I’ve been a little disappointed with Honda recently (as customers go, I’ve almost been as loyal to Honda as I’ve been to Apple). A couple months ago, before we knew Cheryl would be out of work so long, we looked into a Civic hybrid. The salesman did everything he could to talk us out of it, saying among other things: the maintence costs were higher in a hybrid vehicle.

I’m not an expert, but I’d always heard the opposite… they tended to be more reliable, required less maintenance, and customer satisfaction was quite high. I probably shouldn’t get pissed at the brand over one salesman. We’re still going to give the Insight a serious look, especially if what we’ve heard about the price is true.

Do a little more checking. The old Insight was a light hybrid with a weak battery, but the 2010 Insight is considered the next generation…

http://world.honda.com/HybridWorld/index.html

But having said that, I don’t know if can be converted to a PHEV. Most of the conversion companies do see to work with either Ford or Toyota.

The conversion of a Prius is tempting. When we’re closer to buying, we may have to look at prices and tax incentives. The Insight caught our eye due to price, but it seems I heard somewhere the Honda hybrid technology can’t be converted to a PHEV. If I recall, unlike the Prius, it never runs in an all electric mode (the electric motor acts as a power assist to the conventional powertrain). I could be wrong… in this case I’d be happy to be.

By and large, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) from major companies are not yet on the market. Toyota and GM (with the Volt) will be among the first in late 2010. China’s BYD Motors is selling one now, but for the most part, the best PHEV option now is to buy something like a Toyota Prius or a Ford Fusion and pay a company like Hymotion to turn it into a PHEV. The downside is that it ain’t cheap, but certainly the new tax breaks help. (There is a tax break for Hybrid-to-PHEV conversions, too).

Europe will see some PHEVs on the road this year. And some companies like Aptera will be selling their space-age 3-wheeled cars later this year.

One of the best ways to cut your CO2 emissions would be to buy a car powered by compressed natural gas, like the Honda Civic GX. It’s the cleanest burning ICE (internal combustion engine) car sold in the US… but it might not be available in Florida yet. The tend to sell them in places like NY and California.

Just FYI… The Tesla isn’t a PHEV… it’s all electric. And seriously expensive at $109,000 a pop. The Fisker Karma is a PHEV slated for release later this year, but at $80,000+.

It’s cool how PHEVs work. They run in all-electric mode for up to 40 or 50 miles, at which point an internal combustion engine kicks in. It doesn’t power the car; it creates electricity to drive the electric motor, giving an extended range of 200+ miles.