Honda Introduces Insight, First 70 mpg Vehicle in History
10 May 2000
Insight will be Pace Car for the NESEA Tour De Sol -American Honda Motor Co., Inc., recently unveiled its all-new Insight, the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle available in North America. The Insight's breakthrough environmental engineering conserves natural resources and produces ultra-low emissions. It is the first mass-produced gasoline-powered vehicle in history to achieve more than 70 mpg (the world's best fuel economy for a gasoline-powered automobile). The Insight can travel 600-700 miles on a single tank of gasoline, significantly reducing the amount of money Americans spend on gas and cutting in half the number of visits to the pump. The Insight is also the official pace car for this year's NESEA Tour de Sol, the U.S. Electric Vehicle Championship, which caravans from New York City to Washington D.C. during clean air week, May 12-18. The Insight utilizes Honda's innovative Integrated Motor Assist (IMA(TM))) hybrid system in combination with a rigid and lightweight aluminum body structure, world-class aerodynamic design and advanced ultra-low emissions technology. Meeting California's stringent Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) standard, the Insight is the cleanest and most fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicle ever offered to American consumers. The Insight's breakthrough features include: -- Light and rigid aluminum body, almost 50 percent lighter than a comparable steel body with world-class occupant protection -- The world's most aerodynamic mass-produced automobile -- The lightest, most-compact, 1.0-liter 3-cylinder gasoline automobile engine in the world -- Electronic power-the Insight never needs to be plugged in like electric vehicles on the market today -- Honda engineers have applied for more that 300 patents on the Insight -- Honda's environmental heritage, beginning with the 1974 Civic, the first vehicle to meet all Clean Air Act standards while running on regular gasoline -- The future of environmental technologies and alternative fuel vehicles