ASIMO Presents Honda Insight Hybrid at Geneva

The 120 cm 52 kg small “astronaut” created by Honda under the name ASIMO will guest star the unveiling of the Insight Hybrid at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. The new Honda will make its European debut at the aforementioned show and thus mark Honda's return to the producing of hybrids in a dedicated aerodynamic body.

The Insight combines an optimized 1.3 liter i-VTEC engine with a compact thin electric motor. This electric motor gives the engine assistance when increased performance is required and acts as a generator during deceleration and braking. It also allows electric only operation in some slow and medium speed conditions.

The Insight can achieve 101 g/km CO2 emissions and 4.4l/100km fuel consumption under the EU combined test procedures. Its key element is the Eco Assist system that is fitted as standard. The upper instrument cluster where the speedometer is sited, features a color changing ambient light that illuminates green when driving ecologically, blue/green when the car is being driven acceptably and blue when driving with less regard for economy.

The Insight gives seating for five and a boot capacity of 408 liters with the seats up. The repackaging of the IPU and batteries means the Insight has seats which fold almost flat, increasing the boot capacity to 1,017 liters. The new Honda will go on sale in Europe from the end of March 2009 and pricing information will be announced at the time of the Geneva Motor Show.

The host of the Honda stand will be the world's most advanced humanoid robot, the new ASIMO. This ASIMO robot is the latest in a long line of robots from Honda which began with the E0 robot in 1986. ASIMO has evolved over the years to enable it to run, recognize people and objects, climb stairs and even carry and deliver drinks.