Honda hybrid plan bets big on small cars
TOKYO--Don't expect large hybrid vehicles from Honda Motor Co. anytime soon.
The company plans to put hybrid systems into compacts and subcompacts because that's where the green technology achieves its greatest efficiencies, said Masaaki Kato, president of Honda R&D Co., the automaker's product development arm.
The strategy differs from that of Honda's rivals, which largely have been installing hybrid drivetrains in luxury sedans and SUVs.
Toyota Motor Corp. is making its next-generation Prius, due for the 2010 model year, bigger than the current one. Toyota also will debut a new Lexus hybrid at the Detroit auto show in January.
Nissan Motor Co.'s first in-house hybrid will go into an Infiniti, and Ford Motor Co. and General Motors have focused on hybrid SUVs and pickups.
Honda's biggest hybrid is the Civic. And in the future, it's all about getting smaller.
Next year, Honda will launch a hybrid that will be smaller than the Civic. After that, an even smaller sports hybrid, the CR-Z, arrives. Around 2012, a hybrid Fit will be added.
Any chance of revisiting the Accord Hybrid or rolling out something bigger?
"Not in the near future," says Kato.
Honda is still stinging from the lackluster sales of its Accord Hybrid, which featured a V-6 gasoline engine and was pulled at the end of the 2007 model year.
Kato says hybrid systems are best used in small cars because small hybrids most often are used for city driving, where regenerative braking constantly recharges the batteries.
"Cars that drive stop-and-go are most suitable to hybrid technology," Kato said.
The first test for its hybrid strategy comes in April, when Honda launches its highly anticipated dedicated hybrid to take on the Prius. The car will be priced below the Prius -- and, not surprisingly, it will be smaller.
(Source: Automotive News)
Also, if you need to take 17 people somewhere it's far more efficient to take a bus than it is to take 4 or 5 separate vehicles...
The hybrid coming around March/April from Honda is the new Insight. You can check it out on Honda's page under future cars. It's going to start at around $18,500, and here's the best part... word is that it's going to get somewhere along the lines of 60-70 mpg.
Yes, you read that last part correctly.
In other words, hop on that waiting list now folks, because that thing is gonna FLY "off the shelves."
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by bigmc6000
September 9, 2008 4:33 AM PDT
- Dear Honda,
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by purcell429
September 9, 2008 9:45 AM PDT
- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHH..... my god your hilarious!! The Volt? The Volt? Really? My god, when will people realize that this is just a sham marketing ploy. Ok, wow, an electric car that gets a 40 mile range. It takes 10 hours to recharge, so you'll have to use that extra motor if you want to drive for more than an hour. And oh yeah: "The Volt is expected to get 50 mpg (US) (4.7 L/100 km) if the battery is discharged". Wow. I'm soooo impressed.
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(11 Comments)The future is not in hybrids - the future is in things like the Chevy Volt (and whatever Mitsubishi and Ford are calling their electric cars). I honestly don't care about great gas mileage when in just over a year there's going to be a car out there for about 35k that 350 days of the year isn't going to need a drop of gasoline to run. The hybrids are simply a stop-gap to things like the Volt so I really, really hope you're on top of this because for the first time in a long time if you don't have something to counter the Volt you're going to be behind an American company in terms of embracing technology. Personally, I will never buy another non-electric vehicle. My current vehicle should last me until, at least, 2015 at which point I will be buying the Sport Utility version of the Volt. I don't know what company I'm going to be buying it from but if you're still pushing hybrids it certainly won't be you...
Oh yeah, also: The Volt was targeted to cost around US$30,000. As of April 2008, General Motors Vice Chairman of Global Product Development Robert Lutz was quoted as saying that the realistic unsubsidised price had risen to US$48,000[46][47], that he reckoned that US$40,000 might be possible, without making any profit, and that only government tax incentives could take the price tag nearer to US$30,000. When asked directly about the price later, Lutz indicated that this was a misquote - and said "The answer is that we don?t know."
And a sport Utility volt?? So what, you'll make it to the end of your driveway before the battery runs out? No thanks. Give me a car that gets 75mpg for the entire time I drive it.
Also: "GM expects ten years of life out of the batteries."
So, good luck with that.
Hell, if you want a real plug in hybrid, get an Aptera. 40-60 mile Range, but better gas milage:
"An asymptotic decaying exponential is an accurate way to describe the fuel mileage of the Typ-1h. For example driving say, 50 miles, one might calculate a MPG number that's 2 or 3 times higher, say, 1000 MPG. As battery energy is depleted, the frequency of the engine duty cycle is increased. More fuel is used at 75 miles, the MPG might be closer to 400 MPG. Again, we're using battery energy mostly, but turning the engine on more and more. Just over 100 miles we're just over 300 MPG, and just beyond 120 miles, we're around 300 MPG."
http://www.aptera.com/
Now don't get me wrong. I agree with you that hybrids are just a stopgap measure. But what i'm saying is that battery technology needs to improve by leaps and bounds before an electric car will be useful for more than driving 10 miles each way to work or picking up groceries. And the Volt isn't going to solve GM's problems when they build 10,000 a year and then sell them at a loss. And as far as the article is concerned, why in god's name don't they take the hybrid drive train they are cramming into GIant Pick up Trucks, and Massive SUV's, and stick them in the Aveo! My god, that little econobox would sell like crazy if it Got 50-60 mpg! Honda has the hybrid strategy right. The shift to smaller cars is happening, and it helps to make the most efficient ones you can. Have fun waiting for that all-electric Suburban.