2010 Honda Insight Hybrid – First Look
February 20, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Honda has given us a sneak peak at its latest offering in the fuel efficiency contest, the Honda Insight, which was unveiled to invited media in Melbourne this morning.
Launched onto the Japanese market less than two weeks ago, the Insight Concept will be on show at the Melbourne Motor Show from next Friday, but we were able to get up close and personal with it today.
The car has already proved a huge hit in Japan and since its launch onto the market 10 days ago Honda has sold 10,000 units, and that’s contrasted against a monthly sales target of 5000!
Sales of the car should begin in Australia early next year, after launches onto the US and European markets.
Honda Australia CEO Yasuhide Mizuno, said the car, which he describes as the world’s most affordable hybrid car, also offered exceptional fuel economy.
He said the Insight was designed to set the standard for compact cars for a new era, combining outstanding environmental performance with fun, responsive driving and efficient, versatile packaging.
The all-new Honda Insight was developed with the goal to provide these attributes in a car that is affordable for more customers across the globe.
Insight features a newly developed hybrid system including a 1.3-litre i-VTEC engine and Honda’s proprietary Integrated Motor Assist (IMA).
The aerodynamic body achieves a world-leading coefficient of drag of 0.28 and to further support fuel-efficient driving, the Insight features the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist) as standard equipment on all variants.
Mr Mizuno said the Insight is the culmination of over 20 years of hybrid development and more than 35 years of lower impact petrol engine development, which started with the CVCC engine in the Honda Civic in 1972.
He said that the Insight would be sold alongside Honda Australia’s current low-emission vehicle the Civic Hybrid, which currently sells abut 90 vehicles a month.
Honda spokesman Mark Higgins said this figure was somewhat supply constrained and he expected that the Insight would sell in larger numbers.
Given the huge demand for the insight in overseas markets and in Japan Mr Higgins said Honda Australia was going to have supply issues for the Insight when it did go on sale in Australia.
He said that following the closure of its Formula One racing operation the primary focus for Honda development was in fuel efficiency vehicles and this would be exemplified by the release of the Insight, which will be hollowed by the CRZ and the Jazz Hybrid.
Mr Mizuno said that the reduction of CO2 emissions particularly was both a long and short term goal for Honda on a worldwide basis and the Insight was a part of that goal.
He said the current production facility in Japan could build about 200,000 Insights a year and with demand so high this facility may have to be supplemented by others.
A key part of Honda’s global philosophy is to be “a company that society wants to exist”. And while that may at first sound like another piece of marketing strategy speak, it is a mantra that is followed the world over, starting with the R&D centres.
This philosophy helps explain why the marketing of a more affordable hybrid car; is part of Honda’s efforts to have a positive impact on society.
Honda could have chosen to place this cleaner technology in high-end cars; showpiece environmental machines to sell at a premium rate to a low number of customers. There’s probably an argument that says there’s more money per unit in that approach.
However, in line with Honda’s philosophies, beliefs and heritage, the approach was to bring low emission hybrid technology to the masses by using our engineering experience to reduce the costs and therefore the retail price.
As well as introducing new sections of society to cleaner cars, this should also help increase the sales volume of hybrid cars – which will have a positive effect on overall emissions figures, and therefore the environment.
The exterior evokes the design of Honda’s flagship for environmental performance, the zero emissions FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle.
The line traversing the middle of the body in a single motion emphasises the low vehicle height, contributing to a sporty design. The high tail adds to both the aerodynamic performance and the stylish look of the Insight.
The interior is advanced and futuristic-looking and features a two-tiered instrument panel divided vertically, allowing the driver to access important information at a glance.
The interior features elegantly contrasting colors, textures and materials to further emphasis the futuristic hybrid feel.
Pricing and Australian delivery dates are yet to be finalised.
Print it: 
First impression, it looks like a Laser Links smashed up behind a Pruis. Very clean inside, i love the look of the instrument cluster and over all dash layout, very futuristic. Honda really are focused on the people, and that’s what will win the hearts of the masses. 10,000 cars in 10 days? WOW.
Why did they show the concept when the production version is available?
this or pruis?how many did you say they’ve allready sold?
can you hear that sound?thats the sound of g.m.exect’s slashing thier wrists(rip ev-1)…
Hopefully this will be a good competitor for the prius and we see some price competition.
Pictures of the production version can be seen at:
www .honda.co.jp/INSIGHT/styling/index.html
(delete the space after “www”)
It seems to mainly stay true to the concept, though in my opinion looks much more similar to the prius. No LED headlights either :(
Too bad the production version like shyte in the styling department.
Looks alot better then a prius thats for sure
Great. Looks like every other hybrid going at the moment. It least you can spot the self-absorbed greenies coming.
Where are the fuel consumption & CO2 stats for this thing? Bit of an oversight in the article. Love the site generally but you gotta make it clearer when you are quoting a speech or doing a cut and paste of the press kit. Where did that whole bit about Honda’s philosophy & ‘evoking’ the Honda Clarity come from?
Tim, you really won’t want so many glowing lights in the production version.
Awesome interior. Gotta love that dashboard. Will seriously consider to buy one if we don’t get a washed down version when it reach Australia
I’d rather wait and get a Volt. I don’t think batteries are the future of cars but the fact that it can travel so far just on battery and that it will be affordable gives it an edge that the Prius and Insight just don’t have.
Salesman – what’s a Laser Links – is that the one with the special option pack for golfers? I remember something called a Laser Lynx.
Jesting aside, this thing is going to sell in serious numbers, despite the fact that the first media test drives (from the UK) are critical of the lack of open-road performance. The sort of people who will buy it wouldn’t know what performance was, and if it meets the target of being less expensive to buy than a conventional Civic, it can’t miss.
Looks way better than the toyota hope theses are affordable good on honda i hope thay got a hit on there hands
Refreshing philosoppy compared to TOYOTA.
I reckon the Volt is on the money as u can plug it in as well.
HYDROGEN CELL IS THE WAY TO GO.
Come get real – this has been driven by UK What Car magazine last month. Google “What car” & follow the links.
RoFlmaTiC – pricewise its £2500 (about AU$5500) less than the Prius. Apparently it’s not quite as good as the Pruis but not so far to be considered rubbish.
Getting better….
I rememeber when GM/Holden said hybrid cars were a waste of time…Now look whose laughing…Whats Honda upto now? 3rd generation???
Just ban sales of new cars with combined fuel consumption 9 or less or less, no more hybrid cars needed. What a waste, not much resale too.
Sorry Deags – that’s the most ridiculous comment ever. So you’re proposing to encourage increased fuel consumption. I only hope you’re kidding otherwise you’re being a numpty.
However petrol Hybrids are not the panacea of econonmy. A diesel hybrid (forthcoming Peugeot) would wipe the floor in comparison and have better speed performance as well.
My bad-I mean ban cars with more than 9.
Honda FCV Clarity is the way of the future!
Sorry, meant FCX.
“The aerodynamic body achieves a world-leading coefficient of drag of 0.28 and to further support fuel-efficient driving, the Insight features the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist) as standard equipment on all variants.” From this article
“Its sleek form is both stunning and functional, setting new standards for aerodynamics with a drag coefficient of just 0.24, making it the world’s most aerodynamically efficient series-production car – surpassing econoboxes and supercars alike.” from the 2009 Mercedes Benz E-Class article
Why cant Honda make a hybrid that looks like the Merc E-Class!!!
Prius clone…
how much do you guys reckon it will cost when it lands in the showroom? hope it is 30g or less, otherwise the purose of saving feul will be outweighted by purchase cost compared to a conventional petrol car of small displacement.
Why didn’t they use the same design team for the outside, as for the inside.
Interior is great, exterior is bland & boring.
Like the toyota range, I can’t name a single Honda model that I just love the styling.
The Accord Euro maybe, but the Accord Seppo is Butt Ugly, like the Odyssey, Civic, & CR-V.
Now this Insight will just blend into the background.
This looks great. There is hope for the forthcoming CRZ hybrid sports car.
The car that has been shown off to the press here in Australia and on the web site is re concept! Not the production model! The production model looks alot more watered down compared to the concept, in the exterior and interior.
The insight is better then the current prius, however the gen 3 prius is also being shown off at the Melbourne motorshow. And that car is well ahead of the insight!
Hopefully they will be able to sell this at 30k or less as the starting price, otherwise it will have no chance going up against Mk3 Prius.
Like others, i don’t understand why they are showing the concept version here. The production version is already on sale in Japan and has so far sold well mounting up waiting time of 2 months or something like that.
The picture of the rear at the top is lovely. Its a very nice looking car, and I think it should have the new Prius beat no problem, considering Toyota is pulling out some ugly designs recently…
I wonder what Australian pricing will be like. I don’t think it will sell as well here in the first week, as Aussies tend to prefer more conservative Falcons and Commodores.
Although its the same basic shape as the Prius i think the styling is better.
But these hybrids are a ’stop-gap’ solution. I think cars like the Honda Clarity (hydrogen fuel cell) are the way of the future.
Don’t make me laugh the hydrogen fuel cell concept is a joke. Poor economy, most hydrogen is currently made from fossil fuels(and even more energy to make it), MASSIVE infrastructure requirements needed (currently 8000 servos in AUstralia), poor range and questionable safety. Hydrogen is the worlds greatest con.
Ten years ago hybrids were seen as a joke. Now they are being taken seriously by consumers and most car manufactuers are getting on board.
Hydrogen maybe a joke but alternatives have to start somewhere.
I bet people use to say this about petrol driven cars 100 years ago rather forgoing there horse and buggy.
What Dlr1, so the alternative to producing millions of tonnes (yes millions) of lithium ion batteries for cars is a more sustainable solution. Already researchers are breeding bacteria that produce hydrogen gas from waste products, water electrolysis using renewable energy allows us to use water unfit for consumption for our energy needs, the convenience of only taking a few minutes to fill up as opposed to having your car charge overnight. End of the day, batteries simply don’t have the required energy density to meet the needs of transport beyond very limited city transport. Yes, per Joule of energy, they are more efficient than fuel cell cars, but on a Joule per cubic metre perspective, they are inadequate. We’ve been developing batteries for longer than the internal combustion engine, people who say ‘look at how far IC technology went in 100 years, imagine what batteries can do’ are completely missing that fact. Batteries aren’t some new invention on the tip of the development-cost curve. Whereas fuel cell technology, despite use the space and other niche industries, is, and it has a lot of potential for massive improvement.
Hydrogen fuel cell tech is not a concept Dlr1, the ifrastructure to refuel a HFC car already exists in Norway and the US. Yes its limited at the moment but im sure petrol started out the same way, now they’re commonplace.
Plu hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and its renewable, so why notexplore and exploit this formof energy?
Another plus is there is no emissions other than water out of the exhaust unlike hybrids.
What DR1 said about Hydrogen at the current time, is correct. It requires the burning of ALOT of fossil fuels to create the Hydrogen that runs the Honda Clarity.
HOWEVER! Hydrogen cars and Hydrogen Car Technology is very very new. Honda is the 1st car company to start production of a car you can use everyday.
The Inferstucture is just not there yet, and Honda know this. Thats also why they created the Home Filling Station which can be used to power your whole house and refuel the car. However this does require it to be plugged into a Gas outlet.
Dont forget, its only the beginning, over the next 10 years, we are going to see ALOT of development and improvments in the way Hydrogen is rolled out and produced.
Every Car company agree’s that Hybrids are not the Future, they are stop gap in place to tie us over until we have a new fuel source to use (the most likely being Hydrogen). Hybrids and EV’s and whatever are there to reduce our need on fossil fuel supplys so they last longer.
BMW and Merc are also leading the way with Hydrogen cars. Now you can belive whatever you want, but the companies that will deside what fuel of the future we use will be up to the major players (Toyota, Honda, Mercedes etc) and they all agree Hydrogen is the way to go.
In the mean time however! the Insight, The Gen 3 Prius, the Volt, the Honda CRZ (when released) are great cars and they will last you the next 10 years until Hydrogen cars are affordable enough for your average family to purchase.
Paul, agreed but one of the players you are forgetting about is Mazda. They have been developing hydrogen vehicles since the late 80s/early90s.
They currently have about 30 hydrogen RX8s leased to the Norweigian gov for trials and evaluation and are trialing rotary powered Mazda5s around Japan. Apparently rotaries are one of the better engines for this application.
But in saying that i think the Clarity is leading the way at the present time.
Just read a test on it. The overall was it ain’t quite a good as the Prius. The ride was described as “jittery” although the handling was good. Economy was on a par wwith the current Prius but with the new prius arriving soon with a bigger engine the Insite gets whipped.
did any one see the top gear segment on the clarity last monday?it seems to me that hydrogen is the way of the future,though one wonders what the next enviroment problem will be with millions of cars emitting h20,goodby warming hello soggy planet?also the clarity is not a bad looking thing.
The Insight looks like the Priass, ugly as all hell only your mother would love, how come battery cars have be designed for the older generation.
Bring on hydrogen cars now………the reason they are not in production is the oil companies would be out of business makes sense hey.
george bush jr has publicly endorsed hydrogen as the next big thing in car propulsion.this fact alone should send alarm bells off to all the pro-hydo guys.electric cars are currently THE MOST efficient ones out there(read cheap)no close second.batteries can be recycled too.just like the gov’t is now looking at empty bottles 10c refund aussie wide.
worth having a look at blacklight power,and the joe cell on the net too.
@Ford Ranger
You are wrong about the Insight looking the Prius.
I suppose Ford could spend the hundreds of millions of dollars on research into the hydrogen alternative but, along with the other pathetically run conpanies like GM and Chrysler,they’re also too busy…….going broke!