Overview of Honda Exhibition at Auto Shanghai 2011

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced it will present an exhibit at Auto Shanghai 2011, which will be open to the press April 19-20 and to the general public April 21-28. The Honda display will feature hybrid vehicles, a battery electric concept vehicle, and other automobiles and electromotive technologies with the power to help reduce CO2 emissions.

Fit EV Concept battery electric vehicle
Themed “Mobility for the Earth,” the Honda exhibit will envision the low-carbon society of the future with a range of advanced environmental technologies. The first Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system featuring a lithium-ion battery will make its world premiere, while the Fit EV Concept battery electric vehicle and Honda’s next-generation plug-in hybrid platform will further demonstrate the depth of Honda’s approach to environmentally responsible mobility. Honda will also display its two dedicated hybrid vehicles, the Insight and the CR-Z, which it plans to launch in China in 2012, as well as a selection of other production vehicles.

On the April 19 press day, Honda will hold press conferences at the Honda display at 9:00 a.m. and at the Acura display at 9:30 a.m. local time.

Overview of Honda and Acura displays

Honda

-Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system featuring a lithium-ion battery (world premiere)
-Fit EV Concept battery electric vehicle (China premiere)
-Next-generation plug-in hybrid platform (China premiere)
-Fit Hybrid, Insight hybrid vehicle, CR-Z sport hybrid coupe
-Li Nian S1 compact sedan

Other Honda production vehicles

Acura

Models planned for launch in China
RL, TL, MDX

Source;

http://www.ttkn.com/business/overview-of-honda-exhibition-at-auto-shanghai-2011-10152.html

Honda Insight Facelift?

Makes sense to me, they gotta do something....
"Back in December, it was reported that the facelifted Honda Insight will be launched in 2011 (earlier post), while a completely new model is expected to be introduced in February 2013 (earlier post). Mag-X has now published this photo showing the facelifted Insight, which shows also the name "Insight Prestige". "

Source;

http://jp-cardesigncorner.blogspot.com/2011/03/facelifted-honda-insight-coming-in-june.html

Honda says plug-ins will go 15 miles on battery

The new line of mid-sized plug-in hybrids that Honda Motor Co. aims to introduce next year will be able to travel up to 15 miles in electric-only mode, an executive says.

That would counter criticism that Honda's current hybrid technology is too weak to provide extended motor-only travel. The Integrated Motor Assist system used in the Honda Insight, Civic and CR-Z hybrids uses the electric motor mostly to assist the gasoline engine.

The new technology, which is scheduled to debut in 2012, is a two-motor system that runs on a lithium ion battery. The battery will be supplied through Blue Energy Co., Honda's battery joint venture with GS Yuasa Corp, said Hirohisa Ogawa, a chief engineer of battery research at Honda.
Ogawa, speaking at the International Rechargeable Battery Expo in Tokyo, said the new plug-ins would be able to run nine to 15 miles in electric-only mode.

Honda began testing the vehicles late last year, he added.

President Takanobu Ito has said his engineers are preparing to put the system in the Accord mid-sized sedan. Honda discontinued an earlier hybrid Accord, which was equipped with the Integrated Motor Assist system.

Source:
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110308/GREEN/110309916#ixzz1GDO2bRWk

What will a new battery mean for the Honda Civic Hybrid?

No more IMA lights?

Despite its more mild hybrid tendencies I’ve mostly been a fan of Honda’s hybrid cars. However, a number of battery-related problems in recent years have made me question Honda’s commitment to hybrids.

But, now that lithium will replace the sometimes shoddy NiMH battery packs in the upcoming 2012 Civic hybrid, it might be time to forgive and forget.

OK. For those now suffering or having suffered through Honda’s hybrid problems, there might never be forgiveness. Honda’s handling of some of the problems facing early Honda hybrid supporters has been appalling. Period.

Thinking forward, however, Honda is an important automaker and their hybrid vehicles have great meaning in the fuel economy debate. Consequently, some 2012 Honda Civic hybrid spyshots on InsideLine set up an obvious question: How much more fuel efficient will the new lithium-powered Civic hybrid be?

The spyshots show the new Civic hybrid being tested along with the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. Thus, its impossible not to wonder how close the new Civic hybrid will come to matching the fuel economy numbers of the Prius.

Without a larger battery pack, catching up to the Prius seems impossible. However, adding a larger battery pack, especially one made of lithium, also increases costs. Of course, no automaker made the kind of NiMH investment that did Toyota. So, maybe the cost difference between lithium and NiMH isn’t as extreme for Honda.

Anyway, greatly looking forward to the final Civic hybrid fuel economy numbers.

Source;
http://www.favstocks.com/what-will-a-new-battery-mean-for-the-honda-civic-hybrid/1831444/