Honda’s first commercial hybrid—the first hybrid to go on sale in America—was the Insight. The two-seat coupe looked more like a Star Trek prop than a regular car. The Insight’s faired-in rear wheels and sharply-sloping glass hatch stood out at the parking lot. It looked sufficiently different that in Jet Li’s The One, it was cast as part of an alternate universe—without changing anything on the car.
The Insight met with limited commercial success, selling no more than 14,000 units. It was designed primarily as a real-world test bed for the technology and the marketing. Honda then decided to go for a mainstream audience with its follow-up car; its next hybrid was a variant of the Honda Civic. Honda installed an innovative drivetrain in its most popular model, boosting its mileage and drastically lowering its emissions.
Though that model was not introduced in the Philippines, Honda Cars is contemplating the introduction of the current Civic Hybrid. The new car was demonstrated as part of Honda’s forum on alternative fuels and propulsion technologies held in October.
Outside, it’s the familiar Civic with the Cylon scowl that we’ve come to admire. The most obvious distinctions are the aerodynamic wheels designed to reduce drag, and the trunklid spoiler. Without the large Department of Energy (DOE) decals on the flanks, the only identifying mark is the small “Hybrid” badge on the trunklid.
The cabin is also standard-issue Civic: large interior room, pleasingly tactile materials, split-level instrument panel. A gauge beside the tachometer indicates whether the electric motor is helping to accelerate the car or charging the batteries. The temperature bar-graph has also been replaced with a fuel economy gauge. Directly behind the rear seat is the NiMH battery, inverter, and control unit. The assembly eats up some of the trunk space.
To Honda’s probable annoyance, the original Civic Hybrid was called a “partial hybrid” in contrast to the “full hybrid” Toyota Prius, as the Civic couldn’t run on the electric motor alone. Even in this model, when you turn the key, you have the conventional start up sequence with the gasoline engine firing up. The gasoline powerplant combines two of Honda’s fuel-efficiency innovations. i-VTEC variable timing, as used in the S2000, allows valves to vary their lift and timing for optimal power at different rpm. Dual sequential ignition, as used in the City 1.3, uses two spark plugs per cylinder for more efficient combustion, resulting in high torque at lower rpm.
The four-cylinder 1.3-liter produces 93 hp / 167 Nm. That’s rather decent for the displacement but barely enough for the Civic’s mass. Honda thus includes a secondary power source. Dubbed Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), it consists of an electric motor attached to the gasoline engine’s crankshaft. The electric motor provides an additional 20 hp and 103 Nm of torque. Essentially, it’s an electric supercharger.
There’s no video screen displaying animated energy bars here. The gasoline engine continues to turn as long as the car is moving. The VTEC system closes the valves during steady cruising to reduce the “engine brake” effect and allow the electric motor to recapture energy from the brakes to recharge the batteries. During standstill, the gasoline engine shuts down. The electric motor fires up the engine instantly once you release the brake pedal. The result is 20.8 km/liter city / 21.7 km/liter highway, with emissions in the same class as the 2-seat smart coupe.
As the Honda-DOE forum pointed out, the hybrid variant is only one in Honda’s environment-friendly deck of cars. There’s also the Civic FFV, which can run on any gasoline-ethanol mixture up to E100. That car is destined for Brazil and other South American countries. The Civic GX is propelled by compressed natural gas, resulting in lower emissions and cost. The GX comes with a home-refilling station that taps into gas lines where available.
After driving this car, we surmise that Honda’s goal is to make the technology as transparent and as unobtrusive as possible. We wholeheartedly agree with the unobtrusive part. The Civic Hybrid firmly belongs in the everyday-driving universe, and that may be its greatest strength.
By Jason K. Ang | Photos By Jason K. Ang
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