The new Insight, which will makes its European debut at the Show, has been designed to offer a practical five-seat family car at an affordable price with excellent fuel economy and low CO2 and other emissions.
Honda's latest hybrid vehicle revives the Insight nameplate which was first used in 1999. It also marks a return for Honda to producing hybrids in a dedicated aerodynamic body, designed to optimize the performance of the efficient petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain.
The Insight combines an optimized 1.3 liter i-VTEC engine with a compact thin electric motor. The electric motor acts as a generator during deceleration, recovering energy that is otherwise lost as heat from the brakes. This energy is stored in the batteries and then used to support the combustion engine during acceleration to save fuel and increase efficiency.
The Insight has been designed to give good real world emission and fuel economy figures. Its key element is the Eco Assist system that is fitted as standard. The upper instrument cluster where the speedometer is sited, features a color changing ambient light that illuminates green when driving ecologically, blue/green when the car is being driven acceptably and blue when driving with less regard for economy.
The practical interior is complimented by an attractively styled and aerodynamically profiled body, which helps the Insight to achieve 101 g/km CO2 emissions and 4.4l/100km fuel consumption under the EU combined test procedures.
The Insight will go on sale in Europe from the end of March 2009 and pricing information is available from each country’s Public Relation representative.