Honda Insight Mk1

[benlovesgoddess]

I have heard that about green cars being unlucky, but also read a report saying people who drove green coloured cars were the most content. The three green cars I had were unlucky. I made a lot of my bad luck though. The first I crashed before I even passed my test (I was an idiot), a B reg Nova two door saloon. The second was a D reg Nissan Micra, with a faulty oil warning light, stuck oil filler cap and consequently a blown up engine! The third was an R reg Peugeot 406 diesel estate, which the ex paid way too much for and had a warped brake disc or something as a recurring fault. As I was a massive prick during the period I owned all 3 vehicles, I can't say I was particularly content either!

[Draigflag]

Well after about 1000 miles since I got the insight, looks like battery pack has finally died. Going up a steep hill and the assist was doing its thing, then I ran out of battery and the IMA light came back on, followed quickly by the engine light. So I carried on, but on the 107 mile trip, both lights stayed on and the charge light wouldn't ignite, so the battery won't charge at all. RIP I guess. Car still drives fine, I'll probably disconnect the pack properly and carry on using the car until I get a chance to fix it properly. Still averaged about 70 MPG, which makes me wonder how much extra effeicncy having the hybrid system adds? I knew it was coming of course, just wasn't sure when, had fooled myself into thinking it was ok after the IMA light went off after regular use.

[LDB]

About what is the total weight of batteries etc.? For what it might cost to fix and at 70mpg without it you might take off enough weight and bump the 70 up enough to make it more economical to run as a super efficient little car. Good luck with it all whatever way you go.

[Draigflag]

That's my thinking, sadly didn't get enough time to get an idea of how economical it was to do a before and after comparison. If I invest in a new battery, I won't do enough miles to get the cost back unless I keep it a long time, but I may get a lot more when I come to sell the car, so it's a decision that will need a bit of sleep over no doubt. I just didn't want to shed a ton of money straight after buying the car, so I'll probably just use it like a conventional car for a while.

[benlovesgoddess]

Ah, that is a shame - glad you used the potential for that to happen to get the price down first....
It will be interesting to see how a conventional full tank figure compares to a hybrid one. There is a lot of talk about how you lose a lot of energy putting it into then out of the battery, I 've read several times the less I use the EV on the Prius the better (sounds totally counter productive to me, but these are Prius experts with scientific educations!). I'm sure I''ve read on here Insight owners continuing to use batteryless Insights without too much problem, still getting high mpg.
Wasn't it also said the new battery packs are both cheaper and more efficient than the original Honda one? It is also bound to be an investment, either for you if keeping, or to recoup the cost if selling.
I''ve been playing with the radar adaptive cruise control this month - it latches on to the car ahead. Speeds up and slows down with it, puts your efficiency in the hands of the car in front!

[Draigflag]

Its an interesting debate, I think it depends on the type of driving you'll be doing. For example, if you're doing a lot of low speed driving or descending a lot of hills, you're mostly generating the battery power from regeneration and not using any more energy/fuel. But, if you're idling in traffic etc, the engine will be acting as a generator to charge it. There is lots of evidence to suggest a regular diesel car, already efficient and lighter than a similar sized hybrid, will be more efficient, and cheaper to run overall, but its an argument that has so many factors involved, it could work in favour for either.

I read a review earlier, Vauxhall insignia ecoflex, just a regular diesel, similar size, power etc to your average hybrid. They got 64 MPG on test, but had figures as high as 82 MPG during other journeys.

[benlovesgoddess]

I can only speak from experience. Large diesel cars, driven steadily on country roads carrying the weight of me and the missus averaging 46 mpg. These were older cars, but that's the best I could average. The Prius is almost 20 mpg ahead. Would a modern diesel of the same size deliver? The small Hyundai could only manage 64, so I wouldn't expect a heavier car with a bigger engine to improve on it.
In fact the Avensis diesel I borrowed while waiting for the Prius showed no more than 48 mpg on the trip computer (almost certainly optimistic anyway).

[LDB]

Is the Prius considered a large car in the UK? Here I think it's more of a large small car or a smallish mid size car.

[Draigflag]

Cars are segmented here, A segment being the smallest, such as a Fiat 500, then B, C and so on. Not sure where the Prius fits in, but here's a brief description of the segments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_Car_Segment

[trollbait]

The segments roughly correspond to the EPA size categories. Where B is our subcompact, C is compact, and D is midsize.

For the EPA, the size is based upon total passenger and cargo space. So a hatchback can easily fall into a category higher than what the passenger cabin implies. The Prius is a midsize, but then so are about all of what people here call compact cars; Corolla, Cruze, etc.

But these are all at the low end of the midsize category. The Camries and Malibus are at the larger end, and are what people mean when they say a midsize sedan.

The electric side of a hybrid is only part of the reason why the cars are more efficient. The core reason is because they have an efficient ICE sized right for the majority of the time. The electric side helps with with effective start/stop capabilities. More importantly, it makes up in performance where the ICE alone is lacking, so that the car is drivable.

We've had small engined, efficient cars before hybrids. People drove them out of necessity than desire. Journalists whine about the Prius being slow, but it isn't slower than the base muscle car of the past; it might be faster. Most of today's V6 family sedans would give those V8 sports cars a race.