2023 Honda Accord Adds In-Car Google Assistant, Google Maps, and More Apps

The software will be available first as standard equipment on the 2023 Accord Touring, the mid-size sedan's top trim, which features the biggest touchscreen ever fitted to a Honda at 12.3 inches. To reduce this screen's risk of distraction, the infotainment system will add Google Assistant to control major functions of the vehicle using voice controls. With voice commands only, Google Assistant can alter the vehicle's climate control settings or set navigation directions using Google Maps, which will show the route in the 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster. (The Accord Touring also features a HUD.)

Voice commands can also be used to communicate, either by making calls or responding to messages. With Google Play, users will be able to add new apps for entertainment, from music streaming services to podcast apps to audiobooks, all of which will be controllable through voice functions. Being so heavily integrated with Google, the Accord will feature Android Auto, as well as Apple CarPlay—it won't lock out its rival. The system will also accept over-the-air updates to improve owners' experience over time.

The new Google software will first reach customers' hands when the 2023 Honda Accord reaches dealers in January. Google integration will also star in "future Honda models" that follow it. Honda remained cagey about availability on lower trims or other models when contacted, with a spokesperson declining to elaborate on the company's rollout plans.

More broadly, the functions are also starting to appear in the products of Honda's EV ally GM, which uses similar software in its GMC Hummer EV. The Polestar 2 also employs Google software similarly. Google is also making ingresses into the auto industry through vehicular automation software and hardware, which manifests in its autonomy project Waymo.

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