New Hybrid focuses on horsepower, not conservation

In the race to catch up with Toyota in Hybrid vehicle sales, Honda is sacrificing the main benefit of hybrid vehicles--gasoline conservation--for greater horsepower:

Honda promises that the Accord Hybrid, with 255 horsepower, will perform better than its top-of-the-line, 240-horsepower, six-cylinder, gas-powered Accord.

As the first hybrid with a six-cylinder engine, the company says, it will accelerate from a stop to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, besting the regular Accord's eight-second time. What's more, Honda's tests show the Accord Hybrid will get 30 miles per gallon in the city and 37 mpg on the highway, versus the federal EPA rating of 21 mpg city and 30 highway for the conventional model. With an expected price of $30,000, the Accord Hybrid will cost about $3,300 more than the current EX model on which it is based.

That falls short of the fuel efficiency standards required to trigger HOV privileges (if passed), and would double the already-hefty ten years required to recoup the cost of a hybrid engine in gasoline savings.