Hybrid Technology (Honda Insight)
The Honda Insight is the first gasoline-electric hybrid
vehicle to be sold in the United States. The heart of the hybrid system is
Honda's innovative Integrated Motor Assist (IMA™), which couples an all-new 1.0
litre, 3-cylinder engine with an ultra-thin electric motor for outstanding
performance and efficiency.
The IMA system, combined with a rigid aluminium body
structure and world-class aerodynamic design, gives the Insight the ability to
achieve 70 miles per gallon of gasoline (EPA highway estimate). Plus, it meets
California's stringent Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) standard, making it
one of the world's cleanest, most fuel-efficient gasoline-powered automobiles.
Because its primary motive power comes from its VTEC™-E
gasoline engine, the Insight drives just like any other automobile. It has a
10.6-gallon gas tank, and no external power supply is needed for recharging.
Batteries are recharged by regenerative braking. Specifically, energy from
forward momentum is captured during braking. This energy is then used to
recharge the batteries.
The Insight's lightweight aluminium body and reinforced
frame are 47-percent lighter than a comparable steel body and have superior
bending and torsional rigidity. And its highly aerodynamic body has one of the
lowest coefficients of drag (0.25) of any mass-produced automobile. To reduce
weight, a resin valve cover, intake manifold and pulleys are used, as is a
cast-magnesium oil pan, which also increases engine rigidity.
When driving the Insight, the gasoline engine provides the
primary motive power. When additional horsepower and torque are needed, such as
when accelerating hard or climbing hills, the electric motor provides assist to
the gasoline engine using electric current supplied by the nickel-metal hydride
battery pack.
The Integrated Motor Assist (IMA™) powertrain is a
combination of a gasoline engine, an electric motor and a 5-speed manual
transmission. The Insight's engine was made smaller to reduce weight and
increase fuel-efficiency. Yet thanks to the IMA™ electric motor assist, it
delivers the equivalent performance of a larger 1.5 litre engine, without the
corresponding fuel-consumption penalty.
The Insight's
VTEC™-E system was designed to create a swirl effect in the cylinder. This
allows the lean air-fuel charge to burn more completely and cleanly for
enhanced fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions.
The Insight's 1 litre, 3-cylinder VTEC™-E gasoline engine,
with assist from the electric motor, produces 73 horsepower at 5700 rpm and 91
foot-pounds of torque at 2000 rpm, with up to approximately one-third of this
torque being supplied by the IMA™ electric motor.
The Insight's catalytic converter is a very special design
that actually attracts nitrogen oxide, or NOx, molecules during lean-burn
conditions. It holds the NOx molecules until it can catalyse them later during
richer air-fuel operation, turning the NOx emissions into water, carbon dioxide
(CO2) and nitrogen.
The Honda
Insight. The first car to receive the Sierra Club's Excellence in Environmental
Engineering Award in the organization's 108-year history.
When the Sierra Club, America's oldest and largest
grassroots environmental organization, got a first look at the Honda Insight
last month, members started talking. One could be heard praising the Insight's
61-mpg-city and 70-mpg-highway fuel economy.* Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive
Director, said, "[The Insight] marks the beginning of the automotive
industry utilizing twenty-first century technology." Dan Becker, Director
of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program, was quoted as saying,
"This car proves that the technology exists to dramatically clean up the
pollution from America's cars." Since everyone still had a lot more to
say, the Sierra Club decided to create a special award that would honour the
Insight's fuel efficiency and revolutionary hybrid design. Appropriately, the
Sierra Club named it, "The Excellence in Environmental Engineering
Award."