Or should we say, hybrid dreams? Imagine a car that’s as quick as your average 1.6-liter, can go 35 km/ liter, and can travel more than 1200 km between fill-ups. Dreams? Try reality-the world’s first production hybrid cars are already being sold in Japan: the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. Each represents the current state-of-the-art in hybrid power technology. What exactly is a hybrid? It represents a step towards the ultimate goal of driving a zero-emissions vehicle.
For many of us, driving is fun, but the environment suffers because of the emissions-carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides-that cars and trucks eject from their tailpipes. Catalytic converters and unleaded gasoline certainly help, but the emissions level is far from zero. One answer was to go electric. Of course electric cars cause pollution too, as they get their energy from a gas or coal-fueled power plant. However, power plants are much more efficient and are strictly monitored for pollution, and the vehicle itself emits no gases.
As early as 1992, GM came out with a concept electric car named Impact. This was later sold as the Saturn EV1-the General was probably nervous that the Impact name was too suggestive.
The problem with owning an electric was that it was just too inconvenient. If you thought having a cellphone that goes low-batt was bad enough, imagine having to plug your car in every night for at least 3 hours. A full charge will take you only 80 km., 150 km under economical driving conditions-rather pathetic range even in city driving.
The reason? Battery technology has still not progressed to the point where electric cars are practical. Consider that gasoline on board a conventional car takes up about 3% of its weight and an almost-negligible amount of space. The batteries that run the EV1 account for 40% of its weight and the equivalent volume of 6400 km worth of gas! Honda began selling its own electric, the EV Plus, but for these reasons decided to pull the plug.
Since the pure-electric vehicle is not yet practical, automakers turned to the next-best thing, the gasoline-electric hybrid. A hybrid propels its wheels using both a heat engine (i.e., internal-combustion) and electric power. Series hybrids use the heat engine to charge the batteries for the electric motor, which alone turns the drive wheels, while parallel hybrids use both propulsion systems to turn the wheels directly. Both the Prius and Insight are parallel hybrids. By using hybrid systems, these cars come close to the emissions and energy-efficiency level of an electric, while maintaining the range of a gasoline vehicle. So how do they work in the real world?
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius has won accolades since its introduction – Car of the Year in Japan, for instance. The first production hybrid, it combines the practicality of a four-door sedan with the cleanliness of an electric.
The Prius has two power sources: a 1.5-liter 16V inline 4 and a 30 kilowatt (40 bhp) electric motor powered by a nickel-metal hydride battery pack. At low speeds, only the electric motor works to propel the car. Imagine you’re showing off your new Prius and driving slowly around Starbucks to attract attention. You probably won’t get much because when the car is in electric mode it is eerily silent.
Okay, so the cruising bit didn’t work. You pull out and drive on the main road. The 1.5 now kicks to life and takes over. It can rev up to 4000 rpm to keep the engine working at its most efficient. Some of the power is also used to charge up the Ni-MH batteries in the car’s trunk.
Now 57 bhp from a 1.5 liter engine doesn’t sound like much, particularly when asked to propel a car as heavy as a Galant. But when you ask for more power, say accelerating onto a highway, the electric motor draws on the energy stored in the batteries, and joins in for a healthy dose of acceleration.
You won’t need to turn any knob marked “gasoline-electric”; the whole thing is computer controlled. You might imagine that with a gasoline engine turning on and off all the time, and the electric motor kicking in, you’ll be subject to vibrations and jerking movements. Not to worry-what’s amazing is that you will hardly be aware of which power source is working, or if both are. Operation is utterly transparent, and it’s just like you’re driving a normal 1.5-liter. A 1.5-liter with a range of 1300 km. between full tanks (50 liters), that is.
One look at the Prius and you can bet that it didn’t win Car of the Year on account of its looks. The Prius looks, to put it kindly, quite odd. Its worst view has to be head-on, from which it resembles a badly-drawn cartoon insect. The conventional sides and rear make it invisible in a crowd of similarly-styled sedans.
The interior, though, is expansive and efficient. The selector for the continuously-variable automatic transmission sprouts from behind the lights-stalk. The rest of the driver-navigator area is empty space, which adds to the roomy feeling. A large display on the center console is quite amusing as it offers up a graphical display of which power source is working to propel the car. Digital speedometer, warning lights and of course fuel economy meter are housed in a central pod above the display screen.
So: a safe, efficient, reasonably powerful four-door family sedan. The ideal hybrid? Honda chose a different path for its contender.
Honda Insight
Compared to the Prius’ prosaic looks, the Insight is quite dramatic. The front may be Honda Civic, but behind the A-pillars, the car sweeps backward in a teardrop shape that is pure aerodynamic efficiency. The aluminum wheels look like solid discs, and even the rear wheels are hidden within the body.
The rear looks like the 80s Honda CRX hatchback, with Mitsubishi Lancer lights grafted on. Between the lights is a rectangular window, allowing the driver to also see through the vertical portion of the hatch when backing up.
Since the Insight is smaller and lighter than the Prius-the Insight weighs about the same as a City-it contains a much smaller engine. The gasoline unit is a 1.0 liter 12V inline-3 with VTEC-E, the Economy VTEC which keeps one intake valve nearly closed until higher revs demand both intakes to open wide. It’s one of the lightest of its kind at about 56 kg., making extensive use of lightweight aluminum and magnesium. The engine is good only for 67 bhp and 91 Nm but inserted between the engine and transmission is a very thin electric motor-so thin it acts as the engine’s flywheel. The motor, part of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, is good for 13 bhp and 50 Nm of torque.
At low speeds, the electric motor spins along just like a regular flywheel; the 1.0 acts alone. When needed, the electric motor draws power from the Ni-MH batteries and boosts the drivetrain output to 73 bhp and 125 Nm at a very low 2000 rpm.
Results? The Insight whines its way to 100 km/h in a quick 10.8 seconds when fully charged. That goes down to about 13.5 seconds when the batteries are depleted. That’s still faster than the Prius, which takes about 14.3 seconds when fully-charged.
When coasting or braking, the IMA goes to generator mode and tops up the batteries, just like the Prius’ motor. Part of the IMA is the Engine Stop feature: When you come to a full stop, simply shift to neutral and release the clutch, and the engine stops completely. When it’s time to go, depress the clutch, shift into first and the electric motor instantly spins the engine back to life.
Despite its front, the Insight is not a modified Civic. It’s an all-new design with a highly rigid all-aluminum unit-body. The skin is bolted and welded onto a cast and extruded aluminum frame, composed of cross-ribbed hexagonal aluminum extrusions. The chassis itself is an innovative piece of automotive manufacturing. The car does feel light, such as when you swing open a door, but it’s very solid on the road.
The steering wheel and dash are similar to the Civic, while the body-colored seats add some visual excitement. The Insight’s display is divided into three sections: engine status on the left, speed and fuel economy in the center, and electric motor status on the right. It’s clear and entertaining as you try to squeeze more km from each drop of gas.
Each carmaker’s interpretation of a hybrid vehicle is reflective of its maker. The Prius plays to Toyota’s forte of building reliable, practical family sedans, while the Insight’s two-seater hatchback speaks of Honda’s sporty side. Toyota also designed a more practical steel structure for its car, while Honda created an aluminum structure and new assembly techniques for its car.
More amazingly clean and efficient cars are just around the bend. Like the Mercedes fuel-cell A-class, which has onboard hydrogen and oxygen, and emits nothing more than water. Or the flywheel car, which stores energy not chemically through batteries or fuel but mechanically via a high-speed flywheel spinning within the engine bay.
Remember though that the Prius and the Insight are not concept cars, but, amazingly, production vehicles already available to the public. (Japan for the Prius, Japan/Europe/US for the Insight.) So what’s next? A hybrid NSX with a 1.5 liter coupled with a 50 kW electric motor? Or a Lexus “LSe-200”, run by a 2.0 liter gas-electric hybrid drive? Given the objectives of the hybrid vehicle, it’s unlikely that it will spawn applications in sports or luxury cars. However, some of the technologies featured in these cars, such as regenerative braking and cleaner engines, will surely make their way into a future Civic or Corolla.
As to cost, the Prius is available for about USD18,000 while the Insight goes for USD20,000. Given the expected volume for each car, and the technology they contain, it’s a sure bet that Toyota and Honda are not earning any profit at those prices; the low prices are all the better for us buyers. The Prius and Insight are well worth the price, considering that each gets about 3-4 times the usual range for each liter of gas. It’s enough to make me run out to the corner import shop and instead of the latest roadster, ask them to import an Insight. They’d probably think I’m crazy, but it will feel good to drive all I want with minimal damage to the environment.
Text By Jason Ang | Photos courtesy of Honda Japan and Toyota Japan
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