Honda Insight

The cheapest rides: Hybrids and plug-ins rule, honestly

The king of cheap rides?

Can a hybrid or plug-in ever be the most cost-effective new car buy?

In this sluggish economy, many new car buyers want to spend less on a new ride, plus they want to save money on their monthly fuel bill. Obviously, saving money on a fuel bill makes you think of hybrid and electric cars. Of course, MSRP and total costs of ownership are also part of this equation.

Thus, when it comes to the cheapest rides — the total cost of ownership after 5 years — can hybrid and plug-in cars compete? Read more…

Dealer markups are back for some hybrids and plug-ins

Will you have to pay more than sticker on a Toyota Prius c?

To the highest bidder wins?

If you’ve been following the battery-powered scene for the last several years, then I’m sure you remember the sad old days of 2007-2008 for hybrid car buyers. Thanks to the gas spike then dealer markups on hybrid cars were a common occurrence. In the worst case scenario Toyota Prius hybrids were being marked up $5,000 or more above MSRP with an additional $5,000 worth of dealer add-ons.

Unfortunately, dealer markups on hybrids and plug-ins appear to be back. Read more…

KBB picks: Honda Insight, Ford Escape hybrid and Chevy Volt

Cheapest to own hybrid after 5 year according to KBB

Best hybrid and plug-in deals after 5 years of ownership

Kipplingers, Forbes, Intellichoice, Consumer Reports, US News & World Reports, etc. have all offered up best and most cost-effective vehicle lists in recent months, and it’s sometimes a little surprising the lack of consensus. Consequently, I’ve often wondered if there isn’t some sort of advertising-related objective.

Regardless, these lists are still interesting and usually useful for buyers, and the latest one comes from Kelly Blue Book. Read more…

Smart buy: Many hybrid cars are an Intellichoice

GM's eAssist makes sense according to Intellichoice

Toyota dominates list of 2012 Best Values

You know the line. Hybrids just don’t add up. The hybrid premium isn’t made up for decades, long after the car has expired. Blah, blah, blah. Yet, over and over numerous forms of analysis regarding such trivial issues as cost of ownership find a lot of hybrid cars do make sense, financial sense.

The Intellichoice Best Values in 2012, for instance, concluded that 5 of the best 24 values were hybrid-only vehicles. Read more…

128.3 mpg in a hybrid: “That’s why I bought this thing”

The dash of Dave's hybrid

If only the rest of America thought the same about fuel economy

Hype. Image. PR. Image over all else. That’s largely the nature of our modern world these days. Maybe it has always been that way. Automakers, for instance, are geniuses at covering up their role in the terrible geopolitical and environmental mess the world finds itself in these days. But they’ve only been giving consumers what they want, right?

Except for people like Dave Perry. Rather than the normal American ride, Dave bought a hybrid to push the limits of gasoline-powered fuel efficiency, and boy did he ever. 128.3 mpg over the course of 132 miles. Read more…

Interesting pricing and great resale value, yet poor Honda hybrid sales

Can great resale value get Honda's hybrid cars back on track?

2 out 3 just ain’t good enough

Today, Honda doesn’t just offer the cheapest hybrid, but also the hybrid with the greatest resale value for 2012, yet Honda sales still got slammed last month.

Some of this lag in sales was caused by the launch of the 2012 Honda Civic hybrid as well as supply shortages caused by the Japanese earthquake this Spring. Nevertheless, something appears missing from Honda’s hybrid mojo. Read more…

A cheap hybrid vehicle purchase requires Insight

If it's all about dollars, then its all about the Insight hybrid.

Honda keeps its focus on cost-effective fuel economy

These days, if you think fuel efficient automaker, you might think Toyota. Because of some recent plug-in launches, you might even think GM or Nissan. But it has been Honda that has perpetually offered some of the best fleet fuel economy in the US for many, many years.

And, when it comes to the cheapest, most cost-effective hybrid cars, it’s still about Honda. Read more…

Foreign oil independence is much bigger than EV range

The only plug-in that matters if its all about EV range

A singular solution to US energy independence is decades away, minimally

My plug-in gets more EV range than yours!

Seriously? That’s what some in the battery-advocating community have devolved to, really? Has it all come down to patting ourselves on the back — typically with the help of significant government subsidies — when it comes to the idea of foreign oil independence?

Intelligence doesn’t matter? Logic? Public transportation? Read more…

Cheaper compact hybrids coming from Honda

Hybrids the key to Honda

More mid-sized Honda hybrids also coming

While the idea of world cars seems to be gaining traction in the auto industry as a way to scale down costs, meeting regional demands is still going to require regional products according to Honda. Hence, while cars like the Fit will be sold in several different markets, the next-gen Fit will be developed “at each R&D base in the world’s six regions simultaneously” to ensure a proper fit for each each market.

Likewise, cheaper hybrids will also be a bigger part of the formula. Read more…

September a benchmark month for Toyota Prius, alt vehicle sales

Will Prius and hybrid supplies finally normalize in September?

Forget about the hybrid slowdown story, it’s nonsense

A few days ago AutoObserver published a story regarding the slowdown in advanced powertrain auto sales. Since then I’ve seen several stories referencing this angle.

Really? A slowdown? You mean an earthquake/tsunami that crushed Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and most other hybrid supplies impacted hybrid sales? No way. Read more…