Hybrid Alert: 2010 Honda Insight

Honda has released some information and pictures of the concept car that will become the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid. The Honda Insight hybrid concept car will debut at the 2008 Paris auto show in October. Going on sale next spring in the U.S., the production Insight hybrid will be a 5-door, 5-passenger hatchback whose design will probably not stray much from the images you see here.

Honda says that the new Insight hybrid will be smaller than a Honda Civic, which means that it should be a half-size smaller than the Toyota Prius hybrid as well. Word on the street is putting the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid fuel economy as high as 60 miles per gallon.

A Hybrid Bargain

A second piece of big news comes from the good news that the Honda Insight hybrid will be priced well below any of the other hybrids on the market, including the Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Prius. That means less than $20,000, and we wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Insight start between $16,000 and $17,000.

The savings in the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid are attributed to a more cost-efficient evolution of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist gasoline/electric hybrid technology.

Looking for all the world like a scaled-down version of the Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell car, the Honda Insight concept car is a prime example of Honda's mastery of small-car design. We haven't seen the interior yet, but if the 2009 Honda Fit is any indication, the Honda Insight hybrid should also provide a clean environment, as it were -- something that could not be said of the original Honda Insight from 1999.

We'll be able to tell you more about the Honda Insight hybrid concept -- as well as the Honda Insight production car -- in our 2008 Paris auto show coverage later this month. For now, all you really need to know is that next spring, the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid -- a compact 5-door hatchback -- will be appearing in Honda dealer showrooms at a price that makes Insight very appealing as a first car, a student car or a commuter car, with fuel economy that earns it high cred in the green-car world.

• Read the 2008 Toyota Prius Review
• See the Photo Gallery: Gas-Sipping Hybrids for 2008
• Read the 2008 Honda Civic Review (including Honda Civic Hybrid)

By Richard Homan
Photo credit: Honda

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