Honda's Insight to the Green Market

Consumers are probably, at this point, equally tired of hearing about the Chevy Volt as they are anticipating its arrival at Cincinnati Chevy.  When it comes to the green auto industry news, we have heard every small step that the Volt has taken along the way.  While the Volt is exciting because of its electrical components, it is hard to ignore the tried and true green efforts, like hybrid and diesel engine options we can see at Peoria VW.  Even some of the newer model cars at Honda New Orleans are using alternative forms of fuel, like the 2010 Civic GX NGV, which runs off of compressed natural gas.

Brand new in the 2010 Honda line up was the Insight, a five passenger sedan.  There are three trim levels available, the LX, EX, and EX with Navigation.  The interesting thing about this model is that all three trims have the same engine.  Drivers can expect to get a mere 88 horsepower from their 1.3 liter four cylinder gas engine that is coupled with a nickel-metal hydride battery.  But, the electric motor components add 13 horsepower, but the max horsepower drivers get is 98.  But, when you are getting 43 mpg on the highway and 40 mpg around town, you aren't purchasing this car to beat people in a race! 

The LX trim has a starting MSRP of $19,800.  The Insight is a standard four door hatchback.  The base LX model comes with auto climate control, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, power accessories, CD player with auxiliary jack, and the driver seat has a height adjustment feature.  The EX trim has a starting MSRP of $21,300, and this adds cruise control, USB port and iPod radio connections, intermittent wipers with variable speeds, 15 inch alloy wheels, and paddle shifters on the steering wheel.  Lastly, the EX with Navigation starts out at $23,100.  The nice thing about this optional trim level is that all the controls are voice operated and there is a Bluetooth connection ready.