Honda hybrid models became available on the market in 1990’s and they were introduced in the United States in 1999. The model called Honda Insight was the first one that became available to us buyers and soon Toyota Prius followed Honda’s model. Apparently Honda hybrid models are not sold as well as the Toyota ones even though in the United States Honda has taken the lead.

One Honda hybrid that set a record in terms of selling in 2004 is the Civic Hybrid. The number of Honda hybrid models sold on the market since 1999 when Insight was released until 2006 surpassed that of 100,000. Most of these models have found owners in the United States, next come Japan, Europe and Canada. In 2004 another Honda hybrid was introduced on the market and it was called Accord. This way people could enjoy the Honda hybrid models more extensively and with a greater variety. It has presented the company in North America with quite a great deal of success and worldwide it has become a favorite among hybrid models. This particular model has 255 horse power, it is a V-6 car and it reduces the fuel consume a great deal. The Civic Honda hybrid was released in 2002 and it was equipped with an integrated motor assist system that worked wonders in terms of increasing fuel efficiency.

In 2006 this model was declared the Car of the Year in North America based on the advantages presented by design, safety, way of handling, satisfaction offered to drivers and value. Going back to the first Honda hybrid, the Insight was also fuel efficient and it took the lead in the car sales for about six years. It has been estimated that about a tank of 10 gallons can take you somewhere between six and seven hundred miles. All in all, like any other hybrid model, the Honda hybrid models are also very environmentally friendly. The emission level they release into the air is lower and thus our urban environment is much more protected from this point of view.

As a result of reducing pollution and noise, fewer people will have to suffer from various illnesses or respiratory problems caused by exhaust gases. The only problem that Honda hybrid models and other companies’ designs share is that the batteries are toxic for the environment. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we follow instructions to what it is allowed to do and what not with those batteries.

There has been a lot of discussion and action in the direction of saving and not using wastefully the planet’s energy resources. Car manufacturers have also adopted this “healthy” position and most of them have already done things to become green. One of these things that makes car manufacturers green is that they have adjusted the old models and made new models which are more economic.

Thus the hybrid vehicle has become a sort of priority for many car makers, among which Honda is quite an important one. Honda has come up with a number of hybrid Honda cars. For a number of years Honda has brought us different variants of hybrid Honda vehicles like the Honda Insight, the Hybrid Honda Accord and others.

This company will revive its Insight hybrid which is actually its „Prius fighter”, at the Paris motor show this October. This hybrid Honda model with five seats, takes its styling cues from the 2007 Honda FCX Clarity which is a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicle. According to Honda officials, the new Insight hybrid Honda will have a price lower than those of the competition, due to the innovations and cost savings which have been possible through the company’s Integrated Motor Assist hybrid-drive system (IMA). Thus, if the original Insight hybrid Honda produced between 1999 and 2006 was $50,000, the new hybrid Honda will cost somewhere between $30,000 and $35,000. What is typical of the IMA system in the new hybrid Honda is that this is a parallel hybrid system composed of an electric engine placed between the engine and the transmission. Placed in this position, the IMA in the new hybrid Honda has the part of a starter-motor and engine balancer, also helping the gas engine under acceleration conditions.

The hybrid Honda under discussion here includes technology that allows a very fuel efficient driving. This is represented by a gauge-read-out which shows real-time fuel consume. This gauge in the new hybrid Honda also recommends the best way to extract the maximum km out of a tank fuel. The producer is aiming at making some 500,000 hybrid Honda cars per year, which represents 10% of the company’s overall production. The price of the new hybrid Honda and its availability on the market for selling, though not announced for Australia yet, has already been announced for North America. Honda is speaking with a high degree of confidence about their new hybrid Honda, insisting on the advantages it will have on the market, due to the new stage it represents in the evolution of hybrid technology.

The important benefit brought about by the new hybrid Honda lies in the combination of the more cost-efficient Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology and the higher level of affordability which will definitely attract more customers all over the world.