1-13-09 by dugan
The Detroit Auto Show is mostly a weep-fest, from the reporting, though electric cars are stealing what little show there is. The drooling crowds were mostly around the third-generation Prius, with its solar-roof option and 50 mpg.
But the Honda Insight hybrid may be the real future. The New York Times and others report that the 2010 Insight will sell for under $20,000, less than the Honda Civic hybrid. That’s what a "cleaner and cheaper" auto market needs to offer. And unlike the original low-slung two-seater Insight, the new version is a good-looking five-seat hatchback–an actual family sedan.
The old Insight also sold at under $20,000, but $18,800 in 1999 translates to well over $23,000 today, for a less practical car. The new five-seater gets good driving reviews, and comes with lots of entertaining eco-toys. For instance, from a CNET review:
Further improvement in fuel economy is helped by Eco Assist. This could
be seen as the next step from the green "eco" light on the dash of V6
Accords and Pilots with the Variable Cylinder Management System. Only
instead of one small light telling the driver that is getting
commendable fuel economy, the speedometer background changes color.
Blue means you’re a guzzler.Blue-green means that you’re starting to
get with the program. Green means, well, you’re green, with excellent
fuel consumption and consequent lowest emissions.
The U.S. automakers were also trying to generate buzz for their electrics, though most of them were concept or at best pre-production, while the Prius is now in the third generation. An exception is the soon-on-sale 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid--bigger, more deluxe and still around 40 mpg… though it’s over $27,000 base, about $5,000 above the non-hybrid Fusion.
And for the truly interested, here’s 
a slide-show comparison from CNET of the Insight and the Prius, in which the Prius clearly wins the author’s heart. It’s interesting that Toyota refuses to name the price of a car that will be on sale in a few months, so it’s likely to be well above the current Prius base price of around $22,000.