Two alternative-fuel vehicles took center stage for Honda at the Los Angeles Auto Show, with the FC Sport Design Study showing the extreme possibilities for a fuel-cell sports car of the future, alongside the Insight Hybrid Concept, which is due to go on sale in just five months.

Honda’s V Flow fuel-cell technology, already in use in the Honda FCX Clarity sedan, allowed Honda designers a great deal of flexibility with the FC Sport design, placing the fuel-cell components in the optimum midship location for a low center of gravity and high level of performance. The electric motor is located just in front of the rear axle, with the hydrogen storage tanks above the axle and visible from the outside.

The designers wanted to emphasize the fuel-cell technology while developing a true performance sports car. The sleek aerodynamic body houses a relatively large passenger compartment due to the modular fuel-cell placement.

The driver sits in the center of the vehicle, just like a formula race car, but with two passenger seats in the second row. Front-hinged doors open forward and up, giving both the driver and passengers easy access.

Honda Insight Concept

Honda’s new dedicated hybrid model, the Insight, adopts the name of Honda’s original hybrid with a design connection to the FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle.

Making its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Insight will feature an interactive Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist) when it goes on sale next year.

The production Insight is expected to debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January and go on sale in Japan, Europe and North America in the spring of 2009.

Eco Assist offers a variety of innovative functions: driver-activated ECON mode, which optimizes control of the continuously variable transmission; engine and powertrain components to conserve fuel; and a feedback function that uses speedometer background color to provide real-time feedback on fuel-efficient driving techniques.

An economy scoring function gives the driver feedback on current and long-term driving styles, to encourage drivers to adopt more efficient driving skills.

The guidance function changes the speedometer background color to give the driver real-time feedback. With smooth acceleration and braking the color is green, but with less efficient driving the color changes to blue-green. With more aggressive driving, the meter changes to blue.

Honda, the first automaker to sell a hybrid vehicle in the U.S. --  the original two-seat Insight -- debuted the latest Insight at the Paris Motor Show in September. Honda announced that the plan is to make hybrid technology more affordable and available to a larger number of buyers. 

The size and weight of the hybrid system have been reduced in this five-seat family vehicle, designed to comfortably accommodate both passengers and cargo.

 A new platform was created for the Insight, with the hybrid control unit and the battery located under the cargo area.

 

Powered by a new version of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, which has been modified to reduce cost and weight, the Insight combines a lightweight and compact 1.3-liter gasoline engine with an electric motor to achieve fuel economy on par with the Civic Hybrid, along with low carbon-dioxide emissions.

 

Honda’s strategy is to make hybrids both more accessible and more appealing to a broader range of customers. The Insight is the first element of a new hybrid strategy that will include three new models in the next four years, including one derived from the CR-Z show car and another from the compact Fit.