2010 Honda Insight

Joseph · 01-11-2009, 12:27 PM

ABG First Drive: 2010 Honda Insight, 63.4 mpg! - AutoblogGreen

ABG was very enthusiastic about the new Insight. They found it very fun to drive.

2010 Honda Insight Full Test and Video.*

Edmunds was more conservative, judging the car well only on a practical level. They did say though that the car's braking system didn't have any of the awkward feel in other hybrids.

2010 Honda Insight - First Drive - Motor Trend

Motor Trend seemed to enjoy the car, somewhere between ABG and Edmunds. They perfered it over the Prius that they compared it to.

MPG is a bit odd...Honda expects mpg to be 40/43 (screaming mediocore) However, the "real world" results are quite different. ABG got 44, I believe, driving enthusiastically on hills and all. They got 50 something driving normally. Edmunds also got 50 something driving normally also.

The car puts our far less hp than its Civic hybrid sibling (they removed the high-hp mode from the variable valves), yet it also performs better speed-wise.

Oddly, the electric motor has LESS horsepower. They said that the battery is more powerful, but the voltage has dropped from 144 volts to around 100. I'm guessing they mean power per cell, not total power. Total power must've dropped because otherwise the electric motor output would've improved.

The really good news is the price. Honda is aiming to be the cheapest hybrid on the market. Maybe new Insight will top the new Prius in terms of overall value. But who knows what Toyota has got up their sleeve...we'll see tommorow when the next-gen Prius is revealed.

Here are the specs:

Honda Media Newsroom Release: 2010 Honda Insight Specifications and Features

A couple interesting pics:

ABG First Drive: 2010 Honda Insight - AutoblogGreen

That's the odd "eco-dash" they made.

This pic had no url, so I pasted it. It's the new, more compact battery pack.

And a pic of the motor/engine:

ABG First Drive: 2010 Honda Insight - AutoblogGreen

doug · 01-11-2009, 02:09 PM

2010 Honda Insight: First Drive - Jalopnik

Looks pretty functional. Now if they'd only add a plug.

Joseph · 01-19-2009, 10:10 AM

2010 Honda Insight vs. 2009 Toyota Prius Comparison Test and Video on Inside Line.*

Insight wins against current Prius!

With the improvements of the next-gen Prius, I imagine it'll really just come down to a draw. At which point, the customer will choose between the tradeoffs: value vs. mpg, sportiness vs. comfort etc. etc.

dpeilow · 05-17-2009, 09:34 AM

Jeremy Clarkson Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid review | Driving - Times Online

Quote:

It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more.

From the comments:

Quote:

The wife was thinking of replacing her soft roader with this car but I think you have save the day. Thanks. Also I don't fall for the global warming hype to raise taxes.
Dave Collins, London, uk

AnOutsider · 05-17-2009, 10:09 AM

Wow, what a 180. I thought it'd get good reviews. In any case, I love that dash

doug · 05-17-2009, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnOutsider

Wow, what a 180.

180 for whom? This is from Jeremy Clarkson and is entirely consistent for him.

dpeilow · 05-17-2009, 11:51 AM

Yeah perhaps I should have been more explicit. At least he pretty much admits that the Prius does its job well.

By the way, if you could be bothered to read past page 1, he uses it as a platform to kick Tesla and shout about how the FCX Clarity is the way forward again...

Quote:

But let me be clear that hybrid cars are designed solely to milk the guilt genes of the smug and the foolish. And that pure electric cars, such as the G-Wiz and the Tesla, don’t work at all because they are just too inconvenient.

...

And here’s the kicker. That’s exactly what Honda has done with its other eco-car, the Clarity. Instead of using a petrol engine to charge up the electric motor’s batteries, as happens on the Insight, the Clarity uses hydrogen: the most abundant gas in the universe.

The only waste product is water. The car feels like a car. And, best of all, the power it produces is so enormous, it can be used by day to get you to 120mph and by night to run all the electrical appliances in your house. This is not science fiction. There is a fleet of Claritys running around California right now.

There are problems to be overcome. Making hydrogen is a fuel-hungry process, and there is no infrastructure. But Alexander Fleming didn’t look at his mould and think, “Oh dear, no one will put that in their mouth”, and give up.

Yes, the man's an idiot.

AnOutsider · 05-17-2009, 12:16 PM

he dismisses pure electric vehicles as inconvenient but then touts about a technology that basically has ZERO infrastructure when EVs benefit from the electric grid

vfx · 05-17-2009, 02:47 PM

3 things Jeremy,

1st You say, "Clarity uses hydrogen: the most abundant gas in the universe." Actually, Hydrogen is not an abundant gas but a molecule that is always attached to something (it's the H in H20) It take more energy to split the atom than you get out of it. Better to just use that energy in a battery. (and why pay someone for the gas?)

2nd The United States just put a stop to all Hydrogen transportation research while committing 2+ Billion for automotive battery research.

3rd Full disclosure! Jeremy's traveling TG show is sponsored by SHELL who own the 5 Hydrogen filling stations in California.

BBHighway · 05-17-2009, 03:33 PM

Technically he is correct, hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe.

On Earth however, it is extremely rare in the form that fuel cell vehicles need.

Anyone want to start a campaign to launch Clarkson to someplace with abundant free hydrogen? That would seem to be his idea of heaven. Jupiter might be nice.