Toyota Prius or Honda's Insight? That is the question...

or
Toyota Prius Or The Honda Insight?

Not sure if the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight make more sense?  It all boils down to budget constraint and brand recognition.

The gist, now that the Honda Insight is out, the battle between the two manufacturers is in full swing as advertising try to grab the attention of hybrid vehicle, HEV lovers.

Toyota Beefs Up Its Prius.  If the Toyota Prius has a head start, it cannot rest on its laurel leafs when a new contender in the same category comes in cheaper.  Even if the new Prius 2010 offers better performance and all around upgrades, it will still have to contend with Honda's Insight.

Consumer Ask To Plug It In.  If the Toyota has been successful as an HEV, it’s conversions into a plug-in hybrids, PHEV have yielded spectacular numbers.  If the regular HEV version gets around 45mpg, some hypermilers have pushed that number up to 150mpg with their converted PHEVs.  Toyota is finally coming to accept that at one point or another, they will have to answer the demand for a PHEV Prius. It should be out by 2011.

Honda Insight, Back To The Charge.  We might have forgotten that Honda beat Toyota to the market with their original Insight, over a decade ago.  Honda lost interest and instead focused on CNG until last year’s crisis forced everyone to re-evaluate the electric drive.

The Original Insight.  If the original Insight was somewhat of a success, Honda never fully developed the car.  It was not until Toyota showed better sales numbers that Honda decided to give us a Prius contender.  Thus, the new Insight was born.

While the new Insight is visually similar to the Toyota Prius, it is still different.  For one thing, the Insight is a mild hybrid, meaning the performance will not match the Prius.  It should give you 40 city/43 highway/41 combined mpg, based on 2010 EPA mileage compared to 51 City/48 highway for the new 2010 Prius.  However, some hypermilers have shattered those numbers and depending on how one drives, 65mpg can be achieved with the Insight.

In conclusion, what will be the clincher for some will most likely be based upon two things, budget and brand faithfulness.  Some people looking for an affordable entry level HEV will probably choose the Insight.  The price difference is $22,000 - $27,270 MSRP for the Toyota Prius and no more than $20,000 for the Insight.