Why Can't We Buy Cars That Do 60, 70, Or 80 MPG? - Green Car Reports
The first-generation Honda Insight hybrid, sold from 2000 through 2006, is renowned even today for its ultra-high gas mileage: 52 mpg combined (48 mpg city, 58 mpg highway). So why, 15 years after the Insight went on sale--considering engineering advances made over that time--don't we have regular cars without plugs that can top those numbers. As the owner of a used 2001 Honda Insight hybrid --currently averaging more than 60 mpg, including a few long highway journeys at 70 mph or more--this lack of progress seems a frustrating state of affairs. Shouldn't the modern equivalent of the Insight, 15 years later, do more like 70 or even 80 miles per gallon. Here are four reasons that we haven't (yet) seen a true successor to ultra-high-mileage cars like the original Honda Insight. Producing a more advanced vehicle, like our hypothetical 70+ mpg gas-sipper, even less so. It's widely known that Honda lost money on every first-gen Insight it made. Modern car companies are less willing to experiment at a loss, so any car combining the latest. Source: www.greencarreports.com
