Tested: Three Solid, Affordable 2023 Hybrids From Toyota And Honda

Hybrids, despite the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, are still very much a hot item, with most manufacturers offering at least one in their fleet. That’s great news for people stretching their gas dollars. Here are three recently tested ones I liked, and my impressions.

2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid SE AWD

This year’s Corolla hybrid lineup expands with four new Hybrid grades, including a “more powerful hybrid system” and available all-wheel drive. Additionally, all 2023 Corolla models gain next-generation Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 and next-generation Toyota Audio Multimedia. The SE AWD trim I tested is also quite reasonable with a sticker of $27,685 and delivering a healthy 44 MPG city/highway combined in most conditions.

Its looks are sharp, especially for a vehicle in this price range, and it was a pleasure to look out the window and see it in the driveway. It’s also quite slow, though, taking 9 seconds to get from 0-60, but the positive side of that is that if you, say, buy one for your kid, you can be certain they’re not going to be entering any impromptu drag races. When the hybrid battery is depleted, the 0-60 time is even more feeble – 10.2 seconds. That’s why I put “more powerful hybrid system” in quotation marks. Are they talking about the way it smells?

You’re powered by a DOHC 16-valve 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle inline-4 engine making 134 horsepower and 156 lb-ft of torque, aided by 3 AC motors whose horsepower isn’t available. And how does it handle, drive and brake? Just fine, boss. Not “awesome,” but fine. In this price range, that’ll do. You do get some decent tires – 18-inch wheels with 225/40R-18 Dunlop SP Sport tires. They sure look good even if they don’t assist in any giddyap. It may sound like I’m picking on the little guy, but I’m not. For the price they’re asking, this is indeed a fine machine.

2023 Toyota Venza XLE Nightshade Edition

By now, most Toyota aficionados know about the Nightshade Edition, a package based on the XLE trim level that has also been offered on the Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Tacoma and Tundra. The package aims to jazz up your Toy, in this case the otherwise rather tame-looking Venza SUV, and it works well.

In this case, the Venza receives sharp-looking black accents with three available colors; Wind Chill Pearl, Celestial Black and Ruby Flare Pearl. (Blizzard Pearl has been given the boot for 2023.) Nightshade buyers also get 19-inch multispoke black-alloy wheels, blacked-out badging, LED foglights and an optional moonroof.

On your outside, you get acrylic front grille trim and smoked chrome moldings in the front and rear fascias. There is even more black on the mirrors and door handles. Your rocker panels are also black and if you opt for roof rails, they will be black as well. Finally, a black shark fin antenna appears on its roof.

In the XLE edition, my tester, you get a larger 12.3-inch display, as well as a 10-inch head-up display and super-comfy eight-way power passenger seats. Toyota Safety Sense comes standard and delivers a variety of driver-assist and assorted safety systems like radar cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane-keep assist among others. Fog lights come standard on the XLE, and for the Nightshade, that can be paired with Toyota’s big panoramic roof.

As to the rest, Venza features standard-issue all-wheel-drive motivated by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and three electric motors. This hybrid combo delivers a combined 219 horsepower (163 kilowatts) and returns an EPA-estimated 39 combined MPG. Prices start at a reasonable $34, 390, and mileage is a more-than-decent 39 MPG city/highway combined. All trims come standard with the Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 system, bundling such safety and driver-assistance features as forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning.

Its drive and handling, like the Corolla above, isn’t particularly ferocious, but that didn’t bother me. It’ll go from 0-60 in 7.6 seconds, and its brakes are on-point. From the outside, it looks bigger than it is inside. I’m not an exceedingly tall person but I felt the roof closer to the top of my head than I usually do in SUVs. One pleasing feature is its sunroof glass panels, which when deployed turn from transparent to opaque, a feature usually found only on luxe vehicles such as Mercedes-Benz SL trim.

It is an inexpensive, can-do if unspectacular driving experience, but the Nightshade Edition delivers snappy style and thus the Venza gets the thumbs-up.

2023 Honda Accord Sport-L Hybrid

Redesigned for 2023, the Accord remains of one the most popular cars of all time, and with good reason – reliability, generous interior space, decent power and not-bad looks. Two things I’m sorry to see go are an available stick shift and all-wheel drive. I understand getting rid of the stick like I understand dumping a Fax machine. The elimination of AWD is a head-scratcher, though.

It’s a handsome gent with its honeycomb grille, snazzy 5-tier rims, sloping rear merging tastefully with its trunk. The cabin’s also been given a going-over using elements from the company’s redesigned Civic, CR-V and HR-V including a freestanding rectangular infotainment display beginning at the top of the instrument panel. Its tech has also been updated and includes a new standard digital gauge display and an available 12.3-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. My Sport L started at $34,420.

In the Sport-L, you get a 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine and two electric motors making a total of 204 horsepower. Honda says they’ve improved the steering and suspension so the handling and ride quality, but it’s hard to tell unless you have a 2022 model handy, so we’ll take their word for it. Bottom line, though, is that the Accord is zippy, fun to drive, takes corners reasonably well and stops quickly when you press the pedal, and that’s all you can ask for.

You’ll most certainly squeeze at least 45 MPG city/highway, and possibly as much as 51 depending on road conditions and your manner of driving, and Honda says they’ve upgraded the front seats to support riders more firmly.

The Accord remains a deservedly popular car with a not-bad price and a great reputation, and thus gets two thumbs-up.