New Hybrid Vehicles

Economists are fond of saying that economics is “the dismal science.” After the world’s markets burst into flames and fell from the sky, they may be half right—it is dismal. Yet if there is a silver lining, it is this: Demand for clean, efficient, hybrid vehicles—vehicles whose operating costs aren’t so inextricably pegged to fuel prices, commodities markets, or world events—is higher than it has ever been.

Car manufacturers, looking to fill that need, are throwing their collective brainpower behind battery technology, electric powertrains, and short-term strategies to tide us over until the fruits of those projects are ready for the mainstream. The four vehicles we’re highlighting here—all of which are on display, starting today, at the Canadian International Autoshow in Toronto —are the newest hybrids on the market and what they have to offer.

2010 Toyota Prius
Price: TBA
Available: Spring 2009
Economy: 3.8L/100 km
Website: Toyota Prius

The Prius has been Toyota’s green darling for the past five years, so the company played it safe by evolving the 2010 Prius’ design rather than revolutionizing it. Making a return is the Prius’ familiar wedge shape, but it has been tweaked, tricked and smoothed to make the car look more aggressive while helping  the car to be more aerodynamic.

Also upgraded is the Prius’ engine, which has grown from 1.5 to 1.8 litres. Toyota says the larger engine’s extra torque allows steeper gearing, improving highway economy. The engine’s extra thirst around town is offset by an 80-horsepower electric motor that pitches in for low-speed grunt. The net result? Toyota estimates 3.8L/100km in a mix of city and highway driving, versus an average of 4.1L/100 km for the old model.

More technology has crept into this next generation Prius, as well. Optional solar panels can be fitted to the Prius’ sunroof, which power vent fans to keep the interior cool on summer days. Drivers can select a new “EV-Drive” mode that allows all-electric cruising at low speeds for up to 1.5 kilometres. Bits of the interior are even made from plant-derived “Eco-Plastic”. Toyota hasn’t announced pricing yet, but expect it to be close to the current Prius’ $27,710.

2010 Honda Insight
Price: $19,000 - $25,000
Available: April 2009
Economy: 4.8L/100 km city, 4.5L/100 km highway
Website: Honda Insight

The 2010 Honda Insight is a hybrid for pragmatists. Instead of pushing the technological envelope in search of every last bit of efficiency, Honda has taken its proven hybrid technology and put it in the smallest, lightest, and cheapest car it could build. Starting at just $19,000—about the same price as a fairly basic Honda Civic—the Insight will drink just 4.5 litres of gasoline over 100 kilometres, thanks to its miserly 1.3-litre, 88-horsepower gas engine that is yoked to a 13-horsepower electric motor for assistance.

If drivers are wondering how Honda could offer a true hybrid for $19,000, their question will be answered when they climb inside. Cost-cutting is spread over the interior like a moss, with hard plastic covering everything from the door panels to the centre console to the dashboard. Despite its bargain-basement duds, the Insight has a few flashes of style: There are tiny plant icons on the computer display that sprout leaves as your long-term fuel economy improves. Once all the available leaves have grown, the display will award you a trophy. If drivers are being aggressive, the speedometer’s background will glow a disapproving deep blue. Treading gently on the throttle will eventually change the lighting to a soothing green—a simple but effective trick to trigger Pavlovian obedience to the rules of hypermiling.

Lexus HS250h
Price: TBA
Available: Late summer 2009
Economy: 5.7L/100 km (est.)
Website: Lexus HS250h

The Lexus HS250h is all about firsts. Sixty percent of entry luxury-sedan buyers would have considered a hybrid model had one been available, so Lexus created its first entry in that particular market with the HS250h. While Lexus already has other hybrids in other vehicle classes, the HS250h is Lexus’ first completely unique hybrid model—it isn‘t a gas-electric version of an existing car. The HS also marks the debut of Lexus’ first four-cylinder engine, a 2.4-litre, 147-horsepower unit cribbed from Toyota’s Camry Hybrid.

The HS is draped with styling cues—the sculpted sides, the window lines that flick up at the rear, the inverted trapezoid grille and the headlamps resembling a furrowed brow—that make the car instantly recognizable as a Lexus. Like any car in its class, the HS is rife with baubles and features, including voice-activated navigation, Bluetooth, and a heads-up display that projects the car’s speed onto the windshield. That same windshield, in a stroke of clever engineering, also reflects infrared rays to keep the interior cool. The HS250h makes extensive use of the Eco-Plastic that Toyota developed for the new Prius, with the door sills, pillar trim and seat cushions.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
Price: $31,000 (est.)
Available: Spring 2009
Economy: TBA
Website: Ford Fusion

American automakers are conspicuously absent from most lists of “green” cars, but the Ford Fusion Hybrid is a swing for the fences at a time when Detroit is desperate for a hit. That’s pretty unexpected when looking at the numbers, because a 1719-kg car with a big 2.5-litre, 156-horsepower engine does not look like the stuff a champion is made of. Yet when Ford’s newly developed 106-horsepower electric motor and high-capacity 275-volt battery pack can work their magic, the Fusion—according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—sips just 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres of city motoring and 6.5 litres on the highway cycle. (Transport Canada, which traditionally wrings more efficient numbers out of the cars, has yet to finish certifying the Fusion Hybrid.)

The Fusion Hybrid’s big electric motor allows it to drive up to 75 km/h on electric power alone, and it has an impressive 1125-km cruising range. But the Fusion’s most unique feature is its SmartGauge instrument cluster. Instead of traditional needle gauges, the SmartGauge comprises two full-color LCD panels on either side of the speedometer, with animated bar graphs showing everything from fuel level to battery charge. Like Honda’s Insight, the SmartGauge grows leaves as a result of economical driving—but where the Insight’s single-color graphics look lifted from a 1980s video game, the Fusion’s SmartGauge is lush and green, with stems, offshoots and leaves sprouting up as drivers keep their average economy high.

The Canadian International Autoshow runs from February 13 to 22, 2009 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Rogers Centre.