On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, July 15, 2000

Honda introduces its sleek, hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle

What does Lincoln Steffens, the godfather of muckraking journalism, have to do with Honda's new Insight, the first hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle to make its way into the U.S. market? Nothing, you say? Wrong, pardner.
   Far as I know, Steffens, who toddled off this mortal coil in 1936, wasn't a car buff - but his lone entry in "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" bears directly on this engaging little vehicle:
   Thrilled by what he had seen during a 1921 visit to Soviet Russia, Steffens told an acquaintance, "I have been over into the future, and it works."
   Steffens' initial enthusiasm for the Bolshies' experiment was of course woefully misplaced, and he later came to repent of it. Could my appreciation of Honda's tomorrow-car be similarly misplaced? Anything's possible, of course - but I doubt it. Seriously doubt it.
   First, a bit of background. For years - decades - scientists, engineers, tree-huggers, idealists, visionaries and, most recently, global-warming activists have been casting about for a workable alternative to the internal combustion engine.
   Up to now, however, all of this has amounted mostly to hand-wringing. Everybody's favorite, the clean, non-polluting electric car, remains impractical even at this late date. The battery technology remains inadequate: Range is minimal, and the batteries themselves are horrendously expensive to replace.
   Ah, but of late some original thinkers have been very busy: If you can't build a pure electric car, how about a hybrid in which a thrifty, low-pollution gasoline engine and an electric motor work in tandem?
   Behold before you the first example of the breed. (Toyota's entry, the Prius, will be here in a twinkling as well.)
   Whaddaya got? Well, it says here you've got an ultra-light 1-liter, three-cylinder gasoline power plant working in harness with an ultra-thin electric motor. On a flat surface at steady speeds the gas engine will do all the work. However, under acceleration or when climbing a grade, the electric motor will kick in with up to 36 ft.-lbs. of additional torque. During deceleration and braking, the little electric motor functions as a generator, recharging the batteries.
   Small and aerodynamic
   So? So this: no need ever to plug your battery into some external power source to juice it up.
   All of this elegant technology is dressed up in a suit of clothes that is in itself a tour de force, calculated to reduce wind resistance through a radically sculpted aluminum body. The most striking feature, of course, is the rear wheel skirts. The vehicle is like nothing else you're likely to have seen on the road - save, perhaps, for the wildly iconoclastic Citroen SM. (Can't imagine what the initials stood for.)
   Now, you need to understand a couple of things: First, this is a two-seater, period. No way can you wedge a third party in there and expect everybody still to be friends when you're at journey's end.
   Second, in the interest of both fuel efficiency and adequate performance, Honda has made the Insight a very light vehicle: for our air-conditioned tester, all of 1,887 pounds. Beside this exotic creature, your Civic will look, and feel, like an M-1 Main Battle Tank.
   'G-Force Control'
   This is not to say safety has been shunted aside. Au contraire. While up-close-and-personal-experiences with Ford Excursions are Not Recommended, the Insight has all the usual safety gear, plus "G-Force Control" design that deflects impact forces from the cabin.
   Still with me? Inside, the strangeness diminishes markedly: The seats are well-contoured, and there's generous room. The only point on which I'd fault Honda is the digital-readout instruments: I suppose they're in keeping with the high-tech theme, but a set of analog dials would work just as well and be easier on the eye.
   One readout was particularly entertaining, however: the one bearing the legends CHRG and ASST, showing when the electric motor is pitching in to help, and when it's charging up the battery.
   For the rest of it, the driving experience is disarmingly . . . well, normal, if I can apply that adjective to this vehicle. Though I'm sure the tires are engineered with low rolling resistance in mind, they offer decent grip. The handling, thanks in large part to the lightness of the car, is surprisingly nimble. Whatever else it is, the Insight is not some kind of high-tech hair shirt. Even confirmed car buffs can find happiness with this thing, I suspect.
   High miles per gallon
   Particularly at the gas pumps: You'll note the stratospheric EPA ratings in the data box. Myself, I didn't quite hit the rated 61 mpg in town, but the little on-board computer told me I was heading in that direction. The final reading - for my strictly urban driving - was in excess of 57 mpg. Not bad at all.
   The only aspect of the Insight experience that really takes some getting used to is the gearing: Again, mileage is the object, so you're going to find yourself doing a bit of rowing with the shift lever when you get up into the mountains - or, the foothills, for that matter. Get this: At 70 mph in fifth gear, you're turning 2,500 rpm. Great for economy, not so great for oomph.
   But what of that? Consider that all this technology comes at a startlingly reasonable 20 grand. And consider the sense of moral supremacy you'll enjoy over the owners of such profligate guzzlers as, oh, say, the Geo Metro and the Ford Aspire.
   Life on the cutting edge has its own rewards, my friend.
  

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