made from lithium ion as well as an improved version of the two-motor driveline. Changes have also been made to the Atkinson-cycle cylinder engine to increase the total system output to 212 horsepower. These details were revealed by Ryan Hary, Honda’s project manager. The mileage ratings have shown a slight improvement to 45 mpg highway drive, 48 mpg city drive and combined mileage of 47 mpg. Honda plans to deliver up to 28,000 Accord hybrid cars per year, which is twice the number achieved by the previous edition. Some of its direct competitors will be the hybrid versions of Ford Fusion, the Camry, Kia Optima, Chevrolet Malibu, and the Hyundai Sonata. Some facelifts were done to Accord for 2016 and this entails different upgrades to the new hybrid. It is clear that this is a car to watch out for this spring.