Honda Insight Hybrid Limousine
With the high price of oil and the concern about climate change car manufacturers have been quick to catch the ‘green’ express. In this eco-geo-environmental political climate, Honda has made sure that it won’t miss the green train.
Rumoured to be making its debut at 2008 Paris Motor Show is the Honda Insight concept - the company's new 'affordable family hybrid car.' Honda is billing it as the cheapest hybrid car on the market, and says it will significantly undercut the Toyota Prius (£18,000) and its own Civic Hybrid (£17,000).
While the original Honda Insight pioneered hybrid technology in the U.S. sales were low and the model was discontinued in 2006. This new Insight will break new ground as an affordable hybrid vehicle, within the reach of customers who want great fuel economy and great value. At the moment hybrids are something well-heeled people buy to make a statement. Honda wants to change all that, so the Insight's price premium over a normal petrol super-mini must be less than the saving in fuel you can make by driving it.
Based on an all-new platform, the Insight is smaller than the Civic Hybrid but has a similar 'Integrated Motor Assist' power train. Honda says it has learned how to make the motor, batteries and electronics more cheaply and more compact than when it designed the Civic Hybrid. The battery pack is mounted beneath the boot, which means the seat can be folded in proper hatch fashion and the centre of gravity is lower.
To get better consumption than the Civic hybrid, the Insight has a low- drag shape, and the new Honda Insight will be more practical than the earlier Insight. It’s a five-door hatchback with ample room for five passengers. The aerodynamic design borrows elements from Honda’s FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, and bears resemblance to the Toyota Prius’s iconic hatchback profile. Along with Honda’s Civic Hybrid, the new vehicle will be produced at an expanded hybrid vehicle production line at the Suzuka factory in Japan.
So, in the future if you want to hire a luxury vehicle that is environmentally conscious, then the new Honda Insight Hybrid will give you another option.
