(FORTUNE Magazine) – Some of the hybrid cars on the road these days look like members of an odd vehicular subspecies. But when Honda launches the hybrid version of its bestselling Accord in December, the only hint of its electromechanical inner weirdness will be a "hybrid" badge on the rear end. Speed buffs take note: The gasoline-electric powertrain under its hood makes this hybrid the quickest-accelerating model in the Accord lineup. Six-cylinder performance with four-cylinder fuel economy is the idea here.

In its hybrid incarnation, the Accord gets 29 miles per gallon in city driving and 37 mpg on the highway--an appreciable improvement over the 21- to 30-mpg mileage of the conventional Accord V-6. The new Accord Hybrid's thrift derives from a battery-electric Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system similar to the one used in the Civic hybrid, and from a V-6 gasoline engine that stops when the car isn't moving and shuts down three of its cylinders when power demand is low.

Honda plans to import 20,000 Accord Hybrids during the next year, wearing a $30,000 pricetag, about $3,000 more than a nicely equipped traditional Accord EX V-6. Guess in Honda's case the old saying is true: It's what's on the inside that counts. -- Stuart F. Brown