Honda ready to challenge Toyota's hybrid crown?

The smartest hybrid yet?

In a MSNBC article this morning, Dan Carney calls the Honda Insight the "best intersection yet of the plots for price, efficiency and practicality," at least in terms of hybrid cars.

And, ultimately, I have to agree. Yet, it's never that simple, is it?

I live in a congested, Northeast LA neighborhood. City fuel economy is really the only thing that matters to me, and I've learned that Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive is capable of much more than what the EPA predicts, especially, ironically, in the worst congestion imaginable - exactly the kind of traffic many of us Angelenos know all too well.

Nonetheless, I've always thought that Toyota should strive to decrease the price of its hybrids, or least offer a very cheap hybrid model, and Toyota has talked about such an offering in various forms. Then the gas crisis hit and all bets were off.

Today, with gas prices and oil prices falling, the Toyota Prius doesn't seem like as much of a deal as it did several months ago, especially if you don't live in a congested neighborhood, such as mine. That makes the Insight seem like a much better deal, and, today, when all factors are considered, the Insight might be the best hybrid available or soon to be available.

Higher gas prices, however, could quickly change that advantage, as could many other factors.

Ultimately, I don't really care which is the best hybrid today, I only care that, finally, there is real competition heating up in the hybrid space. Even more important, the competition isn't being driven only by fuel economy, but also pricing.