Though they came out at roughly the same time, Honda's "mild" hybrid, the Insight, never took off in the way that Toyota's Prius did. (Then again, given that the Prius remains the pre-eminent hybrid vehicle on the planet, how could it have?) Since the Insight, though, Honda has largely remained on the sidelines as other major automakers moved forward with plug-in hybrids and battery-powered vehicles. Today, Honda announced its medium-term strategy to sell both a battery-electric and a plug-in hybrid in the U.S. and Japanese markets in 2012. (The plans also call for a Europe-only small diesel model in the same year.) Honda long held out on battery-run electrics, arguing the costs were prohibitive. Hydrogen fuel-cell cars -- Honda's future clean technology of choice, at least on paper -- proved even more cost-prohibitive than battery electrics, though, causing the automaker to change its tune. It couldn't hurt that main competitor Toyota recently hooked up with niche electric manufacturer Tesla in order to take advantage of its advances in battery and powertrain technologies.
Honda says it expects its upcoming plug-in to be more fuel-efficient than the Prius.
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