Even while facing an onslaught of plug-in and fully electrified vehicles, the traditional hybrid – that is, one that doesn’t plug-in – doggedly remains. This stop-gap powertrain between dirty old combustion and the ever-impending arrival of emissions-free motoring should be ready to exit stage left as more advanced and even cleaner powertrains wait in the wings.

Yet here we are, some 18 years after Honda first introduced the U.S. to its funny-looking hybrid Insight hatchback, reviewing another all-new hybrid wearing a Honda badge: the 2018 Accord Hybrid. The more things change, the more they stay the same.