Thursday, December 18, 2008

67 mpg Honda Fit hybrid ready in 2010?

Honda still stepping up plans for its hybrid cars.Even cheaper than the Insight hybrid?

While US automakers are struggling just to survive to President-Elect Obama's inauguration, Honda is ramping up plans to put many more hybrid vehicles on the road soon. The Honda Insight is just around the corner and the Honda Fit hybrid should be available in 2010.

Reports coming out of Britain are claiming the new Honda hybrid will achieve at least 67 mpg, which is what the report claims the new Honda Insight will achieve.

This is nonsense. Already Honda has stated that the new Insight will not be as fuel efficient as the original Insight, which did achieve close to 67 mpg with the manual version but not the automatic. Of course, the new Insight is a good bit larger. Likewise, since then, the EPA has tightened its testing and the Insight would not be rated as high.

While Honda has indicated that improvements have been made on its hybrid powertrain, especially with regards to weight, the new Insight hybrid will still use a powertrain very similar to the Civic hybrid, which is rated 40 mpg city/ 45 mpg highway.

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8 Comments:

Blogger Noz said...

Honda was very stupid IMO to have come out with the Insight instead of the Fit Hybrid.

The new Insight (production version)is quite hideous IMO....and the Fit would have been an instant winner had they already offered it in a hybrid form. I would have purchased it for sure.

Too bad.

10:02 PM  
Blogger Dahcredyns said...

i actually prefer the insight to the fit hybrid.

i think civic hybrid sales suffered because it was directly compared to the conv. civic by potential buyers, who would rather pay less up front than to save money long term in gas.

still, at least honda is coming up with some serious hybrid plans, unlike most other automakers.

12:24 PM  
Blogger Indigo said...

Indigo Incarnates

I just don't get all the Honda-hate. Is IMA as sophisticated a technology as HSD? Nope. But I challenge anyone to show me a hybrid architecture that does so much with so little. The electric motor is about as big as two decks of playing cards and yet it can push an automobile.

I like the looks of the Insight-II very much. It reminds me a lot of the FCX Clarity. I also used to own a 1st Gen HCH and I can tell you that the EPA 40/45 is easily beat. I usually got 42/48, which is pretty darned close to what a Prius gets.

I would imagine that the Insight-II will get something in the range of 42/47 on EPA-2008. It's got a similar powertrain as the HCH-II but the car is slightly smaller and lighter.

A combined 45 MPG in a sub $20k car is nothing to sneeze at.

Oh, Honda is also smart enough to get rid of hybrids that don't sell. The Accord Hybrid was a neat idea, but it didn't sell. So Honda got rid of it. Toyota could take a hint in this regard concerning their Highlander Hybrid.

6:41 AM  
Blogger Noz said...

It's got nothing to do with Honda hate.

It's just that after all this wait, and all this hype, it would have been nice to be able to purchase a car that has some style and uniqueness.

Instead, we get a Pruis look-alike and to add even more insult to injury, the concept is ten fold nicer than the production version.

To me, it's a let down and I'd rather just keep my 9 year old car.

1:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

is that based on UK gallons or US gallons.. I think if it's based on imperial gallons it would be about 53mpg.

7:45 AM  
Anonymous Sick&Tired said...

Noz you said it. I too would rather keep my old '94 Civic VX than waste money on any current ugly-designed, poor handling, gas-guzzling car.

5:11 PM  
Blogger Dahcredyns said...

You're not the only one sick and tired. That's a growing trend.

More important, I think it's one that should be embraced by the government as part of its bailout and greening of the auto industry.

Less cars on the road is better than any new cars you could build.

8:27 AM  
Blogger jabcat said...

Hold on until the Obama inauguration? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.....

7:42 PM  

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