2019 Honda Insight Review by Mark Fulmer

The Strength of 23 and 50+

If your new car priorities are affordabilty and effeciency, then how does a 23K sticker price and 50+ miles per gallon sound?

After a week of driving in the new Insight, I came away very pleased with the practicality and styling of Honda's on-again, off-again hybrid sedan and look forward to where it evolves from here. Honda is predicting that purely internal combustiion engines are fading away as they plan for their electrified vehicles to make up two-thirds of its global auto sales by 2030.

On the outside, the Insight blends in with sedan crowd with uncluttered clean lines that do not betray its unique systems. The Touring model sports a 151-hp, 1.5-liter four-cylinder and electric drive; continuously variable transmission; and front-wheel drive. Backing out of my driveway, I enjoyed the faint techno chiming sound that was added to the electric engine that alerts folks and pets on the side walk that something is moving their way.

I was surprised when opening the trunk to see unobstructed cargo space - no battery hump at all, just a wide open space. Lifting the floor mat revealed the battery - quite a change from the first version. The other surprise was the push button gear shifter and parking brake which knows when a door is not completely shut by not letting you move until you shut it.

As you'd expect from a Honda, the safety features are many and standard. All trims get the Honda Sensing suite of advanced safety features as standard equipment. There is lane departure warning, and lane keeping assist, forward collision warning, Honda LaneWatch system, and automatic emergency braking.

The inevitable truth is that fossile fuel prices will go nowhere except up and up and up, no matter how much pressurized water is pumped into spent wells. The smart move is toward biofuels and alternative energy sources. And the Insight is an intelligent choice in that direction.