Honda Insight: Cheaper than a Prius

By Rory Reid on 25 February 2009, 2:40pm

Back in October, Honda stoked the fires of our excitement by claiming its Insight would be the world's cheapest hybrid. Five months later, the company has confirmed the entry-level car will be priced at £15,490 (on the road) -- £2,380 less than the cheapest Toyota Prius.

The pricing is impressive, considering the Insight is pretty comparable to its rivals. The 1.3 IMA SE edition delivers 64.2mpg, does 0-62mph in 12.5 seconds, has a top speed of 113mph and emits just 101g/km of CO2. The Prius 1.5 VVT-I CV, meanwhile, has slightly better fuel economy and is faster (65.69mpg and 0-62 in 10.9 seconds), but has a lower 105mph top speed and emits 104g/km of CO2.

Standard equipment on the entry-level model includes an MP3-compatible CD stereo tuner with AUX socket for your MP3 player, and a multi-info display that tells you how to tweak your driving to achieve the best fuel economy. The more advanced ES version (£16,790) gives you USB connectivity for your MP3 files, plus tinted windows and cruise control, while the top-end ES-T model (£18,390) gives you a sat-nav with voice recognition and Bluetooth hands-free mobile calls.

That's all for now, car geeks. The Insight goes on sale on 4 April. We'll bring you video footage of the car in action shortly, but in the meantime, go check our Car Tech channel for more gizmotoring goodness.