Good news for eco-car aficionados. Honda and Toyota are bringing new, smaller and sportier hybrid cars to the market. Honda has plans to bring the CR-Z hybrid hatch to the UK market in the summer of 2010 and hopefully to North America as well.
The CR-Z uses Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist system, the same as in the new Insight and Civic hybrid. The CX-Z (Compact Renaissance-Zero) is a hybridized embodiment of the sporty CRX hatchback that Honda used to have on the market.
An improved 1.3-litre Insight engine plus a high-torque electric motor will provide the CRZ coupe’s performance. With a low kerb weight, sporty handling and quick-off-the-mark acceleration, the CR-Z is likely to appeal to the younger drivers who otherwise might be looking to buy a V6 or V8. It will also appeal to those older drivers who still have fond memories of the CRX and can manage to still squeeze into small sport sculptured seats. Performance, fuel economy, low emissions, and fun to drive factor should all be packed into the funky-looking two-seater.
While Toyota responded to the Honda Insight hybrid by cutting prices on its older and newer Prius, it also seems to be planning to build a hybrid Toyota Yaris to do battle with the Insight and the Honda Fit. Honda surprised everyone by offering the Insight at a very competitive price, starting at C$23,900 in Canada before tax whereas the new Prius sticker price is C$27,500.
The Yaris hatchback price ranges from C$13,620 to $C20,575 and a hybrid version would be more expensive than the existing models but would also have to be cheaper than the Insight.
Honda is also bringing a hybrid Fit to the Japanese market next year so the Toyota Yaris will have some stiff competition should the hybrid Fit goes worldwide.
The great thing about all this competition is that hybrid prices keep dropping with each new generation. It seems more people than ever think buying a hybrid is a good idea and this paves the way for future plug-in hybrid electric and all electric vehicles.
Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specialising in renewable energy, power grid modelling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites. He is the author of the Eco-Geek blog.
written by Micheal , January 07, 2011
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