Crave

The Insight Concept represent's Honda's next attempt to dethrone the Toyota Prius.

(Credit: Honda)

Honda introduced the first gas-electric hybrid for purchase with the Insight in 1999, then came Toyota's Prius and everyone forgot about Honda's little hybrid that could. We all knew that Honda was working on a larger Prius-fighting, dedicated hybrid vehicle, but Honda has denied that they'd be reviving the Insight moniker for this new vehicle. On Thursday, Honda released the first official information and images of their Prius-killer concept and it's called, you guessed it, the Insight.

The Insight Concept carries over the styling cues of Honda's fuel cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity. It looks to us that Honda has been taking lessons from the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" school of thought, as the five-door, five-passenger hatchback configuration of the Insight is the same as that of the Prius. Squint your eyes and you'll see that the proportions from the a-pillar back are decidedly Prius-like. It's almost as though someone slapped the nose of the FCX Clarity onto Toyota's hybrid and called it a day.

Under the hood, the Insight will be powered by an evolution of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology, which powered the original Insight and the current Civic hybrid sedan. Honda is making almost as much of a big deal about the cost-efficiency of this power train as it is the fuel-efficiency and it's no secret that Honda is planning on winning the hybrid wars by undercutting the price of the incumbent Prius.

Honda will reveal a concept version of its new small hybrid vehicle at the 2008 Paris Motor Show and the production model is planned to go on sale in the U.S. next spring, the all-new purpose-built Insight will come to market at a price significantly below hybrids available today. Following the launch of the new Insight, Honda also plans to introduce another hybrid vehicle based on the CR-Z, first shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.

left to right: CR-Z concept, FCX Clarity, Insight concept

(Credit: Honda)

Not yet ready for prime time

(Credit: GM)

Which came first? Hydrogen fuel-cell cars or hydrogen filling stations? The answer depends on who you ask. General Motors yesterday called for a "collective resolve" to address the problem of infrastructure to support fuel-cell powered cars. Speaking at the National Hydrogen Association's annual meeting, GM's R&D honcho Larry Burns said that the situation with regard to fuel-cell cars had "now reached a point where the energy industry and governments must pick up their pace so we can continue to advance in a timely manner."

The other problem--which Burns failed to mention-- is the lack of actual vehicles to make use of said infrastructure. While GM and Honda have committed to putting a handful of fuel-cell vehicles on the road this year, it hardly constitutes justification for the $12 billion investment that GM and Shell anticipate it will cost to bring hydrogen access to 70 percent of the U.S. population. And without the economies of scale that comes from mass production, hydrogen cars such as the Honda Clarity and the Chevy Equinox continue to be expensive showpieces. Expect the holdups on the hydrogen highway to continue as the automakers, energy companies, and the public sector work out who is going to come up with the necessary investment for making the technology a widespread reality.

Now you have no excuse to not call grandma

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Cell phones may be ubiquitous, but not every cell phone is appropriate for every person. That's why over the last couple of years, a small but growing market has begun to address the cell phones needs of senior citizens. These handsets ditch fancy and unnecessary features in favor of simple designs and basic communication functionality. Previously we've seen it in the Samsung Jitterbug and the UTStarcom Coupe, and today we see it in the new ClarityLife. Unveiled in as Vegas on the first day of CTIA, the ClarityLife has all the hallmarks of a senior-friendly cell phone. It's big and bulky, the display is large and bright and the buttons and controls are oversized and user-friendly. As a phone it accomplishes its job well. Call quality was good and we like that it's sold as an unlocked GSM model. On the downside, the menu interface was more complicated than it should be and the feature list offers a few more applications than are necessary (text messaging anyone?). But we invite you to decide for your self by reading our full ClarityLife review or perusing our ClarityLife slide show. The handset should go on sale later this year for a yet-to-be-determined price.

The Los Angeles Auto Show wraps up this weekend. I drove down to the Los Angeles Convention Center last week to check out the new BMW M3--which I hope to buy next year--and get a look at all the other new cars debuting there.

There were two clear trends at the show: higher performance and increased environmental sensitivity. The best new vehicles show improvements in both areas.

The 2008 BMW M3 sedan

(Credit: BMW AG)

The new M3, for example, delivers 24% more power (414 hp!) from its new four-liter V8 along with 8% better gas mileage, along with more interior room than its predecessor and many new features. I had the previous version, a 2002 model, and it was a great car.

Now that the new M3 is available as a four-door sedan, I hope I'll be able to get one next year. The M3 will go on sale in the spring, but for me, there's another issue: I want to get the car through BMW's European Delivery program, which I used for my M3 as well as the 1999 540i that I still drive.

I think European Delivery is the best way to get a BMW--or an Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, Saab, Volvo, or other car available through such a program. There's a special reason to get pick up your new BMW in Munich around the beginning of August--the annual driving school at Germany's Nürburgring racetrack. The school is operated by independent European BMW car clubs, with American participation coordinated through the BMW Car Club of America. I attended this school with my M3 in 2002, and it was just incredible-- the most fun I've ever had in a car. BMW, however, doesn't always offer the European Delivery option on recently introduced models, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

The new M3 will sell on the strength of that 17% power increase more than the 8% boost in fuel efficiency. For real fuel economy, we have to look beyond traditional gasoline engines. General Motors, eager to regain the position of sales leadership it lost to Toyota earlier this year, was showing off a wide range of hybrid-powered vehicles, more models capable of running on E85 (blended ethanol/gasoline), and two kinds of electric-powered cars.

The Chevy Volt concept sedan

(Credit: General Motors)

One of GM's "electric cars" is the Volt concept sedan--which is actually a new type of hybrid. Power is delivered to the wheels exclusively by an electric motor, but the car carries a small internal-combustion engine or hydrogen fuel cell to charge the batteries when needed. This configuration is called a "series hybrid" as opposed to the "parallel hybrid" approach used in Toyota's Prius, where drive power can be provided by an electric motor, a gasoline engine, or both together. The Volt has a much larger battery pack than the Prius, allowing a 40-mile driving range between battery charges, so most commuters can charge the vehicle from AC power overnight and never use the car's engine or fuel cell. GM promises to bring out a production version of Volt by 2010.

GM also showed its Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell car in L.A., a true all-electric design. Although the Equinox design is unlikely to go into production in the next several years due to the lack of hydrogen-fuel infrastructure, GM's Project Driveway will test Equinox in several markets nationwide.

Honda's FCX Clarity fuel-cell car

(Credit: Honda)

Honda will be testing its own fuel-cell car, the FCX Clarity, in 2008.

Honda also has a plan to solve (or at least address) the infrastructure issue by developing a hydrogen generator that can be used at home. The experimental Home Energy Station reforms natural gas into hydrogen, like the system from UTC Power that I wrote about here back in August.

Honda's system can also be used to provide heat and electricity for the home where it's installed. This approach is probably the best hope for hydrogen-powered vehicles in the next 10 to 20 years, since the infrastructure problem would otherwise be very expensive to solve.

Porsche was showing a hybrid drivetrain under development for the Cayenne SUV, which may be the same design Porsche is rumored to be considering for its forthcoming Panamera sedan--I blogged about this rumor in August.

Porsche Cayenne hybrid concept

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The hybrid Cayenne on display in L.A.--the same shown in this CNET photo gallery--was the first I've seen in person that combines the gas engine and electric motor into one assembly--the so-called "integrated starter alternator" design I described in that blog post. The result is a hybrid drivetrain barely any larger than a conventional gas engine. (Batteries not included.)

This type of design is more suitable for high-power vehicles since it works with a gasoline or diesel engine of any size, and offers better parts commonality with traditionally powered vehicles than other hybrid approaches. The engine, motor, and battery pack can all be scaled independently to achieve a desired balance of performance, efficiency, and range.

Incidentally, Porsche was also showing a 107-year-old electric car known as the "Voiturette System Lohner-Porsche" developed by Ferdinand Porsche, father of the founder of the Porsche company. This car was the predecessor of a true gas-electric hybrid developed later in 1900 by adding a pair of gasoline engines and electric generators to drive the car's electric wheel-hub motors.

Saving the planet is all very well and good, but we might as well have fun while we can. I was more interested in the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2, which I would have to say is the best sports car available for under $200,000. Aww, heck, I think it's the best sports car available for under $500,000, too. But if you want to go faster than the GT2's nominal 204 mph top end, there were plenty of options for you at the L.A. Auto Show. One company-- the revived Vector Motors-- was even projecting a 300+ mph top speed for its new WX8 supercar, courtesy of a 2,000-hp engine the company has yet to build. At least that was Jalopnik's take; Autoblog only got the company to promise an 1,850-hp, 275-mph version. Personally, I thought the WX8 looked rough and unfinished.

The Lamborghini Reventón

(Credit: Lamborghini)

At the other end of the supercar spectrum was Lamborghini's Reventón. Priced at $1.4 million, only 20 of these cars will be built. It's based on the same mechanical platform as the company's LP640--a 640-hp V12 engine and all-wheel drive delivering a 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed over 211 mph--but over a million dollars more expensive than that model. Admittedly, it has a dramatic new design both inside and out, but it seems to me that the Reventón isn't so much a new model of Lamborghini as it is a test of the company's most loyal customers.

Oh, I'd like to give special recognition to Aston Martin, which distributed its press kit for the show in the form of a hardcover book, not the usual folded cardstock portfolios with loose-leaf press releases handed out by other makers. Wow.

Click the image to view the gallery

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Honda released the production version of its latest hydrogen fuel-cell car at this week's 2007 LA auto show. The FCX Clarity develops the technology and exterior styling found in Honda's FCX Concept in a car that will be produced and leased to retail customers in 2008. The Clarity also has some unique cabin gadgetry to go with its advanced drive train. Check out our images of the latest entrant to the hydrogen highway here

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Honda used the first morning of the 2007 Los Angeles Auto Show to unveil a production version of its FCX fuel cell vehicle. Dubbed the "FCX Clarity," the four-door sedan is powered by the same V Flow fuel cell platform found in Honda's FCX Concept, which is connected to a lithium-ion battery pack that, in turn, powers an electric motor. This drive train enables the car to run solely on compressed gaseous hydrogen with zero emissions. As in the Concept, the Clarity's fuel cell powertrain, which is 45 percent smaller than Honda's current-generation FCX, is mounted longitudinally between the car's front seats, enabling the designers to make the car look more like a car and less like a toaster.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

According to Honda, the FCX Clarity, which will be made available to a limited number of retail customers in summer 2008, has a range of 270 miles on one tank of hydrogen and a top speed of 100 mph. Stylistically, the FCX Clarity draws on many of the design cues of the FCX Concept with a swooping roofline and a short front overhang, made possible by the absence of an internal combustion engine. Inside, the FCX Clairy features a range of advanced cabin tech, including a navigation system programmed with hydrogen-station locations, climate-controlled seats, and Bluetooth hands-free calling. The Clarity also marks the production debut of Honda's Bio-Fabric, a plant-based material used for the car's seat coverings.

(Credit: Plantronics)

The good news is that there are lots of alternatives to the remote TV speaker that we found a bit baffling the other day. The bad news is that more of us from the Boomer generation will be needing such amplification gadgets as our hearing begins to go the way of receding hairlines.

Case in point: the "Clarity Professional C120 Wireless TV Amplifier," another device designed to help you hear the TV without creating domestic turmoil. (And here we thought the C120 was a cargo plane.)

This headset supposedly increases sound by as much as 50 decibels (ouch) and promises to make the signal clearer as well as louder. But the best part? Gizmag says it's the only TV headset with a built-in telephone ring alert so you won't miss any calls while engrossed in your favorite episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. And if all this isn't depressing enough, please take note of the fact that Clarity is pitching this $190 gadget as the ideal Father's Day gift. This is why we don't keep firearms in the house.