Zoomi Life

Unimpressed with the marketing blitz of Honda and Toyota’s hypermiling challenges, Ford set out to hold one of its own. The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid issued a 1,000 mile challenge. While I’m a big fan of the Insight and the great mileage it showed in real-world demonstrations, their hypermiling challenge was as rigged as the Toyota one was. Ford, on the other hand, seems to have been serious about making it realistic.

Read More: Fusion Hybrid Gets 81.5mpg in Hypermiling Challenge

As the hybrid war between Honda and Toyota commences, Honda has taken it up a notch by offering a sporty hybrid concept, the CRZ. Based on current CRZ design, the new 2011 version will have better body styling for minimizing drag as well as a higher-horsepower engine than the Insight.

Read More: 2011 Honda CRZ Hybrid Sports Car

Recognizing Honda’s Insight as a real challenge to the Prius’ reign on the hybrid market, Toyota has announced that they’re cutting the base price of the 2010 Prius down to $21,000 (about $1,200 higher than the Insight).

Read More: Toyota to Slash Prius Price to Compete With Honda

Driving smarter can save fuel. Huge amounts of fuel, even for non-hybrids and gas guzzling SUVs. Most of the newer vehicles, especially hybrids, are now featuring “eco-driving” displays or prompts integrated into the dashboard of the car. Ford, Honda, Toyota, and many others have them. The Chevy Volt is expected to feature one and even electrics like the Ford Transit will have it.

Read More: Eco-Nagging: The New Eco-Driving Systems Coming to a Car Dash Near You

The Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell car won this year’s World Car of the Year Award. The panel of jurors from around the world’s automotive magazines gave the coveted award to the Clarity after considering all three finalists on merits of environmental impact, innovation, and style.

Read More: NY Auto Show: Honda FCX Clarity Wins World Green Car of the Year

The new Honda Insight hybrid became available in showrooms in the U.S. on Friday and Honda says that the handful available nationally now will become thousands in April.

We’ve talked about the Insight here before and it is currently the only real competition for Toyota’s Prius–and good competition at that. Despite sluggish car sales in America, the Insight is expected to do well–as it has in Japan so far–because of it’s low price tag (about $20,000USD) and high efficiency performance (well over 60mpg in real-world testing).

Read More: Honda Insight Hybrid On Sale Now

The release of the surprise Honda Insight hybrid and it’s sub-$20k price tag took most of us with a left hook. In order to compete (and get stockpiles off the lot), Toyota almost immediately reacted by lowering the price of the 2009 Prius to compete.

With the Insight coming to America in just a few months, Toyota is hitting the bricks hard to push the new 2010 Prius model to keep from losing market share. They’ve also got a hopeful ace up their sleeve: the Yaris hybrid.

Read More: Toyota Yaris Hybrid to Compete With Honda Insight

The estimated EPA ratings for the Honda Insight, announced with the introduction of the new hybrid earlier this year, were pretty abysmal. “42mpg? That’s it?” Was the common response.

Read More: Honda’s Big Surprise: 2010 Insight Averages Over 60mpg

After ten days on the market, the Honda Insight has sold over 10,000 units in Japan already. That’s double the February sales goal!

Read More: 10 Days, 10,000 Honda Insight Hybrids Sold in Japan

Honda’s Insight PHEV, which we covered during the Detroit Auto Show in January, hit the streets of Japan today at a base price of less than $21,000USD. The EX trim package is at $23,000.

Read More: Honda Insight Hits the Streets of Japan Today for $21,000