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2016 Honda HR-V scores class-leading 35 mpg

Smaller cars generally net better fuel economy ratings, and while crossovers aren't generally as efficient as hatchbacks and small sedans, smaller crossovers are getting better EPA ratings all the time. The latest to join the pack is the new 2016 Honda HR-V. The US Environmental Protection Agency has just released its ratings for the littlest Honda crossover, and the figures are pretty impressive. In front-wheel-drive form with the optional continuously variable transmission, the HR-V is rated at 28 miles per gallon in the city, 35 on the highway and 31 combined. Those figures make it the most economical conventionally powered SUV on the market. (The EPA doesn't distinguish between truck-based sport-utes and car-based crossovers) Among crossovers, the FWD HR-V outperforms the Nissan Juke, Kia Soul, Chevrolet Trax, Buick Encore... the whole lot. Only the Mazda CX-5 matches it on the highway rating, which is noteworthy since it's a much bigger vehicle. Along with the forthcoming Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade, Mazda's nearly here CX-3 hasn't been rated yet (we predict it will score better than the HR-V, if only to improve on the fuel economy ratings of its larger CX-5 counterpart). Of course, there are hybrids that get better ratings than the Honda, but comparing a hybrid to a conventional vehicle is like comparing apples to electrically charged oranges. Naturally, the picture changes a bit if you go for all-wheel drive or the available six-speed manual. In AWD spec (only available with the CVT), the HR-V gets 27 city, 32 highway and 29 combined. The front-driver with the six-speed suffers a worse fate at 25 city, 34 highway and 28 combined. No matter which way you slice it, of course, the Fit hatchback upon which the HR-V is based, with its CVT hooked up to a smaller engine and with less weight to motivate, still sips fuel more lightly than the HR-V. But as far as crossovers go, Honda's new HR-V is looking pretty frugal. Featured Gallery 2016 Honda HR-V View 25 Photos News Source: EPAImage Credit: Honda Green Honda Crossover honda hr-v

Honda working on 'power exporter' to go with fuel-cell vehicle

The bad news, as we've previously reported, is that Honda's first production hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle won't debut until 2016, a bit later than expected. The good news is that the automaker may produce a device that will let that FCV's motor power up other devices as well. So it's a tradeoff of sorts. The company is producing what it calls the Power Exporter Concept. Put simply, it's a device that can connects to the fuel-cell vehicle and produce AC power (the picture makes it look fairly small, but dimensions weren't disclosed). The device has a maximum output of 9 kilowatts. Honda isn't saying much else about the device, which was announced along with further details of the company's upcoming fuel-cell concept vehicle. Still, it's heady yet not terribly surprising stuff from a company that's long been a big player on the portable power generator industry. Honda recently said its first production fuel-cell vehicle would see the light of day in early 2016 instead of 2015. The futuristic-looking vehicle will have a power output of about 130 horsepower and will be able to have its hydrogen tank filled up in less than five minutes. Take a look at Honda's press release below. Honda Unveils All-New FCV CONCEPT Fuel-Cell Vehicle - Striving to Realize a CO2-free Society by Combining FCV with an external power feeding device and Smart Hydrogen Station - TOKYO, Japan, November 17, 2014 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled, for the first time in the world, the Honda FCV CONCEPT, a concept car for an all-new fuel-cell vehicle (FCV), and the Honda Power Exporter CONCEPT, a concept model for an external power feeding device that enables AC power output from the FCV with maximum output of 9 kW*1. The all-new FCV that will be based on this concept model is scheduled to go on sale in Japan by the end of March, 2016 and subsequently in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to the FCV and external power feeding device, Honda will further promote the application of the Smart Hydrogen Station (SHS), a packaged hydrogen station unit that adopts Honda's original high-differential-pressure electrolyzer. In this way, Honda will work toward the forthcoming hydrogen society under three key concepts – "generate," "use" and "get connected" – and strive for the early realization of a CO2-free society.

Honda's U.S. Plants Build Ten Million Accords, 20 Million Total Vehicles

The ten millionth American-built Honda Accord rolled off the assembly line Friday at the Japanese automaker's plant in Marysville, Ohio, according to Autoblog. Honda is celebrating not only the Accord, which is the seventh best selling nameplate of all time, but also an accumulative 20 million Hondas built in the U.S. since the company first started manufacturing at Marysville in November 1982. Honda was the first Japanese automaker to gamble on American manufacturing. Now, 94 percent of all Hondas sold in the U.S are American-built. They are made in facilities in Ohio, Alabama and Indiana. Honda's U.S. plants manufactured 1.3 million vehicles last year - a company record. Honda currently builds the best-selling Civic and Accord, as well as the Crosstour, CR-V, Pilot, Odyssey and Ridgeline in the U.S. Acura, Honda's luxury brand, also builds cars at the American plants, including the ILX, TL, RDX and MDX. Related Gallery History's 10 best-selling cars of all time View 11 Photos By the Numbers Honda