The 2023 Honda Accord lineup—including the Accord Hybrid—has achieved top crash-test results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the agency revealed on Friday.
Improved side-impact protection, part of the redesign the Accord lineup received for 2023, is partly to credit for the top showing. It now achieves a “Good” rating in the updated side test, versus a “Marginal” rating for the outgoing 2022 models, giving it a spot on the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ honor roll.
The IIHS confirmed to City Dwellers that it doesn’t distinguish hybrids in its current ratings, so results announced last week for the Accord apply to all versions of the Accord Hybrid, too.
The requirements for Top Safety Pick status evolve as more automakers meet the criteria. The IIHS now tests front crash prevention systems in daytime and nighttime conditions, and while those results for the Accord lineup are also respectable, they leave room for improvement. The Accord Hybrid and other Accord models achieve the top rating of “Superior” in daylight but “Advanced” in the dark.
As in previous years, models must get top “Good” ratings for small overlap and moderate overlap front tests. The IIHS has dropped roof strength (rollover), head-restraint, and vehicle-to-vehicle categories this year.
2023 Honda Accord
In a review, the 2023 Honda Accord impressed City Dwellers as modestly improved in most ways, and more entertaining to drive than its predecessor. Its hybrid system tends to bring the drivability of an electric car, and it functions as a series hybrid some of the time; a reconfigured version of the powertrain also given to the CR-V Hybrid altogether makes the Accord Hybrid feel perkier at higher speeds.
Alongside the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, it’s among the most fuel-efficient large or midsize sedans you can buy in the U.S. The 2023 Accord Hybrid achieves EPA ratings of 48 mpg combined, 51 city, and 44 highway—that results in an excellent 614 miles of range on its 12.8-gallon tank, according to the agency (based on the combined number).
At the time of publication, the Camry Hybrid is on the revised 2023 Top Safety Pick+ list while the Sonata Hybrid hasn’t made the cut.
