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CRN Takes Delivery of a New Honda Insight Hybrid
Recently, I was loaned a second generation Honda Insight Hybrid whilst my CR-V was being serviced. I was so impressed by it, that we traded in my wife’s Peugeot 1007 and purchased a new Insight. We took delivery of it on 5th Septmber with a new ’59′ registration and 6 miles on the clock. The photo above shows the aforementioned car in its gleaming Cerulean Blue Metallic paintwork. At around £16,000 for the SE model, Honda have made Hybrid car ownership more affordable by undercutting their own Civic Saloon Hybrid (from around £18,000) and the superior Toyota Prius 3 (fr0m £18,590).
Amazingly, Ferdinand Porsche created the first petrol-electric hybrid vehicle in 1901 – the ‘Lohner-Porsche Mixte,’ which used a petrol generator and a small battery pack to drive the electric wheel hub motors.
So what’s the point of a Hybrid car in view of the fact that some diesel cars, such as Volvo’s 1.6D DRIVe, can achieve similar mpg and CO2 emissions? Well, a petrol hybrid doesn’t require the dreaded, often problematic, fuel wasting Diesel Particulte Filter (DPF) in the exhaust system - a reason why I would avoid Peugeot’s planned diesel hybrid, along with the additional price premium for the diesel engine. Would you trust French technology over Japanese anyway? Hybrids attract low or zero Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) dependent on ‘official’ test CO2 emissions figures and exemption from the London Congestion Charge.
How does the Insight work? Basically, it has a 1.3 litre petrol (87 bhp) engine mated to a 14 bhp electric motor (IMA – Integrated Motor Assist) and an automatic Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT). The battery pack for the electric motor is located under the floor at the rear of the car. Under ‘certain circumstances’ (undefined by Honda) the car can be powered by the battery alone below 29 mph. Normally though, the electric motor assists the petrol engine when more power is required. The electic motor also facilitates ‘regenerative braking,’ which helps to recharge the battery. Furthermore, the electic motor acts as a starter motor for the ‘stop/start’ system, which temporarily turns off the engine when the vehicle comes to a halt. Clever stuff, all computer controlled, smooth and seamless. There’s also an ‘ECON’ button which, if pressed, helps to make further potential fuel savings by increasing regenerative charging, reducing the petrol engine’s power/torque, and the air conditioning is adjusted to use less power. In order to aid an economical drivng technique there is an in dash ’coaching system’ and a graphic of 5 trees which eventually 4 grow leaves each if you drive economically enough! I haven’t really explored this system yet.
What’s the Insight like to drive? Not much different from a ‘normal’ car really. Most noticable is the fact that the engine cuts out when the car comes to a halt and instantly restarts when the foot brake is released. The digital speedometer mounted on top of the dash turns from blue to green when the car is driven most economically. If you scroll through the in dash information display you will find a graphic showing the status of the battery charge and power use from the engine or electric motor, or both.
The car itself is well put together as one would expect from Honda. Obviously built to a price, but the interior, equipment and comfort are more than acceptable. The ride is firm, the steering is light and the power/performance is adequate. My first drive to work, which is a 42 mile round trip using a mixture of rural roads, urban roads and motorways resulted in an indicated fuel economy figure of 52 mpg. My wife took the vehicle on a much sterner 112 mile test down to her employer’s head office in Berkshire using the M42 and M40 including a steep uphill climb around Stokenchurch. When she arrived at the office, the indicated economy was an impressive 55 mpg achieved with the ‘ECON’ mode turned off for more power on the motorway. The car has yet to complete its 650 mile ‘running in’ period, so maybe there is even better economy to come.
Will the Insight help to ‘save the planet?’ No! Claims of high climate sensitivity to CO2 are derived from computer models and unproven. The claimed 101 g/km Co2 emissions are ‘official’ test figures only – Auto Express reckon that the real world figure is nearer to 168 g/km. Still, UK policymakers are impressed enough to levy only £15 per year VED (£0 for the even lower emissions from the Prius 3) and waive the London Congestion Charge. We’re impressed because it’s a good car that saves us money on running costs. As you can see, early impressions are good, but we’ll see how things pan out in the coming months and years.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Thank you for this interesting article and the info provided. It made very interesting reading for me. Chris