Toyota Prius vs Honda Insight (hybrid battle)

Two really important cars have come on sale this year...
...and we haven't driven both of them yet.
So we're going to kill two birds with one stone...
...and drive both of them at the same time.
That does mean I need someone to drive the other car.
Come on Ruben, no one will fall for this.
Take off that helmet, this isn't going to work.
As you've may have seen, I'm driving a Prius.
The third generation.
First impression? It's something totally different...
...if you like futuristic stuff this might be something for you.
The dashboard is different...
...there's a nice blue stick with weird letters on it.
We've got a combustion engine on board. It's a 1.8 liter...
...which has a special piston-cycle...
...the so called 'Atkinson cycle' which makes it a bit more economical.
It's got 99 hp, that isn't a lot for a 1.8...
...but the electric engine adds something to that. 82 hp to be exact...
...and if Toyota add the two together, they come up with 136 hp in total.
Whatever.
The electric engine gets its power from old-fashioned nickel batteries in the back.
And they get most of their charge from braking...
...it regenerates the energy involved.
It's shown nicely in the display when it charges the battery.
Winning back some energy by doing this is very clever...
...besides saving a lot on brake maintenance...
...it also stores the energy you'd normally lose when, for example, driving in town.
It just stores it in the battery...
...and when you accelerate, it initially drives off on just the electric engine.
You even have a completely electrical mode when you press the EV-button.
If I push that I'll drive completely on electricity.
This is a very different kind of hybrid, the Honda Insight.
A so called mild-hybrid.
It only uses its electric engine to assist the petrol engine.
So it can't drive on electricity alone.
That's probably better, since it only has a mere 14 hp.
You can't even drive a pencil sharpener with it, so to speak.
It does get 88 hp from its 1.3 liter petrol engine.
If you count those tho numbers up according to the weird hybrid-formula...
...it has 98 hp.
That's a lot less than Wouter's new best friend.
The term mild-hybrid applies to the whole car I think.
It's just a normal car with some modifications...
...to make it look environmentally friendly.
I've got a huge rev-counter in front of me...
...with a tiny little screen to tell me what my fuel consumption is.
It also shows me how many flowers I've earned.
This car is so environmentally friendly that it awards you flowers if you drive well.
I've got 4,5 flowers at the moment, and that's quite something...
...this morning I only had 1,5 flower.
The digital speedo changes color...
...if I drive economically. Then it's green...
....and if I hit the throttle it turns blue like it's saying; "Hey! Stop it!"
Mild-hybrid, the most important thing is that I can't drive electrically.
I can't scare small children in a carpark...
...while that's of the biggest appeals.
I also can't take part in the Autoblog gimmick from this video.
Let's do a burnout, you can't do that in a Prius.
3, 2, 1.
Of course we want to know the Prius' performance now.
0-62 in 10,4 seconds and a top speed of 112 mph.
We didn't make both of them...
...0-62 takes a full second longer...
...with wind coming from behind.
Wouter, don't complain...
...0-62 takes 12,4 seconds in this one.
My top speed is higher though, 113 mph.
But I won't show you how to get there...
...cos I reckon you don't have 34 minutes.
Acceleration while driving?
Just to illustrate; I was doing 30 yesterday and wanted to go to 50 mph...
...I'm still trying to get there.
But of course, the reason everybody buys it is...
...the low taxes, so it's very cheap.
You're a fool if you don't drive one...
...when can you accelerate from 0-62 anyway?
Still, if you decide to drive a hybrid...
...I'd want to have a Prius.
In the Prius you really notice it's designed to be a hybrid...
...everything is designed around the drivetrain.
It's also a bit bigger, more powerful and still more economical.
60,3 mpg against 53,5 for this one.
That translates to 89 grams of CO2 for the Prius...
...and 101 for the Insight.
That's quite a difference.
Furthermore, it's more quiet, it drives better, it's more practical.
Very well Ruben, but I'm driving it and there are a couple of things that irritate me.
Like the lack of cubbyholes.
They forgot one thing when they where building this car...
...the hand brake.
They probably noticed it right before it being presented at some car-show.
"Oh no! We forgot the hand brake!"
So there's a little pedal...
...everything is electric, but there's a pedal for the hand brake.
But it's also right in the place where my shin is.
I've hit it a couple of times already...
...and I've pressed it a couple of times and it beeped.
The beeps are also quite irritating in this car...
...if I put it in reverse, it beeps...
...and it just beeps on and on, like you're driving backwards in a lorry.
Forget sporty driving...
...you can't turn the ESP off...
...as far as I've been able to discover in this sea of buttons.
And if you take a corner a bit too violently, and the ESP thinks "Watch out!"...
...it doesn't just flash a warning light like normal cars do...
...but the Prius also has a beep for it.
So besides the tires going:
The car also does:
Like you're about to die or something.
But Wouter, we can't go on complaining about these cars.
Of course, it's nice technology...
...it's quite advanced, and really economical.
Although, how much have you used with your Insight?
33,6 mpg.
I did 36,2 mpg.
And before you start complaining that it isn't very economical...
...that's true, but Ruben and I aren't that ecological at all.
Of course lots of people do want to drive economical...
...which of the two should they have?
Is that a serious question?
That is a serious question.
Just look at my face.
Is that your serious face? -That is my serious face.
And I'm very serious when it comes to the environment...
...and hybrid-drivers, and green and CO2.
I'm also trying to look serious.
That leads to the question of the price.
This one starts at 25 grand.
And this one starts at 20 grand.
But what do these cars cost?
About 34 grand with some options, it's a bit more expensive indeed.
And yours?
This is an Elegance...
...it costs 22 and a bit.
But it's got DVD Navigation, and that alone costs 3.500 euros.
Yours is quite a bit cheaper...
...but although the Prius is bigger, more advanced and just more car...
...but it isn't really exciting.
Imagine your boss gives you 25 grand...
...to get yourself a nice car.
What else is there to buy?
A second hand BMW M3 for example.
Yeah. -You've got to enjoy life a bit.
Absolutely, I'd do it immediately.
Beer? -Yes we're done.