Prius vs. Insight

You say, (in a fit of conscience) that you want to do your share in reducing this country's dependence on fossil fuels-and so you've decide to park your SUV and find a replacement that gets better mileage. Well, you're in luck-there are now two gas/electric hybrids to choose from-Honda's Insight and Toyota's Prius. Both are pretty stingy when it comes to using gas, but they are stingy in other ways, too.

The Insight is quite an interesting car, from an engineering point of view. It is light, extremely aerodynamic and fuel-efficient. That's because it is powered by a one-liter three-cylinder gas engine that generates 63 hp and electric motor rated at 7hp. Only one transmission is available-a five-speed manual. The Insight is not an electric car; the gas engine is used to get the car going and the electric motor is used to assist the gas engine when more power is needed, such as when going up a hill or for passing. The electric motor's battery gets charged when the Insight is coasting or when it is braking. It is rated at 61 city/70 highway mpg. With a/c, the Insight lists at $20,520.

Now for some negatives, the Insight is a two-door, two-seater that weighs 1847 lbs. It has a hard ride, it's slow and there's no automatic transmission available.

The Toyota Prius is a bit more civilized than the Honda. It is a four-door automatic powered by a 1.5 liter 58 hp gas engine and a 30 hp electric motor mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission. With the Toyota, the electric motor gets the car going from start and then the gas engine kicks in when the car is already moving along-the gas engine therefore doesn't have to work as hard-thereby producing less emissions and using less fuel. It is rated at 52 city and 45 mpg highway. You'll note the Prius gets better city than highway mileage; that's because the electric motor is doing most of the work in city driving.

Obviously, it is commendable that Honda and Toyota have brought out these interesting cars. Unfortunately, they don't make any sense, economically, from the owner's point of view. Let's take the Honda Insight and compare it with Honda's least expensive car, the Civic CX. The Civic CX with a/c lists at $12,390 (that's $8,130 less than the Insight). It gets only 32/37 mpg. Based on 15,000 miles yearly, you can expect the Civic to use up about 428 gallons of fuel, figuring an average of 35 mpg. The Insight, however, uses only 230 gallons for the same 15,000 miles.

Based on $1.75 per gallon, the Insight owner therefore saves about $350 a year (whoopeedoo), but has the privilege of paying $8,130 more for the car to do so. The difference would be even more dramatic if the Insight is compared to, let's say, a two-year-old Civic CX-which would probably sell for around $7,000 or so and still get comparable mpg as a new Civic.

It seems to me that gas/electric hybrids have a ways to go before they can realistically compete with traditional economy cars, let alone used cars. At the moment, they are just not a viable alternative. Honda expects to sell 6,500 Insights and Toyoyta 12,000 Priuses this year. I wonder what kind of math skills the people who buy these cars have.

[Peter C. Sessler has written over 30 automotive books. Besides books, he also writes for several Internet web sites and car magazines. He has also written (with his wife) a children's six-book series on auto racing. His latest books include "Camaro Photo Archive," "Jeep Prototypes and Concept Cars," "The Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Guide" and "SVT Mustang Cobra Recognition Guide, 1993-2000."]