Plug-in hybrid Accord is the best new Accord

— -- Honda adds two gasoline-electric hybrids next year to the new Accord lineup, both to be sold as 2014 models, at prices not yet announced.

Next spring, expect a plug-in hybrid that Honda hopes will be rated for 10 to 15 miles on battery power before the gas engine has to kick in. That's a lot for a plug-in, which uses much smaller battery packs than full-electric cars.

A few months later, Honda will launch a non-plug-in hybrid, too.

We had a short time in a pre-production version of the plug-in and found it wonderful. Best driving feel of any electrified vehicle we can remember. It also gets our vote as the best version of the new Accord.

PHOTOS: The new Accord

TEST DRIVE: James R. Healey's review

The Accord's hybrid system is a radical shift from Honda's simple system on the Insight and Civic hybrids. Accord uses two electric motors and a single-speed transmission, teamed with a 2-liter gas four-cylinder unique to the Accord hybrid.

It always uses electric power to get rolling and for most low-speed driving (below 45 mph). Electric motors are torque monsters, so they don't need the help from low-transmission gearing that gasoline engines require to jump and run.

If the drain on the battery is too much, the gasoline engine kicks in to run a generator.

At about 45 mph, Accord's gas engine takes over and begins directly driving the wheels. Gas engines are more suited to high speed.

It worked like magic in the test car, which Honda says is representative of how regular production models will feel. Stunningly quiet. No shudders, shakes, shimmies; no intrusion of any kind as the hybrid system moved between gas and electric power. Not "almost none." Absolutely none.

And the electric motor's low-speed punch made the Accord frisky and fun. It also seemed to handle better despite the extra weight of the hybrid's battery pack.

The car surrenders roughly half its trunk to batteries, though. And it will come only as a single, well-equipped model, so is certain to be high-priced by Accord standards.

Still, it strikes us as worth waiting to try the Accord plug-in before making a decision on which midsize sedan to put into your garage. Never mind the eco-benefits. The plug-in Accord is just so sweet to drive.