Honda to sell cheaper Hybrid in 2009

It would be great if car manufacturers would drop the price of these hybrids but first would have to find a different way to produce the super expensive batteries that power them.

Good for Honda. What's wrong with GM and Ford?

They are close allies of the oil industry?

Remeber Marilyn_Murray, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge want to give us GAS cards at $2.99 a gallon to coherse into buying gas guzzlers! They want get every dollar they can out of the fossil fuel industry.

Subcompact hybrids? Amen! I've been disappointed to see the recent expansion of hybrids only in models like mid-size SUVs and luxury cars - where they really only serve to increase MPG averages in the 20's. A hybrid Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris would rock.

Sweet

This is awesome. An affordable compact hybrid car is perfect for the broke environmentally conscious college student. This is a step in the right direction!

finally some decent competition for the prius. Go Honda.

its so good to see the green movement can be utililezed as industry, as it becomes more popular, more and more green products that are both cheap and efficient will flood the market. in this case, capitalism rocks!

Does a cheaper hybrid mean the fuel economy will stay the same of will that lower too?!

'bout damn time

What is so great about hybrid when they still burn gas?

By 2015 I imagine we wil have better option than simple hybrids. I envision 100% electric cars where you can simply pop in new batteries at gas stations.

Poppin gin new batteries could even take less time than filling up a tank... very convenient, and its already in the works !!

http://www.projectbetterplace.com/

well, what I really want is efficient public transportation all over the US, but I'm not ashamed to be happy about any steps in the right directions. hybrids are at least that.

Many communites in the US are too spread out to have efficient public transoportation (due to zoning laws that make it cheaper, and have faster approvals to develop on open space, than redevelop inner cities).

I don't really think hybrids are going in the right direction. They are too little too late. Electric cars need to be created with a network of battery locations. What would be better than using gas stations as places to drop off, and pop in your fresh car batteries.

http://www.projectbetterplace.com/

A challenge to the auto industry: make a hybrid that doesn't look dopey. Thank you.

@sforte Some of the looks on a hybrid are for aerodynamics, which helps to increase the mileage.

I like the idea of the hybrids getting cheaper. However, I still get pretty much infinite mpg (for gasoline) on my bike.

I would like to hear about cars that do not use Gasoline, since hybrids tend to not get enough mileage. What happened to the idea of having gas assisted Electric cars? I believe that there needs to be more of a push to get away from Gasoline altogether, but having gas assisted electric cars (aka. Plug-in hybrids) are what we really need to get 100+ miles to a gallon and then to simply having electric. Otherwise, we are going to be riding our bicycles to work or walking. I bet that bus fares are going to skyrocket in the next year or so with the way oil is above $120/barrel.

I think this Iraq war has more and more to do with distracting us from what is really important to take care of in this world. There needs to be a global dialogue, but the President is all knuckles and gas!

I have a honda accord hybrid V6. THE car is dope. it gets pretty good gas and has the same horse power as a mustang GT. Not the same ratio but still its got power. Honda now discontinued the V6 accord b/c it didnt sell. Well the car looks great and drives great. I think peeps just didnt know about it before it was gone. I recommend getting more hybrids with power, looks, and good gas at an affordable price. Honda definitly has the right idea.

They do not need to reduce their prices because the gas price will go up and more consumers will be push to buy more hybrid cars

Batteries are CRAP!!!! We need fuel cells now. Enough with the battery powered cars...Terrible for the environment and expensive to replace. French Fry Oil is better- Give it up MC Donalds!!

Honda corporation profits off of their ambition, making our environment cleaner, producing affordable hybrids that the average Joe can buy. Everyone wins. Corporations aren't all that bad when they act responsible.

Like the electric car, I hope Hybrids are not destroyed by oil companies, the government, car companies, and consumers.

You can't count mpg anymore when you talk about plug-in cars like gas-assisted electric. You have to include the electrical energy input. Miles per joule might be a more appropriate measure of efficiency.

Plus, that electrical energy comes from coal and nuclear power plants, further centralizing energy production. (Which isn't all bad, though, because pollution controls are more efficient there.)

But in the long run, the single biggest benefit you can give to the environment is to just use less miles.

image that a foreign car that's cheaper and better then america.

I believe it's GM that owns the patent to a more efficient battery isn't it? Well either way, I've read that unless they can guarantee those batteries will have an extremely long life (at least 100,000 miles), then the batteries from a bunch of electric cars can be just as harmful to the environment (of course not immediately harmful like carbon emissions).

C'mon, auto makers...we don't need these cars in a couple years or a few years...WE NEED THEM NOW!!!!

WHAT IS IT GONNA TAKE...??????

Cherish our Planet...it is our legacy to our children's, children's children.

Peace,
Cherish

Me want one.

Ooo! I wonder how MUCH cheaper? I like Honda, and if they start selling affordable hybrids, it would be very fortuitous for me.

I don't like Honda's, but I'd like at this hybrid if the price is right.

Well TG! I just put a reservation on a SMART car, which still burns gas but I could not find an affordable hybrid and all the current electric cars go only 40 mph! And the future electric cars, which will be out in 2010, well, the "cheapest" I could find will still run about $30,000.

My SMART will be here in 2009. If I can find a hybrid, which I would prefer, for around $15,000 I'll look at a Honda. Everyone else is moving too damn slowly!

This is a small step in the right direction. I may buy one. I hope to see a fully electric car in the near future.

I've wanted a Prius since they were first released. I want one more now. Damn school loans.

That's not a picture of the new hybrid. There aren't any that I know of yet. I heard yesterday that there will be a compact Fit available as a hybrid too.

The photo is Honda's FCX Clarity, the hydrogen fuel cell car. Rumored to be the cleanest and greenest car manufactured by any automaker.

It's only available in California at the moment, in limited quantities at that.

Yeah, I got all excited after I read this and went online to do some research. I found out that what's pictured is the Honda Fuel Cell car. And at a rental price of $600 per month, that sure isn't the "affordable" car to which the article referred.

I can't find any information about what "affordable" is - there's four months before the first of the 2009s start rolling out and I'm wondering if this is "more talk, little action".

Just go all electric. The technology is already available and affordable.

Where can I get a electric car and also what do you think is affordable?

Thats cool because hybrids can be rite up there in price.

What's available are low speed cars that go up 40mph for city driving. This is what I've found:

-Owners of Scion xB cars can purchase an all-electric conversion kit - for $55,000 (on top of the price you paid for the car.)
- Dynasty IT - only goes up to 25mph
- Global Electric Motocars (GEMS) another NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle) with a top speed of 25 mph. List prices start out at a *very* affordable $6,800
- Reva Electric Car Co. - Only available in Bangalore, India
-ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) Xebra Car - very promising line of vehicles, from the Xebra Sedan (3-wheeled vehicle goes up to 40 mph) from an affordable $11,200 up to the Zap X - a "regular" looking foor door sporty looking vehicle that will be available in 2010 for a base price of $60,000 (*not* affordable!)
- ZENN (Zero Emmission No Noise) - a NEV that will go up to 25 mpg (not sure of the cost)
-Tesla - in 2009 they are expected to start at $98,000. Green for those with Green.
- Phoenix Motorcars - this one looks real promising. It can go up to 95 mph and gets 100 miles pher charge. They are currently taking reservations for 2009 models. However, at a base price of $54,000 for the SUV ($47,500 for the sport utility truck) they're not very "affordable"
-Miles ZX40 sedan - this line currently has NEVs that max at 25 mph. The ZX40S MSPR is - yes - an affordable $18,400 (plus about $800 for delivery). There's a new model coming out "soon" - the XS500 - a very nice, normal looking sedan that can reach 80 mph, has a 120+ mile driving range and a battery life of about 100,000 miles, but the expected MSRP on this vehicle will be between $35,000-$39,000.

I pulled all this information from here:
http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/electricvehicles/t...

If you know of something else, let me know.

BTW, affordable in my standards is anything with a base price under $15,000 where a person can add some basic options (AC, radio) and still come out with a new car under or around $18,000.

@Crystal_Moon... there are also several outfits that can convert a Prius into a plug-in hybrid, today.

and yes, the price is out of sight... 10-20k or more for the conversion on top of the 25k-30k for the car [if you can find one!] one of the companies is in Colorado... Denver, i think, and i think there's another one somewhere in CA.

and it voids all of toyota's warrantys....

i'll guesstimate that the first plug-in hybrids will be in the 25-30k range, and 50-100 mpg.

we'll have to wait at least a few years on that...
hang in there... it WILL happen.

Why not stick with the fuel-cell? If more fuel-cell cars were put into production, wouldn't they start decreasing in price? Or to lease? Any opinions?

@nytmare, read up on fuel cells and discover that they're pretty complex things, run at pretty high temperatures and whether you pump hydrogen or natural gas into their tanks, there isn't a very nice infrastructure for distribution of those fuels around about every corner you might drive for a tankup.

yeah, they're low emissions, but if you can't get fuel without a hydrogen "gas station" [ooohhh... pun alert!], you're not going to buy one at ANY price.... would you?