How the Honda Insight hybrid works

The guiding design mantra behind the all-new Honda Insight is “Aero Athlete.”

And while that may sound more apt for an exotic Italian two-seater or muscular sport luxury whip rather than an uber-economy car, the sinewy exterior and sporty interior of the 2010 Insight do conjure up athletic images.

“This is an image we use through the design process to communicate our goals for Insight,” explained Yasunari Seki, Honda’s chief engineer of the new 2010 Insight. “It features a chiseled, aerodynamic shape that promises muscular driving.”

He added that the muscular yet elegant lines of the new vehicle form a sharp wedge meant to visually communicate an athlete’s speed, all the way back to the aerodynamic tail of the car.

“Of course, we’ve subjected the allnew Insight to intensive wind tunnel testing and can literally state that the wind helped us design it too.” That’s not to say it is totally removed from the original, which debuted 10 years ago as the first hybrid available in North America.

“We wanted to keep a linkage to the original and provide the new Insight with a design that was distinctive and would communicate its unique personality.”

Designers succeeded in maintaining that ‘linkage’ to the original Insight’s aerodynamic wedge appearance, but there are many all-new design cues, particularly on the outside. For example, the new version’s frontend borrows heavily from the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell car, while the rounded rear-end and wide lower body is reminiscent of Honda’s sports car designs.

Seki explained that the FCX look indicates that “Insight is a member of Honda’s environmental product lineup,” and the sports car cues are “a key part of Honda’s fun-to-drive product philosophy.” With “Athlete Aero” guiding the exterior design, Seki said the interior’s philosophy is something Honda calls “Emotional Hybrid Interior.” Upon stepping inside it is apparent that a linkage to the past Insight’s cabins was not a high priority.

“In contrast to the concave cockpit designs of the past, the Insight’s cockpit is convex, a refreshing change that lends an advanced, futuristic feel,” said Seki.

“We have also included lots of storage areas for everyday usability, since Insight is meant to be a very usable car for everyday driving. Overall, we have gone for a simple, efficient and clean look and feel.”

Eco Assist system leaves you green
As you’d expect from a vehicle that is full of the unexpected and unorthodox, the 2010 Insight’s dashboard is filled with unique readouts, buttons and systems.The Eco Assist system uses indicator lights and a numerical readout to guide drivers to accelerate and brake in ways that consume less fuel and also increase power regeneration.

Similarly, the Eco Guide readout keeps score of your driving habits, awarding green leaves and blooming flowers.

The speedometer even gets into the act, glowing green when you maximize fuel economy, and blue when you guzzle fuel inefficiently.

Simple as pushing a button. Really
Improving fuel economy in the 2010 Insight is as simple as pushing a button. Really. Just press the ECON button on the far left of the dash and the savings begin. When engaged, the system regulates a number of onboard systems, including air conditioning, climate control, engine operation and the idle stop feature. Estimated combined fuel economy of the 2010 Insight is 4.7 L/100km.

Injury mitigation design
You never want to get hit by a car, of course, but if you ever do, hope it’s a 2010 Insight. The Pedestrian injury mitigation design of the front end and hood helps absorb energy and, according to research, can dramatically reduce the level of pedestrian injury in a front-end collision.

Features include: impactenergy absorbing hood; deformable hood hinges; impact energy-absorbing front fenders; and deformable windshield wiper pivots In addition, space is provided over engine room components to allow the hood to bend and deform.

Body Structure box
Just as the new Insight’s engine has shed a few pounds from its previous incarnation, so too has the high-tensile steel body structure of the 2010 model. In addition, increased rigidity of the body has resulted in better occupant safety, less vibration and a smoother ride.
Sound absorption in the roof, carpet and dashboard keep the cabin quiet, as does the heat and sound insulation in the windshield glass.

H-shaped torsion
McPherson struts up front and an H-shaped torsion beam in the rear give the Insight a smooth and very responsive handling characteristics, but also create a very roomy cabin space, particularly in the rear.

The Insight’s low height and low centre of gravity — remember those batteries under the rear seats — also contribute to the lively driving attributes of the Insight.

This skin is in
As with all great designs, form follows function in the 2010 Insight’s exterior skin. The car’s low height and extremely flat underbody are hallmarks of improved fuel efficient vehicles, and the Insight’s aerodynamic sweep creates a slippery wedge that slices through the air. Sculpted LED lights enhance the four corners of the Insight, and blue-coloured low beams add to the Insight’s clean look.

Source;
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Cars/Honda+Insight+hybrid+works/1445059/story.html

Honda's Hybrid plan at odds with industry and just might work

I found this article on how Honda's way of developing their Hybrid differ's from the rest of the industry, it's a good read.
Honda plan at odds with industry and just might work
Updated Thu. Oct. 16 2008 12:34 PM ET
Jeremy Cato, Autos.CTV.ca

Honda's plan for electric vehicles is daring in its simplicity, comprehensive and forward-looking in its scope, completely at odds with the rest of the auto industry and it just might work.

It just might work at making hybrid electric/gasoline vehicles affordable for the masses in the short term and work at making hydrogen fuel cell vehicles - in essence electric vehicles using hydrogen as a source of on-board electric power -- viable in the long term.

"We are trying to make hybrid cars mainstream," said Honda official Sage Marie at the recent Paris auto show. "The biggest obstacle to that right now is price. Therefore, we are trying to bring the costs down and make hybrids affordable."

In Paris, Honda showed its four-door hatchback Insight that will go on sale in the spring for about $20,000. But the Insight is just the first of three dedicated hybrids Honda will bring to market over the next four years.

A hybrid version of the CR-Z sports car is also coming, as well as a hybrid version of the Fit subcompact sold in North America (also known as the Jazz around the rest of the world). Within the next year the Honda Civic Hybrid will also get a major makeover to separate it from the Insight.

All these are so-called "mild" hybrids. None will run on battery power alone. Instead, they use technology similar to that in the current Honda Civic Hybrid ($26,350). As such, there is a much smaller, much less expensive battery pack designed to run the car's accessories when stopped and the gasoline engine is turned off to save fuel.

The electric motor also provides a power boost when accelerating. Meanwhile, the car's regenerative brakes return energy to the batteries under braking - a side benefit of which is reduced brake wear and lower maintenance costs for owners. The Insight should deliver about the same fuel economy as the current Civic Hybrid (4.7 litres per 100 km in the city, 4.3 on the highway).

All the new Honda hybrid are alike in that they are small cars designed primarily for city driving, where hybrids are best at delivering fuel economy gains and lower emissions. For now, Honda is not pursuing full electric cars or so-called plug-in hybrids. And Honda has also not committed to any one supplier for advanced lithium ion batters, in sharp contrast to rivals such as Toyota and General Motors.

J.D. Power and Associates, the market research firm, thinks Honda might succeed in attracting large numbers of buyers to its hybrids if the price premium is about US$1,250, rather than as much as US$10,000 for hybrids such as GM's upcoming Chevrolet Volt which uses lithium ion batteries.

Indeed, Honda is expecting to sell 200,000 Insights a year, 100,000 of them alone in North America. That's a bold prediction.

Honda has never sold more than about 30,000 Civic Hybrids in a single year. By contrast, Toyota sold about 200,000 Prius hybrids in Canada and the United States combined last year.

The Insight's design suggests that Honda has learned at least one lesson from Toyota: make hybrids look different than anything else in the lineup so that owners have obvious proof for the world that they are driving a "green" car. But that's marketing.

But Honda is not using technological solutions similar to Toyota or any other global manufacturer.

"Honda is doing it Honda's way," Takaki Nakanishi, an auto analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co, told Automotive News.

But this is nothing new. Honda signaled its lack of interest in pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids more than a year ago. Honda CEO Takeo Fukui then expressed skepticism about plug-in hybrids, saying they offer too few environmental benefits. Such vehicles, like GM's Volt, are recharged through an electrical outlet yet are still partially powered by gasoline.

"My feeling is that the kind of plug-in hybrid currently proposed by different auto makers can be best described as a battery electric vehicle equipped with an unnecessary fuel engine and fuel tank," Fukui said at the company's research-and-development center. He was referring to plug-in hybrids such as the Chevy Volt.

Honda also is not interested in installing hybrid technology in larger vehicles and luxury models. Toyota has met with only limited success with that strategy.

Honda is not putting hybrid technology in large sport-utility vehicles, either. Toyota, along with GM, Chrysler and European makers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, are going down that road. So far, GM, Toyota and Chrysler have had little success with that strategy, either.

But small cars, they are ideal for hybrid technology, say Honda officials, because they are typically used for stop-and-go city driving - where hybrids deliver the most in terms of fuel economy gains and emissions reductions. In a nutshell, Honda's Fukui says his company's focus is on improving the economics of buying a hybrid.

"The price needs to be reasonable and fuel efficiency higher so the (premium) the consumer pays (for a hybrid car) can be returned in a short period of time," he says.

At the same time, Honda also is not interested in stand-alone electric vehicles, though rivals such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Subaru and perhaps others plan to sell them in the next few years. To get reasonable performance and range from an electric vehicles requires a huge, heavy and expensive battery pack, say Honda officials.

And while next-generation lithium ion batteries have promise, the technology is not mature enough and is not likely to be for some time to come. Honda cites safety and durability issues with this technology.

If a breakthrough happens with lithium ion batteries, Honda feels they will be available as a matter of simple economics. That is, to offset development costs, battery makers will sell to anyone and everyone.

Thus, for the foreseeable future, Honda is sticking with affordable and proven nickel-metal hydride batteries. Only Honda's limited-edition FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan uses lithium ion batteries, and while a few of these prototypes have been leased to customers in the U.S., a mass production fuel cell car is years away. Ultimately, though, Honda sees hydrogen fuel cells as a viable solution, though there is no filling station infrastructure and none planned.

Not to be lost here is the fact Honda has the resources to develop any technology it needs. This year Honda's research and development budget is US$5.75 billion, which is about two-thirds of what GM spends on R&D, though Honda sells about one-third the vehicles and has a far more streamlined model lineup.

So where does this position Honda versus its rivals?

Toyota, for one, is considering an entirely separate brand for its Prius hybrid - in essence a Prius lineup of large and small hybrid models. At the upcoming Detroit auto show in January, Toyota will be unveiling a new, bigger version of the Prius and at that time company officials may reveal more about its plans for a range of Prius models.

Toyota will also unveil a new hybrid car for its Lexus luxury brand at the '09 Detroit show. Indeed, Toyota has said it plans to make a hybrid-electric system available on every vehicle it sells worldwide sometime in the next decade.

Toyota has been clear on one thing: gas-electric hybrids will form the majority of its alternative-technology vehicles for decades to come. Toyota has said it expects to be selling one million hybrid vehicles a year early in the decade beginning in 2010.

Still, no auto maker is suggesting an imminent end to internal-combustion engines anytime soon. That technology is established and widespread.

Nonetheless, industry leaders are worried about new regulations aimed at the issue of climate change, not to mention unstable oil prices and oil supply. These factors will, they believe, force car makers to dramatically decrease petroleum use in new vehicles.

Honda thinks its hybrid strategy, clear, simple and based on viable, available and affordable technology, is the best way to get there over the next few years.

Source;
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081015/AUTOS_honda_081015/20081016?s_name=Autos

2010 Honda Insight BLOG

Here is something interesting from Honda, they have created a blog which will keep us up to date of the goings on of the next Honda Insight.

Welcome to Latest Insight, a Honda blog that follows the journey of our latest hybrid, the Insight.

Link;
http://automobiles.honda.com/insight-hybrid/blog.aspx

Honda Worried that Dealers may Raise the Prices of the the Upcoming Honda Insight

I found this article to be an interesting read, I did not know that some dealers had been artificially marking up the price (suppy and demand) of the Civic Hybrid and the Fit. As far a I know, I haven't seen this practise in Canada.

The thrust of the new Honda Insight hybrid -- which debuted in Paris this week as a near-production concept -- is to "bring hybrid vehicles into a price bracket where a broader range of people can afford them," says the press materials. Cheaper, in other words. The current estimate is that the Insight -- powered by a 1.3-liter gas engine and Integrated Motor Assist, good for about 45 mpg, on average -- will cost about $20,000, though final pricing will be announced closer to the on-sale date next spring.

It must have taken a heroic effort for Honda to hit that price point. According to the company, major savings had to be realized in the design and manufacturing of the IMA and other hybrid components (like the battery). Tankers of midnight oil must have been docked right outside Honda's R&D center.

However, all that hard work -- and the neat marketing and sales strategy designed to undercut Prius -- will amount to little if Honda dealers tag on thousands of dollars more in dealer markups and price premiums, as they have been notoriously doing with the Fit and Civic Hybrid. "We don't like it whenever premiums are added," says company spokesman Kurt Antonius. "But it's driven by supply and demand. We don't condone it but we can't control it."

Perhaps not, but Honda of America could probably, oh, let's say, de-incentivize the practice, and considering that the low entry price of the new Insight hybrid is the whole point, I suspect they probably will.

More about the car: Yes, it looks vaguely like a Prius. "We would say it looks more like the Clarity," says Antonius, referring to Honda's sleek and awesome hydrogen-powered car. I would say that the Prius, the GM Volt and the Honda Insight all resemble one another as a consequence of aerodynamics and engineering constraints that nominalize design. In other words, if you want a car of a certain size to carry five passengers and some luggage, and you want it to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible, there's only so much you can do about styling.

Unlike the Prius, the Insight does not move under electric power alone. Honda has long believed the tradeoffs of weight and cost don't justify electric-only propulsion. The company expects overall mileage to be like that of the Civic Hybrid.

Honda expects to make 200,000 Insights per year for the world market, 100,000 of them destined for the U.S.

Source;
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/uptospeed/2008/10/honda-insight-h.html