I had my Insight out and about for just an hour on day 1 of ownership.

I received 4 compliments / questions from 4 strangers on day 1.

#1 Supermarket parking lot
A woman shouts to me from like 12 spaces away:
"What kind of car is that?" "Oh, an Insight." "Those are hard to find. I heard they quit making them." "What kind of mileage do you get?" "Wow... 65 to 70 MPG, that's Great!" ( Gets into Suburban )

#2 Carpet store ( I was getting some for a cover for the cargo area. )
Woman smiles as says: "Nice car!"

#3 Gas Station Attendant ( I was just using the air to boost the tires )
Woman says "That's a great car! I love that color!" ( Citrus )

#4 In my driveway ( I was cutting the carpet to fit the rear )
Family of 4 on bikes, man stops with kid in tow:
"Hey, is that one of those new electric cars?" "Oh, it's a hybrid, nice."

This car is eight years old and people act like it's the newest thing.
( Actually, it's the oldest hybrid in America, right? )

I don't think I got 4 compliments on the Escape the first year.
In fairness, the Insight looks a lot different, and Citrus green ( I really think it is more green than yellow ) is an attention grabber.

I don't feel small when I'm inside, but dang... it looks small in a parking lot of other cars! I love it so far. MPG is as good or better than expected.
Electric boost is very slight, which is unexpected.

-John

 

Are you going to run the Insight on E85 or other blends of ethanol and report the findings? What is the specification of the hybrid battery and what is the normal SoC range for it? You can have some fun comparing and contrasting hybrid vehicles.

 

The battery is rated 144v and 6.5 Ah.
The SOC range is wider than the FEH but I don't know exactly.

One thing I have noticed is, if you are light on the gas pedal, the battery is hardly ever used. It stays close to max. SOC all the time... unlike the FEH that drains and recharges frequently.

The Honda is of simpler design, and will be much easier to add on other packs in the future if/when the time comes. This will be a good project car.

I have not used other than E10 so far. I'm still on the first tank.
I know of one guy who uses E85 in a 2000 Insight. I do not know if any mods were made first.

Getting 55 MPG at 70 MPH
and 70 MPG at 55 MPH.

On a rural run, with 45-50 MPH I was getting 93 MPG!
-John

 

Congratulatons from a fellow Insighter. You will want to also check out Insight Central dot net and Clean MPG dot com if you are not already familiar with them.

Did you purchase your Insight on Ebay? There was a very clean one posted the other day with a quite low Buy It Now. I think someone grabbed it the first day.

 

John,

Congrats. I used to offroad in Jeeps and now I wish I could get an Insight as a "second" hybrid.... Kind of a 180 for me....

 

Congrats Jon! I like the color a lot! I wish the HCH came in green!

 

Hey, John.. haven't talked to you in a hundred years. Remember me? I'm one of the first FEH owners. Still have the vehicle... but it's over 100k miles and I'm looking to sell it and get an '09 when they come out. Meantime, I'm shopping around for... guess what? An Insight.

Did your Insight have the battery controller issue? If so, I'm wondering if Honda routinely replaced the battery pack if the controller was bad.

 

Apparently, I have the original battery from 2000, and it was well kept since it performs, as well as I can tell, flawlessly.

I've had only one "recal" in 9 days and 500+ miles of driving.
I think that is normal, but others can chime in since I've had it so briefly.

If you buy a 2000-2004 you get a 10yr/150,000 miles warranty on the hybrid battery. If you buy a 2005 or 2006, you get 8yr/80,000 miles I think. ( or is it 6yr/80,000 ? ) Anyhow, I'm sure of the 80,000 part.

I guess early on, the BMS was not optimized, and Honda offered ( retroactive ) a longer warranty. The 05 and 06's came from the factory with better battery management I guess.

I'm not really an expert, yet... but I'm having fun getting 64-94 MPG depending on speed, and I get looks and questions everywhere I go.
People act ( out here in the mid-west ) like they've never seen one before! They think it is the newest thing... it's funny when I tell them it is the oldest thing... and they are disappointed they can't go out and get one!

-John

 

You may want to stop by a Honda dealer and run your car's VIN through their database. The way I understand it, if it's part of the production run that had the potential problem, you may get a brand new battery (and controller.) I hope someone here will chime in with the accurate info. Nevertheless, it's worth a shot.

 

Oh... my car is number 2967 ever made... one of the earliest cars, and it for sure came from the factory with the old ( pre-revision ) equipment.

That's why Honda Extended the warranty from 80,000 to 150,000 miles.

They will replace the battery, and battery controllers at No Charge if/when it fails. ( from what I read, most do at 100-150k )

They will not "swap out" a functional battery, just because you bring it in, which makes sense, and I have no urgency to do so. Why start my second battery life at 75k when I can probably start a new battery at 125k or 145k? ( but there is a 10 year limit also )

I have until 10/2010 to wait and see.