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Honda
Hybrid Cars
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The Honda hybrid cars
for the new season are shaping up. Currently Honda offers
three lines of hybrid cars, the Civic, Accord and Insight
hybrids.
The Honda
Civic Hybrid cars for the fall season include
a four-door sedan, a two-door coupe, an Si coupe, a more
efficient Civic Hybrid, and a natural gas-powered Civic
GX.
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The Honda
Accord Hybrid car, on the other hand, sports a 3-liter
V6 gasoline engine and high-torque electric motor and a 255
horsepower rating plus acceleration from 0-60 in just 6.5 seconds.
Combine this with a fuel efficiency of 29 city, 37 hwy mpg (it
beats the standard gasoline-powered accord by 7 mpg in both
categories) and you have a green, mean machine.
The Honda
Insight Hybrid car has long been the green car enthusiast's
poster car. The Insight was rolled out in 2000 as the first
mass produced hybrid car with an environmentalist's dream fuel
efficiency of over 60 mpg for both city and highway driving.
The Insight Hybrid is a 2-seater made of aluminum alloy and
sporting a 3-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric motor
that never needs recharging.
The Honda hybrid cars show off the company's commitment to
higher fuel-efficient green vehicles. With such an early jump
into the hybrid market one has to wonder, though, why Honda
has not already come out with a hybrid SUV, minivan or truck
like its fierce competitors Toyota, GM and Ford have? As the
first pioneer into the hybrid market, Honda has fallen behind
development of hybrid vehicles other than automobiles.
Nonetheless, though, if Honda stays focused on producing better
hybrid cars they will continue to do well in the years to come.
One of Honda's most exciting developments in the car market
is the reported Honda Civic Si coupe hybrid that boasts a 200-horsepower,
16-valve, and DOHC i-VTEC engine with an 8,000-rpm maximum red
line.
Apparently, Honda, like other automobile manufacturers
see the future not only as green, but mean as well. Combining
the fuel-efficiency of a green car and the spunk of traditional
sports cars will no doubt win over the doubting public and
shorten the time from early adopters to mainstream shoppers.
And if this helps the environment and lessens our dependence
upon foreign oil, it can't be all bad, can it?
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