Honda created the 2000 Insight to be priced below $19,000 and help it gain appeal with a broader range of buyers.
The Honda Insight -- the first gasoline-electric hybrid marketed in the U.S. -- went on sale Dec. 15, 1999, with a base price of $18,880.
At the time, it earned the EPA's highest mileage rating ever -- 61 mpg/70 mpg highway -- and met California's stringent ultralow emission vehicle standards.
Honda developed the 2000 Insight to be priced below $19,000 and help it gain appeal with a broader range of buyers.I
t combined a 1.0 liter, 3-cylinder gasoline engine with an electric motor powered by a nickel-metal hydride battery pack. The system automatically recharged the battery pack, using energy generated during braking. As a result, the Insight did not require an outside source of electric power and never needed to be plugged in.
The two-seater featured an advanced aerodynamic design and aluminum body that was more than 45 percent lighter than a comparable steel-bodied model.
Largely overshadowed by the Toyota Prius, which went on sale in July 2000, the first-generation Insight never topped 5,000 U.S. sales a year. The second-generation Insight was introduced in March 2009 to greater sales success, initially, but Honda scrapped the model for 2015 to focus on hybrid variants of its core models, including the Accord and Civic.
The third-generation Insight was introduced in 2018 but dropped from Honda's U.S. lineup again in 2022.
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