Honda's All-New Honda Insight Hybrid: Fuel Economy Similar to Civic Hybrid
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 10. 2.08
On Sale Spring 2009, Expected Price: Around $18,500
At the Paris Auto Show, Honda is showing an almost-production prototype of its new dedicated hybrid car, the 5-door hatchback Insight (V 2.0). The company is also working on a hybrid based on the CRZ and a Jazz/Fit hybrid, as well as a new version of the Civic Hybrid. "Honda is planning global sales of more than 500,000 units per year with its four hybrids [with 200,000 of those being Insights], said Takeo Fukui, president and chief executive officer of Honda."
We have a lot more details (engine, MPG, etc) and photos below.
Honda Insight Hybrid Design
At first when we saw the Insight spy shots, we thought it looked quite a bit like the Prius. But now that we can have a better look, the similarities are still obvious, but we think the new Insight can stand on its own and doesn't look half bad (some weird design choices here and there, but it could have been worse).
Honda Insight Fuel Economy? MPG?
That's what everybody's wondering about, of course. We don't have a solid EPA number, but here's what Honda said:
CO2 emissions and fuel economy are targeted to be at a similar level to the existing Civic Hybrid, giving drivers a flexible and highly practical lower environmental impact car.
EPA rating for the Civic Hybrid is 40 city, 45 highway (42 combined).
We can't be sure if that's going to be the number for the new Insight until the car is tested by the EPA, though. Lets hope Honda is understating it to lower expectations and actually surprise us with something better than the Civic Hybrid...
More photos and details on page2!
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18k! Now we're talking. I might have to get one.
There should be an international law that gives incentives to eco-friendly cars.
Why Wait? You can buy one of these today - it's called a Civic Hybrid. Honestly, this shouldn't be called an "Insight" since it bears little resemblance to the award winning original. Why Honda is putting out two virtually identical models is beyond me. I'll wait for the CRZ2.
cool! affordable and Prius looking!
cha-ching!
I'll wait for the 2-door
why waste time building a hybrid? why not just build a plug in range extended electric car. technically i think its actually simpler to design and build. yea the batteries are more expensive, just use half the amount...using an all electric motors for the drive train and drive-by-wire everything makes the design simpler and more reliable and easier to fix.
There is no fuel economy improvement, but the car looks decent. If it were to have a 60mpg type fuel economy it would be quite attractive.
There is no fuel economy improvement, but the car looks decent. If it were to have a 60mpg type fuel economy it would be quite attractive.
Amazingly easy to impress people just by writing Hybrid on the decklid, I suppose. 42 MPG. With the proper driving technique, I get 38 mpg out of my 1998 Saturn with the AC on and 42 with it off. I really want a car that offers a REAL improvement to the fuel economy I currently get. This isn't it.
I'll be happy once Honda stops wasting it's time on the fuel cell vehicle and brings out an electric car. I really don't want to own a car but I know plenty of people will still "need" a car.
The Insight was a waste of time, money, effort, etc.
It's no different than the Honda Civic hybrid and it kind of reminds me of the Ford Focus in a way (design wise).
Honda, you have dissapointed me.
How fast does it go?
Why doesn't Honda release the Honda City in the US? From what I've heard it can achieve 60+mpg (US gallons) in a mixed driving scenario. And that's with 4 passengers. That puts most hybrids to shame.
Lame. You made a 65mpg car, stopped for a few years, and revamp it at 20mpg WORSE.
Try again...
Why must all dedicated hybrid models try to look like the Prius? Don't get me wrong, the Prius has become iconic, but the Chevy Volt concept was unique. Now we seem to have 'hybrid' as genre instead of vehicle. Park this next to the Volt and the Prius and you might get confused as to which car is yours.
YAY! it's a hatchback (trunks are so darn useless!!!)
BOO! It's got tiny rear doors (don't they want it to be used as taxis and limos like the Prius?)
Can't wait to drive one when I-Go (my local carshare) acquires some!
"Why must all dedicated hybrid models try to look like the Prius?"
Probably because it's got a pretty aerodynamic shape.
I don't understand why a Prius is always taken as a measure whilst some diesels are more efficient this hybrid. As mentioned in this blog, two journalists drove from London to Geneva (approx 880 km.) with a Toyota Prius and a BMW 520d Efficient Dynamics. The BMW was the most energy efficient.
BTW it seems that the insight doesn't even come close to the Prius wit it's poor 42 mpg
40 MPG would suck, I hope it gets better results.
But I would consider getting this car based on solely on design. I love the direction Honda took for the Civic 5D and this is almost as cool. One question, can I get a 2.2 diesel in the Insight body?
Three inches taller than the fit??? And only one inch wider??? The Fit already looks like a shoebox turned on it's side. Any taller and it'll flip over backing out of the driveway. Car makers need a low, wide coupe hybrid...http://www.autopartsdeal.com/dodge_truck/parts.html
So it's not a series or parallel hybrid? Interesting...
I actually love this car, Honda says that it will get "insane" mileage - one source says 77 mpg, but I'm sure that's optimistic.
All this talk about hybrid cars while screaming about dependance on oil. Why not go back a few years and start making the EV-1 again. No more addiction, clean air, good looks and performance to boot. What's wrong with that?
The reason most hybrid cars look like the Prius is that is the most areodynamic shape. Since saving fuel is the name of the game with hybrids that shape is the best way to accomplish that goal. I personnaly think that it looks nicer than the Prius a lot more modern looking. I would buy one. Just hope they keep the LED lighting that looks awesome.
"Why not go back a few years and start making the EV-1 again."
You can't just start making an older car again for several reasons:
It was not designed to 2008 standards, so it would have to be recertifed which would likely require design changes like additional airbags and impact structures. Structural changes or additional components would add weight which could increase cost and reduce the range.
Some of its components are probably now obsolete, so other systems could have to be redesigned to accomodate newer components.
Additionally, it would be expensive. The cost to build it ten years ago was $80,000. Raw material costs have increased significantly since then, not to mention labor and/or overhead or cost of any design changes if necessary. Since it wasn't designed or tooled for mass production, it likely couldn't be scaled up in volume to reduce cost.
It is ten-year-old technology, so it wouldn't have the benefit of increased range or performance newer electric cars have.
It is a two-seater, which limits its market appeal, and I think is the primary reason sales of the orignial Insight were never great and continued to decline until it was cancelled.
What you'd likely end up with is a car with the price and utility of the Tesla, but without the performance or looks - not a formula for success.
GM could redesign it to be cheaper to build in higher volume and with more seats and a longer range, but they've essentially already done that with the Volt.
Its all marketing and PR. Not sure why treehugger keeps giving companies with billions of dollars in revenue free advertising. Let them pay their own way.
good good good... but i'm just worried that they'll get sued by toyota... :-\