[JohnFromNC]

Hi all.

We purchased a new '19 Accord Hybrid EX-L in July with 11 miles on it. I just past my 10K mark (I drive a good bit).
I have noticed that between 40-60 mph, when the power shifts from engine to EV or vice versa, there is a noticeable hesitation (small jerk).
I took the car in to the local Honda dealership. They kept it all day. Drove it for less than 2 miles and at the end of the day told me that this is normal behavior (as they put it, they called a Honda Tech and Honda has confirmed that there is nothing to worry about, this is normal). I have a hard time believing that the jerk that I feel when a power shift happens is "normal".

The car also appears to be very noisy when charging the battery (say when I am stopped at a red light).

Has anyone else experienced this? I will poke around the forum to see if anyone else has reported this behavior.

Many thanks,
John.

 

[Frank of Eden]

The noise when charging or powering the E. motor (when passing cars etc.) is ALWAYS loud! That is normal. That was one of the big complaints that some of the reviewers had when they tested the car... sometimes the car sounds like it is "passing another car" but is actually either sitting still or just cruising along. I was aware of that noise when I found one to test drive and expected it so it was not a big surprise to me... sometimes people riding with me for the first time can get a little concerned though. ?
As far as the "change over sound" (at somewhere between 42 and 50 mph) I have never heard or felt that particular event. So I guess mine is a little smoother than other cars. I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer has not found it or knows anything about it. Unless that dealer has sold, I would think at least 100 or so HYBRIDS they would not have a reason to know anything about it. It is impressive how uneducated the majority of the dealer mechanics are about the car. Mostly the Service mgr. is the only one that gets to go to the "big teaching conventions" about the "specialty veh.s"... at least the dealers in my area are not putting much effort into how it all works. My dealer has the serv. mgr. and ONE tec. who seem to know how the car actually works even then they make plenty of calls to the manufacture about "little things" that come up. Like the "re-booting" of our dash boards computer... no one knows what is causing that (at least that is what they are all saying in my area)...I have a friend in Calf. who works for a big dealer who has sold a lot of them and he has told me that they get several questions every month about the "reboot" but the manufacture says nothing is wrong that "needs" to be fixed... even though they say the company is working on a fix. Maybe the 2020's have corrected that.
No idea where you live exactly but I live at the Va line in NC and the biggest problem I have had is MPG. It is very difficult for me to get the stated 47 mpg for the car because of the amount of driving I actually do. The car is said to be designed to function very well AFTER it is completely warmed up, AND has been driven at least 10 miles. I seldom do that (more like 4 or 5 miles then shop and return home). But when I actually travel 10 miles or more the dash computer can actually show in the 40's... and when a get back into the car after picking up what I need (ten min.s or so parked), on my way home the gauge will quite often show in the 50's as my "trip mpg".
Most people who drive like I do, are very disappointed in the MPG. But also traveling in the winter will drop your mpg about 5 mpg. We are now in the winter here in NC so my mpg is running normally in the high 30's ... spring and fall are my best MPG and also any trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway.... ha ha. Going up to the VA end of the BRP I get about 37 to 42 but... coming home I have gotten over 60 quite often... going down hill is a great gas saver. ?

 

[JohnFromNC]

Howdy there Frank.

Thanks for the post. I drive a lot in the triangle area and in and about town I get between 40-47 mpg. Summer time was a lot more steady but with the colder the weather the mpg has gone down.
For about a month I have been tracking the Power Flow on my dash and the "jerk/hesitation" that I feel is definitely when a shift in power occurs, say from gas to electric or running on gas and charging the batteries. Sometimes it is a lot more pronounced (a harder jerk). I live pretty close to the dealership where I bought this car and one weekend I am going to drive there and test drive another car just to see what it does. It may be normal behavior but I find it annoying.
Another thing that really bugs me is the fact that I haven't been able to find a way to delete a radio station button once I have programmed it. I can overwrite it but there is no delete! What the heck?
Prior to this car, I had a Honda Odyssey 2009 with 220K+ miles on it. All but 55 of those miles are mine. I REALLY miss the space of my van. I can't wait for Honda or Toyota to bring out a hybrid minivan. I did test drive the Pacifica Plugin Hybrid and that is about as far as it got.

On the Accord, I have been thinking about getting a spare tire. Thoughts?

 

[Vegashybrid]

Consistently get low 50's mpg. I.get much better mpg in the city in normal mode, freeway better mpg in econ especially downhill. Freeway I get about 44-46 mpg. Hills and above 70mph seem to kill mpg. Also make sure your ac is off when the heat is on.
The hesitation is there it's natural but only really appears under heavy throttle situations for me. Many articles mention it. Feels like a cvt or a bigger turbo vehicle. You can feel and hear the engine going and all the sudden the rest of the car catches up. Smoother slower inputs seem to work better. There is no conventional transmission per se. But it does have gears, an overdrive clutch and a few input shafts and couple other moving parts that contribute to this. As far as the clunk when slowing down I notice it less often, usually close to when I am almost fully stopped. Overall the vehicle is very smooth and quiet. I don't find the the charging noise to really be all that loud and it doesn't kick on very often, and I drive a lot of miles a day. That being said I'm fairly observative of my battery gauge and tend to coast as much as possible on flat roads and try to keep the regen active. Maybe the 20's are more refined software wise?
I made the dealership throw the spare tire kit in when I bought it. How in the **** do you not give someone a spare friggin tire when run flats are not standard. Absolutely ridiculous! They tried giving me all the excuses, wouldn't cut it. Bottom line is a can of fix a flat and a compressor only work to a certain extent, and roadside assistance is only three years.

 

[Vegashybrid]

So I paid more attention to it today. The only real time the engine comes on and is super loud is in the morning. Almost every other time after its warm and the engine start's not running at that rpm. I think it's turned on twice at high rpm/noise level in 1800 miles after my engine was warm. It's definitely noticably louder but I don't find it really obtrusive honestly. If you have the radio on you barely notice. I think because the vehicle is so quiet most of the time, it seems louder than it really is.

 

[Frank of Eden]

Howdy there Frank.

Thanks for the post. I drive a lot in the triangle area and in and about town I get between 40-47 mpg. Summer time was a lot more steady but with the colder the weather the mpg has gone down.
For about a month I have been tracking the Power Flow on my dash and the "jerk/hesitation" that I feel is definitely when a shift in power occurs, say from gas to electric or running on gas and charging the batteries. Sometimes it is a lot more pronounced (a harder jerk). I live pretty close to the dealership where I bought this car and one weekend I am going to drive there and test drive another car just to see what it does. It may be normal behavior but I find it annoying.
Another thing that really bugs me is the fact that I haven't been able to find a way to delete a radio station button once I have programmed it. I can overwrite it but there is no delete! What the heck?
Prior to this car, I had a Honda Odyssey 2009 with 220K+ miles on it. All but 55 of those miles are mine. I REALLY miss the space of my van. I can't wait for Honda or Toyota to bring out a hybrid minivan. I did test drive the Pacifica Plugin Hybrid and that is about as far as it got.

On the Accord, I have been thinking about getting a spare tire. Thoughts?

Hey JOHN FROM NC... About that radio "cancellation" button thing... I have had the same problem. I filled up all the buttons and never found a way to delete one. If you ever find out how please post that info. It is a little upsetting but I am now listening to satellite radio most of the time, so changing channels much less, and I do not want to cancel everything and start again.

Your 40 to 47 MPG is a GREAT reading. You obviously drive your car the way it was designed to be driven. My driving is much less per trip, and I probably would have done better with a LEAF. Eden is up at the VA state line in the foothills so to speak, and short hills sap the MPG when the car is not truly warmed up. But I did want the ability to take long trips about two times a year (with out renting a car), so the Leaf was out of the question.

The Clunk you and others seem to experience I have not noticed... of course I do have the radio up (being a former radio employee I listen all the time), so I guess that could cover it up.

I have a question for you though... have you found that the computer in the middle of the dash "re-boots" a lot for you? Just wondering if they have gotten that fixed yet.

 

[S2sailorlis]

A few folks mentions the entertainment system rebooting now and then. It happened once in 2 months of ownership. To compare, my Mazda CX-5 head unit reboots every month or so. I think it comes with the territory. There is a firmware update for the Mazda but I don’t feel like paying for it....

 

[JohnFromNC]

Hi all.

Frank: My apologies for delay in following up, it has been a crazy couple of months.

Yes. I have had the infotainment unit reboot itself several times. Once while driving which was a bit scary given how interconnected everything is. I did connect the car to Internet and forced "check for updates" which came back with nothing to update.

Vegashybrid -- I feel the "jerk in motion" when the car shifts from EV to gas and back between 40-60 mph and I make a point of trying to keep the speed steady as much as possible to improve the mpg. To me it is annoying as heck. I am going to wait until it becomes fairly constant to take it back to the dealership and get someone to ride with me to they can feel it themselves. BTW, I wish I had pushed more for getting the spare when were buying this car. Fortunately, we use this car mainly for all the for local driving (which is a lot!)

-John

 

[Vegashybrid]

@JohnFromNC hey bud check out my diy solid mount thread. Really helped a ton. Cheers