I just got home from a Sunday afternoon ride around town. To my surprise - when I rode by our Honda dealer I saw 5 new Honda Insights in the front lot.
At first glance - people will mistake it for a Toyota Prius because of its swept aerodynamic shape. But on closer inspection you will see that they are distinctly different cars. The Honda looks more like a normal car - as a matter of fact many people will think it is just another compact car.
Underneath the hood is where all the excitement is. This engine is actually two power plants in one. Inside the gasoline engine is the armature of an electric booster motor. Under normal driving conditions - it gets 43 miles per gallon. What has all the car reviewers gushing is a gauge that teaches you how to drive economically. Some writers are reporting getting over 70 miles per gallon - after a short learning period. One writer remarked that there should be separate his/her gauges to see who is the better driver at milking distance out of a gallon of gasoline.
I saw three states of trim - LX - EX - and EX Navi. The LX had a sticker of $20,400. The EX was $21,900 - and the Ex Navi version was $23,400. The Navi simply has this giant built-in GPS with a large 9 inch screen. The major difference between the LX and EX was that the cheaper one had hubcaps and the more expensive one had alloy wheels. At those prices - they are the least expensive hybrids on the American market.
I couldn't drive one or get inside because the dealer had closed at 4PM and I was there at 5 - but a salesman emailed to assure me that they are for sale right now - just bring a check book.
I preferred the dark red one because it looked like FSU garnet color - but the ones in white - gray - silver were just fine with me too.
The negatives for me - I did not see one with a sunroof. I doubt that Lulu would settle for a car without at least a sunroof in Florida. Second - I do not think you can operate the car in a completely electric mode. The engine valves do close to effectively "turn off" the gasoline engine - but the pistons go up and down all the time. Of course - whenever you stop at a stop sign - the engine shuts off.
The Honda Insight Hybrid reminds me a bit of the Mercedes A100 that is sold in Europe. It is a small 4 door sedan that is abruptly cut off in the back. According to the engineers - that is the car shape of the future because it provides the most room inside with the least air resistance. The Insight and Prius are almost tied as the most aerodynamic car sold in America.
Honda plans to sell 100,000 in America during the first year. I think it is very optimistic in light of the depression and the price of gasoline at $2.00 a gallon not $4.00 a gallon like 2007.
If it had the sunroof - we could probably replace both our Honda Van and Miata with one neat little car. That way my Toyota Tacoma would not have to clutter up the driveway - we could keep it inside.
To a purist this not a true electric car because you are never running on just electricity. The gasoline engine is always turning - except when you stop. But when you press the gas pedal the engine starts right up and away you go. One last frugal feature is the CVT (continuously variable transmission). The transmission does not "shift" it varies its gear ratio infinitely. This is the same transmission found on my belt driven Vespa scooter. At the start you are in the lowest ratio and it slowly varies to a higher ratio.
Back in 1972 - Lulu and I owned a 2 cylinder Honda car. It would average about 45mpg - but sometimes on a long trip we would nurse it to 60mpg. We drove from Tamaqua to Miami once on $8 of gas. People call me tight - cheap - thrifty - frugal - or all of the above. When driving to Disneyworld it would be fun watching the "econo" gauge to see how many miles I could squeeze from one gallon of gasoline.
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