Production 2009 Honda Insight Hybrid Revealed

I was beginning to become exited until I realized that there is no technological advancement here at all! Could someone tell me why this is better or different from the civic? Why not more power and better fuel economy?

— truckman (View Profile)

Posted on 12/3/2008 5:52:24 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

There are several advances in this car.

The first is affordability. This car undercuts the Prius by an enormous margin, somewhere in the range of 3500-8000 bucks. Even with a fuel economy penalty, the Insight will be a more economical car into the 500k mile range. The biggest problem will be the impact on Civic Hybrid sales.

The second has to do with environmental impact. Using more conventional technology in the powertrain means less environmental damage leveraged in production. The smaller electric motor and battery pack are a good balance in terms of manufacturing. The Honda's emissions control are consistently better than the Toyota's in the last few years, remember that fuel economy numbers don't always tell that tale (witness diesels under US EPA rules).

As an aside, look at fueleconomy.gov self reported mileage numbers from the Civ Hybrid and the Prius. They are consistently within 2-3 mpg of each other.

I think this car is going to be a blowout for Honda, the biggest problem will be producing enough of them.

FWIW,

B

— FamilyGuy (View Profile)

Posted on 12/3/2008 7:28:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8   

Ford, Chrysler and GM's contributions after 9/11

An interesting commentary...You might find this of interest:

'CNN Headline News did a short news listing regarding Ford and GM's contributions to the relief and recovery efforts in New York and Washington .

The findings are as follows.....

1. Ford- $10 million to American Red Cross matchi n g employee contributions of the same number plus 10 Excursions to NY Fire Dept. The company also offered ER response ! team se rvices and office space to displaced government employees.

2. GM- $10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the sam e number and a fleet of vans, suv's, and trucks.

3. Daimler Chrysler- $10 million to support of the children and victims of the Sept. 11 attack.

4. Harley Davidson motorcycles- $1 million an d 30 new motorcycles to the
New York Police Dept.

5. Volkswagen-Employees and management created a Sept 11 Foundation,
funded initial with $2 million , for the assistance of the children and victims of the WTC.

6. Hyundai- $300,000 to the American Red Cross.

7. Audi- Nothing.

8. BMW- Nothing.

9. Daewoo- Nothing.

10. Fiat- Nothing.

11. Honda- Nothing despite boasting of second best sales month ever in
August 2001

12. Isuzu- Nothing .

1 3. Mitsubis hi- Nothing .

14. Nissan- Nothing .

15. Porsche- Nothing . Press release with condolences via the Porsche website.

16. Subaru- Nothing .

17. Suzuki- Nothing .

18. Toyota- Nothing despite claims of high sales in July and August 2001.


Whenever the time may be for you to purchase or lease a new vehicle, keep this information in mind. You might want to give more consideration to a car manufactured by an American-owned and / or American based company. Apart from Hyundai and Volkswagen, the foreign car companies contributed nothing at all to the citizens of the United States ... It's OK for these companies to take money out of this country, but it is apparently not acceptable to return some in a time of crisis. I believe we should not forget things like this. Say thank you in a way that gets their attention..

— bestofallcad (View Profile)

Posted on 12/3/2008 10:32:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -6   

At first I didn't like this car because it is such an obvious clone of the Prius. But then, I realized it looks a lot less ugly, and being a Honda probably drives a little less numb than the Prius.

If it doesn't drive too badly, I still want a hybrid even if gas goes down to $1/gallon. (Even though the BMW 335d is also tempting). With $1 gas and a hybrid, every weekend for me would be a gonzo-style road trip!

— t_bone (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2008 9:38:07 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1