The enduring influence of the Honda Insight

Today hybrid cars are big news. Concerns about environmental issues, the ongoing availability of fossil fuels and the rising price of petrol have sent many consumers looking for alternatives. Back when Honda released the Honda Insight however, the market for hybrid vehicles was very much in its infancy.

Indeed, the Insight hybrid was one of the first commercially available hybrid cars of the late 20th Century (hybrids were surprisingly popular in the early 1900s but that's another story) and was the very first mass produced hybrid released into the important US market. With a little tongue-in-cheek hindsight, the Honda Foresight might have been a more pertinent name. The Insight was the first car to bring us Honda's Integrated Motor Assist technology (IMA), which makes use of both a regular petrol engine and a powerful electric motor. Rather than wasting excess energy (specifically that produced when braking) the hybrid recaptures the energy and use it to charge a battery.

This is used to provide power to the electric motor which in turn gives the engine a boost. The overall result is a car that is even more fuel efficient without sacrificing performance. The added boost can, in fact, be used to improve the zip and overall performance, particularly in terms of acceleration. Using less fuel has inherent environmental benefits as well as saving the driver time and money in fewer trips to the petrol station forecourt. Additionally, the Insight produces spectacularly low CO2 emmissions, falling into Band A for UK road tax.

Since 2001 Vehicle Excise Duty in the UK has been based on CO2 emmissions rather than engine size and Band A represents the lowest polluting vehicles. The Insight is still massively popular and remains a flagship of Honda's hybrid range but IMA technology has also been integrated into a number of other vehicles. These include hybrid versions of the Honda Jazz ES and the sporty CR-Z. The sports hybrid augments the IMA with a unique 3-Mode Drive System, allowing you to choose between peak performance and maximum efficiency depending on requirements and circumstances. Swicthes modes between Normal, Sport and Economy occur autonomously.

These alter the level of support from its IMA as well as changing the accelerator response, the steering and other features such as its idle stop time and climate control. Lots of other manufacturers have now followed Honda's lead but the Japanese giants remain leaders in the hybrid car market. Hardcore environmentalists might argue that fully electtric cars are even cleaner and more efficient but the hybrid offers a worthwhile compromise. Honda also unveiled the Accord Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle at the November 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show.

This is able to operate as a conventional hybrid car, allowing the driver to fill up as normal with petrol or to recharge at a suitable electric power point. This might just be the best of both worlds, allowing for the cleanest option currently available but eliminating 'range anxiety' and allowing the driver to use petrol when he has neither the time nor opportunity to recharge the battery.