REPORT: Honda Fit Hybrid coming in fall 2010
2009 Honda Fit - Click above for a high-res image gallery
According to a report from Japan's Nikkei business daily, Honda plans to finally bring a gas-electric hybrid version of the Fit to market by the end of next year. The Fit Hybrid's arrival – a year and a half ahead of scheduled – is one part of a three-pronged approach to introduce more gas-electric models into the automaker's line-up. The initial step was the release of the 2010 Honda Insight, which will be followed by the debut of the production CR-Z later this year at the Tokyo Motor Show, and could be joined by an all-new Civic Hybrid. Rumors have swirled for months that Honda plans to bring another hybrid model to their home-town show stand, and with an on-sale date of fall 2010, the Fit Hybrid could be what all the fuss is about. However, we've been seeing reports about the gas-electric Fit's imminent arrival since 2006, so until it rolls onto the floor in Tokyo and U.S. distribution is confirmed, hold off on putting deposits at your local dealer.
Gallery: 2009 Honda Fit
[Source: Nikkei via Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sea Urchin 1:36PM (5/27/2009)
Are we talking about a 70+ MPG vehicle here? If that is the case the Prius and Volt will face some stiff competition.
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Jared 3:47PM (5/27/2009)
No. The Fit has a greater frontal cross-section than a Civic, so mileage will likely be less than the Civic hybrid.
Luis 9:16AM (5/28/2009)
That and the Fit is a couple of classes down in size and tech to the Prius. SU - you are doing a comparison of a LS600hL to Prius with your Prius to Fit line.
Franz 1:41PM (5/27/2009)
Hmmm... this might be the hybrid that makes the most sense.
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Randy915 1:54PM (5/27/2009)
This will be the cool hybrid.
PJ 2:15PM (5/27/2009)
I'm inclined to agree. If they use the 98 hp 1.3-liter Four sold in JDM and Euro-market Fits, I see no reason why this couldn't match or exceed the Prius' 50 MPG figure.
Also, the price premium for the JDM Jazz Hybrid is pretty mild: the Jazz starts at the equivalent of $12,600; the Jazz Hybrid, $15,800. Extrapolated, that puts the price for the USDM Fit Hybrid just over $18,000.
The big question is how the Fit's cargo space and rear-seat-folding magic will be affected by the battery packaging. They haven't done such a good job with the Civic Hybrids in this regard.
Erik 1:43PM (5/27/2009)
I doubt they will have any more luck with this than they did with the Civic Hybrid. In order for a hybrid to be a runaway success in terms of sales, you need to hide the real cost of the hybrid sysem from the customer by preventing a direct comparison to a non-hybrid version of the same car. A non-hybrid version further hurts sales of its hybrid twin because it does not stand out as a hybrid, which is what many hybrid buyers are looking for. I predict Insight will be the real hybrid sucess in Honda's stable.
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Rich 3:14PM (5/27/2009)
Wow. Such an insight. I wonder why Honda hasn't thought of that.
Obviously, that being the case, Honda is setting the Fit Hybrid up for failure. Not "failure so they can claim hybrids are crap and they're getting out of the business" failure, but a limited run, for three reasons:
1. it gets the word out that Honda is serious about alternative drive trains (but not alternative fuel -- it still runs on gas-o-line)
2. it lowers the corporate average MPG figures
3. most importantly, it creates a demand -- however limited that may be -- for batteries, which creates investment opportunities for... well, investors; which will create avenues for further research into miniaturisation.
The Fit platform is pretty close in shape to the Mercedes A-Class, which was conceived as an electric vehicle; and that makes me wonder.
innoc3nt 1:22PM (5/29/2009)
Wow, good insight indeed. As a car guy though, I think this might become the most reasonable hybrid for me.
Coolio 2:24PM (5/27/2009)
This hybrid makes the LEAST sense. You'll get much more bang for your buck by making full sized pickup trucks, which are needed in our society, to be hybrids. As GM has done. Way more gas savings.
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Sea Urchin 2:28PM (5/27/2009)
I wrote this before here, but GM sold 122 Chevy Silverado hybrids in first 3 months of 2009......................COMBINED
PJ 2:55PM (5/27/2009)
+1. Hybrid V8 pickups would represent "more bang for your buck" if they sold in quantities roughly equal to hybrid compacts, but with no market demand, they're just a waste of engineering resources.
Which is really too bad, since it's a great idea in theory. But I don't understand how GM could have anticipated any other outcome--when you've spent millions selling commuters on pickups by marketing them as four-wheeled 12oz steaks (and anything less would make them less of a man), you don't turn around and sell the same people tofu.
Judy Zik 2:56PM (5/27/2009)
...and lord knows GM always does everything right.
GM's Hybrid trucks are overpriced top trim lines. If Honda snuck a Hybrid drivetrain in the next Ridgeline and priced it right people might actually have a reason to buy one. Ford's ecoboost engines in their F-150's will do more to cut emissions than all the Priuses on the road. The Corolla was already a efficient vehicle so making the Prius didn't change much. Truck sales are massive and they are the least efficient vehicles. Making them even 5% more efficient will make a much bigger difference.
Personally I am disappointed by Honda's IMA system. It was cool in the original Insight but looks dated compared to Toyota and Ford's current designs.
Gary 3:31PM (5/27/2009)
There is no market demand for large/truck SUV hybrids because people don't stop to think that increasing the fuel economy of a gas guzzler saves more money than putting a hybrid powertrain in a small vehicle that already gets great mileage.
Going from 50 MPG to 60 MPG is a 15% increase in fuel economy. Going from 20 to 30 is a 50% increase in fuel economy. Not everybody's family can fit inside a Fit.
It's now all about bragging rights on who has the best fuel economy. Instead of spending a few million the Insight's development budget to get one more MPG better fuel economy, Honda could have put the money towards developing a better interior and refining the car so it doesn't sound like a tin can when you close the doors.
The fuel economy wars are as pointless as the horsepower wars in the past.
P.V. 4:03PM (5/27/2009)
Coolio is right in the context of more gas savings. Convert mi/gal to gal/(100 mi) and you'll see why. This is why European fuel economy quotations are often in L/(100 km). A jump from 15 mpg to 30 mpg is actually a bigger jump than from 30 mpg to 300 mpg. Do the math (in gal/(100 mi)). It's true.
Anyway, this hybrid makes a lot of sense because it has more utility than the Prius and Insight despite being smaller on the outside. It also (sort of) looks the part too. I would buy one.
Brandon 4:59PM (5/27/2009)
Hybrid full sized trucks don't work because no one that actually uses a truck as a truck would ever buy a hybrid truck. Real work truck buyers buy diesels because over the life of the vehicle they have lower fuel costs than gassers and when work needs to be done on them the same technicians that work on their diesel heavy equipment can also work on their truck. Real work truck buyers would not buy a truck that sacrifices payload with a thousand pounds of batteries, or couldn't be worked on in the diesel shop that services all their other stuff. I come from a small town in the midwest where nearly everyone has a truck and uses them as such. I hear all the time how they wish they could get a diesel in a half ton but the manufacturers are too stupid to realize it. I haven't found anyone that uses trucks that would even consider a hybrid, but they would all jump on a diesel.
Colin Smith 1:55PM (5/27/2009)
And the new Fiat twins with 105 bhp will offer 60+ mpg (US), and the Multiar2 Diesels will give 95 bhp, with huge torque and extremely low emissions, and even better mpg: all batteries not included!
Could be a three horse race next year, if Fiat gets its new cars to the US in time.
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Colin Smith 1:57PM (5/27/2009)
OK, the Fiat twins may not give much more than 50 mpg US, but that's not bad, and light weight and less complication too...
Dave 4:13PM (5/27/2009)
Who cares? Price of diesel is going to skyrocket back up anyways.
Rev 4:50PM (5/27/2009)
There really isn't a less reliable car being produced in Europe, what makes you think people are going to want a Fiat in the states???
I'd worry less about it being competitive and more about it actually functioning at all...