Honda Insight Hybrid Spied In India For The First Time

Carmakers in India are preparing for a greener future. With the Indian Govt’s push for electric and hybrid vehicles, various auto companies in India are contemplating their own plans to introduce electrified vehicles in the coming years. In particular, the FAME Scheme II subsidy has been released in an attempt to make producing, selling and buying EVs and hybrid cars viable for both automakers and customers in the country. Honda is gearing up for the new-gen hybrid sedan, Honda Insight which has been spied testing sans camouflage in India for the first time ever.

The Honda Insight was spotted testing with on-road emission testing equipment in India.

As per the spy photos, the upcoming new-gen Honda Insight stays in line with its company’s latest design philosophy as regarding its exterior styling. The low-slung front fascia of the Insight is characterized by a prominent front grille with chrome inserts and LED headlamps. Whereas the rear end of the hybrid sedan adopts a fastback style. As reported earlier, the new Honda Insight might serve as a great design inspiration of the new-gen Honda City.

The hybrid sedan was spied with no camouflage, revealing the modern exterior design of the model.

On the inside, the Honda Insight borrows a host of elements from the latest-gen Honda Civic with a fully-digital instrument cluster, steering wheel and switch gears among others. It is not surprising that it will pack a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, dual-zone auto climate control, LED ambient light, engine start push button, electrically adjustable driver seat along with heated front seats.

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The safety features of the new Insight include driver assistance bits like collision mitigation braking system, adaptive cruise control, road departure mitigation, lane keep assist, auto headlamps, traffic sign recognition in addition to ABS, EBD, traction control, tire pressure monitoring system, etc.

Currently, Honda has no plan to introduce the Insight hybrid sedan in India.

Powering the Honda’s hybrid sedan is a 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle gasoline burner paired with an electric motor, both of which churn out a combined power output of 151 BHP and gets the support from an e-CVT unit. The figure might sound a bit plain on paper but the sedan can sprint from 0 – 100 kmph in around 7.7 seconds due to the instant torque released from the electric motor.

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Honda has already confirmed that it has no plan to launch the Insight in the Indian space. The running trials are made just to collect data in different terrains and driving conditions with respect to weather, traffic and road infrastructure.

Image source - Rushlane