According to Honda, all their models are built to be hybrid ready. Honda President Takanobu Ito says around 10 percent of Honda's global sales will be hybrids by 2015. These models were all made with hybrid in mind, in order to have a fast turnover from gas to hybrid ready rides.
Kohei Hitomi, chief engineer of the Honda Fit, was asked by Honda management to make the Fit easily adaptable into a hybrid. Hitomi built in extra space below the rear floorboard, making room for a potential electric motor in the engine housing.
In the hybrid, that space holds its battery pack, inverter and controller, and left empty in the gas-powered Fit.
Honda's strategy of designing the Fit to easily accept a hybrid drivetrain was extended to all mainstream Honda models, regardless of whether or not the vehicle was scheduled to get a hybrid version. "From now on, the basic stance is the simultaneous development of the base model with the hybrid version in mind," said Hitomi, in an interview with Automotive News. "That is the trend."
The Honda Fit Hybrid went on sale in Japan in October, and will hit Europe in 2011. The Fit Hybrid's fuel efficiency and price aligns with the 2010 Honda Insight, rated at 40 mpg in the city and 43 on the highway. There are no plans to bring Fit Hybrid to the US currently.
Check out all the Hybrid Honda models today at Norris Honda - 925 Merritt Blvd Baltimore, MD 21222.
[SOURCE] http://www.hybridcars.com/news/all-honda-models-are-designed-hybrid-mind-29022.html
Kohei Hitomi, chief engineer of the Honda Fit, was asked by Honda management to make the Fit easily adaptable into a hybrid. Hitomi built in extra space below the rear floorboard, making room for a potential electric motor in the engine housing.
In the hybrid, that space holds its battery pack, inverter and controller, and left empty in the gas-powered Fit.
Honda's strategy of designing the Fit to easily accept a hybrid drivetrain was extended to all mainstream Honda models, regardless of whether or not the vehicle was scheduled to get a hybrid version. "From now on, the basic stance is the simultaneous development of the base model with the hybrid version in mind," said Hitomi, in an interview with Automotive News. "That is the trend."
The Honda Fit Hybrid went on sale in Japan in October, and will hit Europe in 2011. The Fit Hybrid's fuel efficiency and price aligns with the 2010 Honda Insight, rated at 40 mpg in the city and 43 on the highway. There are no plans to bring Fit Hybrid to the US currently.
Check out all the Hybrid Honda models today at Norris Honda - 925 Merritt Blvd Baltimore, MD 21222.
[SOURCE] http://www.hybridcars.com/news/all-honda-models-are-designed-hybrid-mind-29022.html
