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Redesigned, Bulkier Honda Insight to Challenge Prius
In what probably amounts to good news for consumers eyeing a hybrid for their next vehicle purchase, Honda is resurrecting the "Insight" name, this time in the form of a five-seat, Prius-like hatchback. The automaker's announcement included the tantalizing statement that the cost would be "significantly below [that of] hybrids available today," but provided no further details on pricing. Although Honda may have some trouble unseating Toyota's dominance of this particular hybrid market, hopefully the Insight's reintroduction will help to make hybrid cars even more affordable to consumers. This is also welcome news to folks like myself who, after the initial flurry of excitement when the now-retired original Insight was introduced in '99, were left scratching their heads at Honda's hybrid strategy as Toyota picked up their dropped ball and ran with it.
You missed the point... People who already have a fully paid car have absolutely no financial incentive to purchase a new hybrid car. You address a difference in price, you simply missed the point. whoosh?
You're forgetting the cost of batteries. After ~3 years, your full warranty will have expired and your batteries will be down to like 50% of original capacity if not less. Repair costs could easily get over $10,000 for the battery pack, not talking about the cost to get it installed. No extended warranties, from the dealer or otherwise cover hybrid battery repairs and yes, I've read the fine print.
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I bought it because it is a damn reliable car that puts less crap in the atmosphere than the average.
Are you sure about that?
:)
Think about the production of lead-acid or Nickel-based batteries in your hybrid. First they mine the lead, nickel, and other ingredients (which costs fuel and pollutes the environment a lot) Then they refine the ingredients (costs fuel and further pollutes) Then manufacture the battery (costs fuel). Then ship the battery from China to Japan to add sensitive electronic control devices (costs fuel) Then ship it back to China for final packaging (costs fuel) Then back to Japan for final placement in the vehicle (costs fuel). Then they ship the car over to the USA where we're all crazed into thinking that hybrids actually solve a problem costing even more fuel.
Even if the batteries come from mostly recycled sources, the amount of fuel used to recycle and manufacture the batteries is enormous.
So what is the net environmental impact of the hybrid car? Is it really much better than a conventional gas or diesel vehicle?
BMW's and other luxury cars aside, the choice to buy a hybrid to reduce impact on the environment only makes sense if you have to drive a lot. And therein lies the fundamental flaw in all this: People think they have to drive.
Many people are addicted to cars; I know I am. I have more respect for someone who says "F*ck it - gimme leather and the I-drive joystick thing" than someone who is deluded about saving the environment.
Best choice ever: MkI VW Golf with a 1.4l diesel. With proper maintenance and biodiesel compatible fuel lines, you can get 50MPG+ and very low emissions to boot! Of course you're royally f*cked when a Toyota hybrid SUV weighing ~2200kg T-bones you, but that's a debate for another day
My commute takes me 15 minutes by car, and a slightly more direct route via bike takes 30 minutes (~6 miles)
Round-trip time lost per day: 30 minutes = $X.
Also, aluminum is not significantly lighter than steel for the same tensile strength
You may not be using your transportation device correctly. Check the manual.
Most people's commutes are only a couple miles and would be most economical to bike. Not to mention the exercise perks.
Most people don't have a job where they can show up sweaty. For those who do, additional "exercise" may not be a "perk."
Go to any indigenous tribe in South America that hasn't been industrialized ... is sort of going in the wrong direction, you know?
Fixed that for ya.
The notion that we need a metal, inefficient powered carriage that is 10 feet wide to move a couple miles isn't really rational or natural considering human evolution
Like hell it's not. Ask the noble savage if he wants calories or carbon credits.
you can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
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Your reply doesn't even make sense. The material properties of steel and aluminum alloys including tensile strength are simply not a matter of "using it correctly"?
I want tensile strength in a rope. Not so much in a vehicle.
Biking is not necessarily slower (depending on route / speed)
It was in his example, hence the quote. I have assumed Americans, in this context, are rational -- contrary to the parent's assumption this privilege is reserved for "indigenous South American tribes" -- and factor opportunity cost into their everyday decision to drive. It takes arrogance to decide most people just never thought of bicycles before.
I am told China has seen a dramatic shift in car ownership. What does he know they (and every other industrial society) don't?
Fact is, if you think you need a car to go a couple of miles, you're wrong. Even if you don't want to elevate your heart rate vs. being in a car (the horror of Americans doing something physical!
At the risk of being modded "Troll" again, I'll point out you're being a presumptuous jackass. I believe, as a card-carrying liberal, this tone has done more harm to the left, however you define it, than the GOP ever could.
Hey, I'm a pretty libertarian-type guy. You want to drive a Hummer H1 for your 5 mile commute to work, that's fine with me. I simply ask why we continue to pursue inefficiency out of habit when the greatest personal benefit to us might lie in another choice.
I think Hummers are an abomination and hope one day to rig a neon sign to the trunk of my '90 Accord illustrating how much of the road you couldn't see if it was an SUV. But evident contempt for technology worries me.
I'm explaining that for a lot of people, cars are efficient. Misplaced idealism doesn't change that.
you can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
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Paying $10K-$15K above the equivalent Echo (same Toyota body type) makes no economic sense unless you are some rich yuppie or celebrity making a fashion statement. You never recoup that in gasoline savings. There are plenty of better priced hybrid models around which arent selling too well.