Honda Insight News

  • Honda was technically the first name in hybrids in the U.S. market—with the original 1999 Honda Insight two-seat hatchback. But in recent years Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) ‘mild hybrid’ system has been overshadowed, and outperformed, by Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive in the Prius family and other cars. Soon, Honda will have a better alternative for its small cars: It will introduce a new-generation hybrid system that will supplant IMA in favor of a new ‘i-DCT’ single-motor system, operating with a seven-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    Have Hybrid Cars Finally Moved Beyond Stereotypes?

    There was a time when anyone who drove a hybrid car--especially a Toyota Prius--was viewed with distain by the majority of other road users. They were seen as aloof, over-privileged, and perhaps, thanks to a certain episode of South Park, smug about their car buying decision. But with more hybrids...

  • 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Los Angeles, August 2012
    Making The Transition To A Hybrid Car? Here’s What To Expect

    Over the past decade, hybrid electric cars have gone from being niche market vehicles for movie stars and green thinkers to everyday vehicles that can save you big money on your gas bill. In fact, with more hybrid cars to choose from than ever before, there’s never a better time to make the...

  • 2012 Honda Insight EX with Navigation
    2013 Honda Insight: The Forgotten Hybrid?

    Some lead, others follow. And with poor sales and Toyota's Prius C now on the market as a head-to-head rival, the Honda Insight can definitely consider itself a follower. That's a shame, for those who remember the original Honda Insight. It may have looked quirky, cost a great deal and only seated...

  • 2011 Lexus HS 250h
    Five New 2012 Hybrid Cars To Consider Steering Clear Of

    Say "hybrid car," and most people think Toyota Prius. The Japanese maker has sold roughly 3 million Prius models worldwide since 1997, which is more than half of all the hybrids in the world. The 2012 Toyota Prius remains the gold standard among hybrid-electric vehicles, with three of its four...

  • 2012 Honda Insight EX with Navigation
    2012 Honda Insight: The Overlooked Subcompact Hybrid Choice?

    With four different Prius models and two non-prius hybrids now for sale in the U.S., it’s easy to go straight to a Toyota dealership when you’re looking for a hybrid car. As we’ve pointed out before, however, there are plenty of other great hybrid choices on the market worthy of...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius C, drive event, La Jolla, CA, Feb 2012

    Both Toyota and Honda are hybrid pioneers. Both companies sell subcompact gasoline models (the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit) and separate subcompact hybrid models (the Toyota Prius C and Honda Insight). What most U.S. buyers don't know is that those companies also sell hybrid versions of the Yaris and Fit. They sell well in Japan--but the companies have no intention of bringing them to the States. Why? According to a Toyota executive who asked to remain anonymous, it has to do with the differences between how drivers in the U.S. and the rest of the world travel, and small-car aerodynamics...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    Honda Starts Hybrid Battery Pack Rare Earth Metal Recycling

    Over the past few decades, demand for rare earth metals, has dramatically increased. So called because they are difficult to find in large deposits and often difficult to mine, rare earth metals are used in everything from electronics devices to hybrid and electric car battery packs. Now increased...

  • 2012 Honda Insight EX with Navigation
    2012 Honda Fit Vs 2012 Honda Insight Hybrid: High Gas Mileage Battle

    If you're in the market for a fuel efficient vehicle your choice is better than ever. Virtually every manufacturer now offers a high-mpg vehicle, but Honda could lay claim to being one of the first. Since the Civic arrived back in the 1970s, the Japanese carmaker has made fuel economy a high...

  • 2012 Honda Insight EX with Navigation
    2012 Honda Insight: New Front Styling, Better Gas Mileage

    Although the Honda Insight was eagerly awaited before it launched as a 2010 model, the little hybrid hatchback has never come remotely close to its sales goals. But the company isn't giving up, and the new 2012 Honda Insight features revised front styling, a nicer interior, and improved gas mileage...

  • 2012 Honda Insight - European market version to be shown at Frankfurt Motor Show
    2012 Honda Insight: Higher MPGs, New Grille, Nicer Interior

    For 2012, Honda is planning to revise the Insight hatchback to address several of the criticisms levied against its smallest four-seat hybrid. Now, it's released a few details of the revised 2012 Insight before it officially unveils the updated model at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which opens...

  • 2011 Nissan LEAF prototype
    Today's Eco-Friendly Tires Offer Better MPG And Better Grip

    Thanks to advances in material science and tire design, modern fuel-efficient tires can deliver both better economy and better performance.

  • 2010 Honda Insight

    Hybrid cars seem to bring out strong beliefs among car buyers, both pro and con. On the pro side, they get better gas mileage, offer some small degree of all-electric running, and let buyers display (to varying degrees) their green credentials. On the con side, they're usually pricier than similarly equipped gasoline-engined cars, and the payback on that extra cost is debatable and varies greatly with driving behavior, length of ownership, and comparison set. There's also a fair degree of back-and-forth between hybrid enthusiasts and proponents of clean-diesel vehicles, whose sales are rising...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    Will Surging Gas Prices Save The Honda Insight?

    The Toyota Prius is the best-selling hybrid vehicle of all time and recently passed three million sales globally and a million in the U.S., over more than a decade. And when fuel prices rise, so has demand for the Prius and other high-mileage vehicles. So then, why hasn't it for the Honda Insight?...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    Chevy Volt Price-Gouging Pushes Buyer Into Honda Insight Hybrid

    For all the media furor over the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Chevy Volt, you'd think that tens of thousands of them were flooding onto our streets each month. Not so. As of Feb 28, the total sold between both cars was just 1,102, made up of 928 Volts and 174 Leafs. Now, it may be that those...

  • Honda plug-in hybrid chassis
    Try Again: Honda's Big-Car Hybrid System Has Plug-In Ability

    It wasn't even at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, where Honda only showed a video of the new plug-in hybrid platform it only discussed But details of the new powertrain point the way toward a range of future hybrid Honda models. It uses two separate motor-generators, as does Toyota's Hybrid Synergy...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    Honda Takes The Insight Down A Notch—In Price

    Honda has been battling the Toyota Prius popularity pretty much since its introduction and that battle has been an up hill struggle with the Honda Hybrids not gaining much traction in the market. The theory was that was all going to change with the introduction of the all-new Honda Insight for...

  • 2011 Honda Insight
    2011 Honda Insight Adds New $18,950 Entry Model, Upgraded Features

    While the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF have stolen most of the green-car limelight of late, and the Toyota Prius continues to be the go-to vehicle for those seeking reliable yet efficient transportation, Honda's Insight continues to plug along, with new upgrades to standard equipment and a...

  • 2010 Honda Insight

    [UPDATE: Honda Canada later clarified to Autoblog Green that it was not removing the cars from sale, but merely selling down available stocks, and that it would order more units from Japan when and if customer sales actually depleted its supplies of either model.] As early as last year's U.S. sales figures for green cars, it was apparent that the 2010 Honda Insight wasn't doing well. The "cheapest hybrid" sold just 20,000 copies, and Honda's other hybrid, the 2010 Civic Hybrid, fell by several thousand as well. Now the repurcusions are being felt. A reader tipped off our comrades at Autoblog...

  • 2010 Honda Fit Sport
    2012 Honda Fit Hybrid Priced Under $20K for Japanese Buyers

    With the 2011 Honda CR-Z headed for dealerships this summer, and the 2010 Honda Insight struggling to make a sales impression, the third of Honda's three new hybrid models is being cued up in Japan. The 2012 Honda Fit Hybrid (which will go on sale in Japan this October as a 2011 model) has now been...

  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid
    Only One Hybrid Car Pays Back Its Owners; Know Which One?

    One of the criticisms of hybrid cars has historically been that there's no payback, especially given the cheap gasoline prices in the U.S. The extra money you spend on a hybrid isn't returned in gas savings, say critics. Well, that may be true, especially when regular gasoline is averaging $2.77 a...

  • 2011 Honda CR-Z
    Honda To Launch Plug-In Hybrid Car in 2013, A Year After Toyota

    It's been a time of turmoil for Honda lately, with the company doubling down on hybrids and pulling back on its clean-diesel efforts. Now, according to a Reuters report, the company will introduce both a plug-in hybrid and a fully electric car for the 2013 model year. The electric car will be...

  • 2010 Honda Insight 5dr CVT EX Grille
    Honda Doubles Down on Hybrids, Dumps Clean Diesel To Go Green

    Although Honda designed and sold the world's second hybrid-electric car, the 1999-2006 Insight, the company hasn't done nearly as well in hybrids as its larger rival Toyota. Now the company has reinforced its earlier suggestion that it would significantly beef up its hybrid efforts by providing...

  • CA 'Access OK' Clean Air Vehicle carpool lane sticker
    California Yanks Prius Perks: No More Hybrid HOV-Lane Access

    You may remember that in California, 85,000 lucky owners of three hybrid vehicles were granted special stickers giving them access to High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes, even with only a single occupant in the car. Well, their luck runs out on December 31, the last day those stickers are valid. While...

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