2009 Honda Insight Hybrid first official image
December 4, 2008 by George Skentzos
Honda has released the first official image of its belated reply to the Toyota Prius with the new Insight hybrid.
Set to make its global debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2009, the Insight aims to be the most affordable family hybrid vehicle.
The five-seater Insight shown in this teaser image is destined for the US market, with slight revisions expected for local models.
Honda expects to sell 200,000 Insights globally each year, headlining a new family of hybrid vehicles from the brand.
The Insight will be closely followed by a hybrid production version of the CR-Z concept sports car and a Jazz hybrid.
Print it: 
looks a bit priusy.
does rearranging the name prius spell insight? wow! yes it does.
still great that honda are pushing alternatives.
spooky, antispam = ferrari
Why anybody would buy a Prius over this I have no idea. It looks better and promises to be much cheaper. This is a hybrid that I would actually consider buying (for my parents, of course) and after seeing that photoshopped looking Prius that turned out to be the real one, it’s almost exciting looking. Still, what will they do with all those batteries?
I would have been more impressed if it was a diesel or gas hybrid.
Im inclined to agree with you Salesman. However, Honda Petrol engines are very competitive against average diesel engines so there is an argument to be had. Not ot mention the cost to the company of creating new engines or modifying exisiting ones to run on gas, and the added cost of the gas system.
No,my biggest problem is the Prius styling. Too generic. Too, cliche. Too Toyota, its shadow would be identical.
“I would have been more impressed if it was a diesel or gas hybrid.”
Yes Diesel would have been nice to see, but what about plug in??
Looks better than the Priarse, but then again the Prius is just too skinny looking.
Just because it is a green car dosnt mean it has the right to be ugly.
Is the prius similar to the civic hybrid? Because lookwise, id rather one of them.
I may be wrong but I believe the civic Hybrid works in a different way to the prius. I understood that the civic engine constantly runs and the electric motor “assists” the engine where needed?
I think the prius is the electric motor full time with assistance from the engine where necessary?
Anyway
How will this latest insight work I wonder?
The Insight works in exactly the same way the current Civic Hybrid does.
using Honda’s IMA Hybrid engine. IMA from memory is Integrated Motor Asist.
Basically means the Petrol and Electric motor are used in tandom to each other.
While in the Prius, they switch between each other depending on what is needed.
Both have pro’s and con’s.
However both from memory turn off their petrol engines while in traphic to save petrol.
The Prius uses Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, which essentially is an electric motor and petrol engine hooked up to a planetary gearset. Unlike the Civic hybrid or Insight, the Prius can run on full electric power only. The deal here is that because it can utilize 100% electric power, it doesn’t have to use the petrol engine as much, thus saving petrol.
Honda’s IMA however, has a small electric motor where the flywheel and torque converter is, and the electric motor is used to boost the torque figure. It cannot run on 100% electric power. Honda’s fuel savings come from the fact that because an electric motor is used to boost torque, the petrol engine does not have to be very big, and thus a smaller capacity engine with a lower fuel consumption can be used.
All Honda engines should have an electric motor to boost torque at low rpm, because most (if not all) Honda engines have none…..
But seriously, why would you bother when a Polo bluemotion can do 3.7l/100 and it looks good too.
I know you can’t get it here, but the Insight is aimed at the world market, not the AU market.
Could they not have designed a better looking car??? This is really not good looking at all
I have to agree this is not the best looking car designed by Honda, concept or not it doesn’t have to look this bad
The design is to do with aerodynamics but I don’t get it because an Alfa Romeo 159 is very aerodynamic and it’s also stunning to look at.
Reckless1, if you drove a Polo Bluemotion, you would be eating your words. It is a really a horrible little car. It has a hard ride, to get that economy you have to drive very carefully and dear god that engine is loud. And not good Aston Martin type loud but bad cheap rattly diesel engine loud. The sort of loud where you could be mistaken for thinking your window is open.
i’m sure the styling is due to aerodynamic constraints, at least the detailings like the headlight is much better looking than the prius.
But the biggest thing to note is the price, this will make hybrid cheap enough to be taken seriously as an alternative as with the prius, you would have to cover a lot of miles before making your money worth. Prius is more expensive because it has better hybrid technology that is more fuel efficient, but it is simply too expensive
it looks so dowdy compared to the concept