Test Driving Honda’s All-New 2010 Insight Hybrid Hatchback

Critics of hybrids often cite their price premium and miles until ‘breakeven’ emerges as the reason to steer clear of these modern marvels. When the 2010 Honda Insight hits dealer showrooms on Earth Day – April 22nd – those naysayers will have much less ammunition to make their case. At that time Honda’s all-new Insight will be the lowest priced hybrid you can buy. Honda will announce actual pricing closer to the on-sale date, but we do know it will be priced below the current Civic Hybrid, which carries a sticker of $23,650.

Not since the original two-seat Insight was introduced 10 years ago has Honda offered a purpose built gasoline-electric hybrid. The 2010 model is a five passenger, four-door hatchback that will be classified as a compact car. It’s an all-new design that shares some front architecture with the Fit platform, incorporating a rigid and lightweight body structure. The new Insight, though, is unlike anything else in the Honda line with influence tracing back to the original 1999 Insight concept.

Insight’s form was primarily shaped by the wind, which is a primary reason it has a profile similar to that of Toyota’s Prius. When the two cars are side-by-side, however, the Insight’s Honda DNA is clearly evident. The front is heavily influenced by the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell car. Honda describes the overall body design as an ‘aero athlete’ with lines that carry a dynamic tension. Well, okay. We’d describe it as one slippery automobile, traveling through the air with a low 0.28 coefficient of drag. Toyota claims the Prius is lower still with a 0.26 cd. The tall rear hatch area has a second glass panel on the rear vertical surface to improve rearward visibility.

Lighter, more efficient, and smarter are the themes flowing throughout the 2010 Insight. The powertrain consists of a 1.3-liter VTEC four-cylinder gasoline engine working in concert with a 10 kW electric motor as part of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist, or IMA, hybrid system. The Insight’s IMA produces a combined 98 maximum horsepower and 123 lbs-ft of torque. Mated to the electric motor is a continuously variable transmission. The latest generation of IMA is a very tidy package, and compared to the current Civic Hybrid the Insight’s Integrated Motor Assist is 19 percent smaller and an amazing 28 percent lighter. Honda is using dual spark plugs for more complete combustion in each cylinder and a patterned coating on the piston skirts to reduce engine friction.

Electric power is stored in the Insight’s IPU, which is located below the rear cargo floor between the rear wheels for a low center of gravity and more balanced weight distribution. The Insight’s enclosed IPU stacks the Power Control Unit, or “brains of the operation,” along with the high output battery module. Compared to the Civic Hybrid, the Insight’s nickel-metal-hydride battery technology delivers 30 percent higher power per Ni-MH module, allowing the total number of modules to be reduced from 11 to 7.

After test driving pre-production Insights in Arizona, we are pleased to report that in typical Honda fashion, the Insight delivers as promised. Regardless of model or content, you never feel like you’re riding in a budget or entry-level hybrid. To the contrary, the new Insight simply feels like intelligent transportation done right. With the exception of rear seat headroom for taller passengers, the cabin is very roomy for a compact class car. It has Honda’s two-tier instrument cluster with a very helpful Eco Assist display function that trains drivers to operate more efficiently. Solid driving dynamics make the Insight fun to drive. The chassis is tuned to deliver great handling, but not at the expense of overall ride quality.

We saved the best for last. Honda says the Insight will deliver 40 mpg in the city, 43 mpg on the highway, and a combined average of 41 mpg. Those numbers are conservative and accurate if you drive the car without much regard for fuel economy. We found that it’s quite easy to accomplish much higher fuel economy with a few simple fuel economy tactics. At the press preview, Honda held a friendly competition among journalists on a relatively low-speed route that was representative of around-town and urban errand runs with a 30 minute time limit. Green Car managed to squeeze 66.3 mpg from the Insight without resorting to extreme hypermiling measures. We didn’t win the competition, but posted respectively at the very top.

The Insight is a car right for the times. It’s an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) that can handle all your transportation needs with little compromise. What comes next? Honda plans to follow the Insight with a sporty production hybrid based on the CRZ concept in a few years. For now, the Insight is the new game in town, offering a mainstream and low-cost hybrid that we imagine Honda won’t be able to build fast enough once it hits the market.