First Look at Prius/Insight

[mitchoates@prodigy.net]

     Yesterday I made a trip up to Statesville NC, the county seat, 
to check that I was registered to vote. On the way back, I stopped 
at "Auto Dealer's Row", a side road beside one exit off I-77 that has 
four of the major car dealers including Toyata and Honda. You can 
guess from the title what I was looking for.
     I first stopped at the Toyota dealer, at the far end of the row 
(when it comes to car dealerships, I like to be in a position of 
working my way towards the exit!). They had one Prius, for use as 
a demo or "track" car as they called it. Unfortunately, the car was 
locked and the person with the keys was out giving a customer a 
test ride in another vehicle, so I had to be satisfied with looking 
from the outside.
     I was surprised by the size of the beast, it IS pretty much a full-
sized car.  While the styling didn't jump out and grab me, it was 
pleasant to look at and well done - as my father would say, I 
wouldn't be ashamed to be seen driving one. The interior was well 
done and I was also surprised at the ample amount of room inside. 
I would venture that even BruceDP would fit inside comfortably.
     Given the size of the car, an engine nearly twice the size of the 
Insight with an auto transmission (albeit CVT), and that they 
haven't optimized aerodynamics to the extent that Honda did while 
sticking with a steel frame (heavier), I'd say they've done quite well 
to achieve MPG in the same league with the Insight and smaller 
ICE cars along with a SULEV rating.
      The salesman said as of right then, it was a 3 month wait after 
placing an order - if I ordered one right now, it would be December 
before it arrived. I explained to him that I was just there to satisfy 
my curosity as I already owned an EV that I drove to work and 
wanted to take a look at how they had the car set up. That didn't 
stop him from trying the old "what's it gonna take to get you in this 
car" shtick.  When his boss walked off to another part of the lot, he 
apologized and said "I know you're not wanting one today, but I had 
to put on the standard routine for the head guy." We both had a 
good laugh over that one, and spent a few minutes as I explained 
the differences between their car and my truck. As I started to 
leave, he said "Why don't you bring your truck up here one day, I'd 
like to see how it's set up." Like Lee and others have said, perhaps 
hybrids will be a foot in the door for pure EV's.
     I next went back up the road to the Honda dealer. They had a 
silver Insight parked right up front by the road next to the entrance. 
I pulled in and parked, and when I got out I had a view of it from the 
drivers side rear quarter panel. My immediate gut reaction was 
"Gawd, that thing is butt-ugly from the rear!  No wonder their 
promos only picture it from the side or front."
     Now John, before you start screaming, I know that it looks like 
this because they went all-out for aerodynamics, and that what the 
car can do is more important than it's looks, but still ..... UGGGH! 
They had a second one further back on the lot that had the 
(in)famous yellowish-green paint job you talked about. I'm rather 
glad you ended up with the silver one, I jokingly asked the 
salesman if the yellow-green one came with a separate volume 
knob for the paint job.
     The conversation with the salesman was more informal this 
time, as the "head guy" was nowhere to be seen. This time the car 
was unlocked, so I was able to get inside. Apart from my 
comments about the looks of the rear end, this is another well-
made car and has quite a nice interior. I have to assume that the 
drivers seat wasn't adjusted correctly, as the top of the steering 
wheel was at eye level and all I could see out the windshield was 
hood, not a hint of the road 20 feet away. I was surprised to see 
that it had a manual 5 speed with one of those bloody electronic 
shift indicators, the kind that drives me nuts in my father's truck 
wanting to run in 5th gear at 35 MPH. They do have an auto CVT 
available as optional equipment.
     The rear deck was very high up, to form the battery 
compartment and a rear storage well. The bottom part of the rear 
hatch was glass to improve visibilty. The overall impression I got 
was the same as that of the old '78 Mustang my mother owned 
years ago, that I was sitting in a bathtub. To me, the field of vision 
to the rear and rear quarters seemed very limited.
     The salesman opened up the rear hatch to show me the rear 
storage compartment and battery compartment. It did have a quite 
large hidden storage compartment. On top of the battery well lid 
was the famous "You will be killed" sticker. The salesman knew 
that the batteries were NiMH, but when I told him that they were D 
cell flashlight batteries, his jaw dropped and he said "You're 
s******g me!". He got a big grin on his face when I suggested that 
he could tell other customers they had a car that ran off of 
flashlight batteries.
      As before, we spent a few minutes talking about my truck, and 
got a similar invite to bring the truck by one day so everyone could 
take a look at it.
      My subjective comments aside, I think that the Prius will be 
the better seller for the following reasons. For the same price -

      1 - Full size 5 passenger vs. 2 passenger compact - in the 
customer's mind, more car for the money.
      2 - Standard auto CVT vs. standard 5 speed. Auto's are the big 
sellers these days so the aging yuppies can have one hand free for 
the cell phone!
      3 - Even with only one trim level, the Prius has all the 
amenities such as A/C and power windows standard while several 
are listed as optional on the Insight.
      4 - The size thing again, the old half-truth that "big cars are 
safer than small cars".
      5 - While the MPG is not as good as the Insight, it is in the 
same league to where I think the above factors will sway most 
buyers toward the Prius.
      6 - Styling. The first thing that hits a potential customer is 
looks. With the Insight, I had to work past my initial reaction to that 
damned ugly rear end. The average car buyer that knows nothing 
about electrics or hybrids is probably going to take one look at that 
rear end and bust out laughing.

                                              Mitch Oates