2002 Honda Insight

Key facts

Year

2002
Country

Japan
Capacity

995cc
Cylinders

3 cylinder
Valves

Single overhead camshaft
Output

67bhp (72bhp with IMA) at 5,700rpm
Maximum speed

112mph
Performance

0 – 62mph 12.5 seconds
Price new

£17,000
Owner

National Motor Museum Trust
Manufacturer

Honda Motor Co.

The Insight was Honda’s first production hybrid electric vehicle, incorporating their Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system. Based on the VV concept car, the Insight was introduced to the Japanese market in November 1999 and was released in North America the following month, several months before the rival Toyota Prius. The European launch came in early 2000. The light weight 995cc petrol engine is supplemented by an electric motor, producing a combined power output equivalent to a conventional 1.5 litre engine. Efficiency is further improved by the lightweight, aerodynamic aluminium body.

Although hybrid cars may seem a relatively new idea, the first hybrid actually appeared in 1899. The Austrian built Lohner Porsche ‘mixte’ used a petrol engine to drive electric motors mounted in the wheel hubs, or ‘Radnebenmotor’, designed by Ferdinand Porsche. Petrol-electric propulsion was used in some buses during the 1920s before diesel engines became the norm.