Five cars enter, one car leaves. Well, actually all five cars get to leave, but only one with the title.
(Credit: CNET)Every year, for the past four years, Green Car Journal picks its Green Car of the Year at the LA Auto Show. Well, the LA Show will be here before you know it, so it's time to start thinking about this year's contestants, which have been narrowed down to five finalists.
The finalists include the Audi A3 TDI, the Honda Insight, the Mercury Milan Hybrid, the Toyota Prius, and the Volkswagen Golf TDI. That's two VW turbodiesels and a trio of hybrids; or four small hatchbacks and a small sedan. No matter how you look at it, there's not too much variation this year. However, three of the vehicles have taken our Editors' Choice award at different times this year and two of them have already done battle in a CNET Prizefight, so it will be interesting to see which is chosen as the overall winner.
A panel of jurors (which includes notables such as Jay Leno, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Carroll Shelby, Matt Petersen of Global Green USA and the Sierra Club's Carl Pope) will have to pick one of these vehicles to be crowned the fifth annual Green Car of the Year--which, by the way, is a very different thing from Greenest Car of the Year. There's apparently a bit more that goes into the choosing than just raw fuel economy and emissions numbers.
Last year, it was the Volkswagen Jetta TDI that walked rolled off with the 2009 crown by winning over the judges with its real-world performance and relatively low price. The year before that, it was the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid which was a really big hybrid that didn't return really big mpgs, but still managed to improve fuel economy by a massive 25-percent over the conventional model. Looking way back to the 2007 and 2006 winners, we can see that the Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid have also seen time in the winners' circle.
Editor's note: Polling is closed, the judges have voted, and the results are in. The 2010 Green Car of the Year award has gone to...
In case you haven't been following along, the Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix took place over this past weekend (Lewis Hamilton won, by the way). This race, in its infancy in the F1 repertoire, already has quite a reputation for the unique qualities of the race attributes and its environment in general. Today's web video takes a closer look at many of the features of the Singapore Circuit, courtesy of "Grand Prix Insights".
I know this is a little past the point since the race already took place, but I just found this video last night and I thought it offered a uniquely analytical look at the various factors to contend with in this intriguing race event. Most of the talk comes from AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg, who discusses topics such as track conditions, difficulty of navigation, night time vision considerations and more. But this isn't just a talking head video - there is plenty of quality action from the race track to view as well, and it looks pretty damn cool. "Grand Prix Insights" offers intriguing, quality analysis of a variety of GP events, and I recommend checking out their catalog of web videos.
It's a good thing the redesigned Honda Insight is surpassing sales expectations in Japan, because its debut in the United States has been a disappointment.
Despite a major advertising campaign and the Insight's $2,000 price advantage over the redesigned Toyota Prius, U.S. consumers are not embracing Honda's new hybrid.
"Both are great cars [but] Prius is greenspeak for 'hybrid,'" said David Wilson, president of Wilson Automotive Group in Orange, Calif., which has both Honda and Toyota franchises.
Honda had hoped to sell 90,000 Insights a year in the United States, but the sour economy forced a revision at the time of the hybrid's March launch, to 60,000 units. So far Honda is off that pace, with only 7,524 sales through June. By contrast, Toyota sold 55,751 Priuses from January 1 through June.
... Read moreDetails emerge on cash for guzzlers--and some of it's ugly! It's a bad, bad week for TomTom. Our hybrid car tech Prizefight divides the CNET car community. And a ride in the best fun car you can get less than $30,000.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
SHOW NOTES
• The full details of the guzzlers program (PDF)
• CNET Prizefight: Insight vs. Prius
• First look at the real version of the Acura ZDX
Toyota starts a hybrid price war, new Camaro won't get a 4-cylinder or convertible, Twitter on OnStar and Opera browser on F-150's, plus a ride in the X5 xDrive35d.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
SHOW NOTES
• EV start-up wants to merge with GM
In the battle of the ultimate hybrid, whose green will reign supreme? The new Prius and the Honda Insight go head-to-head in this Web video. The reviewers look at handling, design, miles per gallon, and overall value. Although the Insight has a lot of personality and is less expensive, the reviewers picked the Prius.
TOKYO -- The green car race between Toyota and Honda is heating up.
Toyota Motor Corp. plans a new small hybrid car to take on the Insight, the inexpensive Honda hybrid that just reached the United States.
The small gasoline-electric car being planned will be a low-priced spinoff of the Toyota Yaris, said Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer of the redesigned, third-generation Toyota Prius.
"We are developing a low-priced hybrid vehicle like Honda's Insight," Otsuka said at a media event where reporters drove a final prototype of the next-generation Prius. "We are going to compete by expanding our hybrid vehicle lineup to smaller hybrids, in the class of the Vitz and Yaris." Otsuka did not say when the small hybrid will debut, but it could arrive as early as 2011, according to Japan's Nikkei business newspaper.
Toyota's plan is the clearest sign yet that the world's biggest automaker is worried about the inroads its domestic archrival is making into small, low-priced hybrid vehicles. Honda's Insight, starting at around $20,000, is selling briskly in Japan and will be followed by a hybrid version of the Fit compact.
By contrast, Toyota's third-generation Prius has a bigger engine and many options common to premium cars. The current, second-generation Prius is already more expensive than the Insight, at around $22,000. And the updated model is expected to be even pricier when it arrives in May in U.S. showrooms.
Otsuka said the small hybrid being developed will be cheaper than the Prius.
(Source: Automotive News)
The Toyota Yaris will soon receive a Hybrid sibling.
(Credit: Toyota)Toyota confirmed the rumors circulating that the company planned to build a cheap, fuel-efficient hybrid to compete directly with the Honda Insight. The plans were announced in an interview given by Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer for the 2010 Prius, to Japan's Nikkei newspaper.
The Yaris Hybrid is expected to retail for under $20,000 and be on sale in Japan as early as 2011. Currently, the most expensive conventional gasoline engine model tops out at $15,880. The 2009 Yaris is equipped with a four-cylinder 1.5-liter engine, and the four-speed automatic achieves 29 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway. The expected mileage of the hybrid was not announced.
This development is hot on the heels of Toyota's debut of their third-generation Prius, and not long after Honda issued a press release declaring the 2010 Honda Insight the cheapest hybrid on the Market. The newest model of the Insight went on sale yesterday, retailing at $19,800 to start, and achieves an EPA estimated 40/43 mpg.
Source: Cleantech Group
Auto suppliers may pull the rug from under the industry, Toyota finds a new place for an airbag, ethanol producers want to force more of its product into your tank, goodbye Honda S2000.
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Download today's podcast
SHOW NOTES
Toyota found one more place for an airbag.
(Credit: Toyota Motors)
• Ethanol producers want to feed more of its product to your car
• The new green, diesel Land Rover
• Liv Inizio electric car looks a lot like a Tesla
• Think wants to bring their little electric car to the U.S.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
Honda has finally buckled down and set an MSRP and a release date for its new Insight Hybrid. Since its unveiling and during our testing, we've been merely speculating on the MSRP of Honda's dedicated-hybrid model, but on March 24 buyers will be able to purchase an Insight LX Hybrid starting at $19,800.
At that price, the Insight undercuts the current Prius' base price by $2,200, but that gap could grow or shrink with the release of the 2010 model.
Those with a bit more change in their purses can step up to the Insight EX for $21,300. This trim-level bump adds, most notably, Vehicle Stability Assist, alloy wheels, cruise control, paddle shifters, a six-speaker audio system with USB interface, and heated side mirrors with integrated turn signals.
Be sure to check out our full review of the Editors' Choice winning 2010 Insight EX with Navigation, which can be had for $23,100.
All three Insight models are EPA rated at 40 mpg city and 43 mpg highway (41 mpg combined).
