Honda’s hybrid (e:HEV) technology is 25 years old

Electrified powertrains have been known for long time and the first functional powertrain which used an electric motor with a combustion engine was designed by Ferdinand Porsche over 120 years ago. However, the current era of electrification began in the late 1990s when Honda and Toyota introduced the world’s first mass-produced cars with hybrid electric powertrains.

This year, Honda celebrates 25 years of hybrid technology which it introduced with the Insight in September 1999.

The car had a futuristic look which underlined the advanced concept of the powertrain. Flush surfaces, along with the rear wheels being partially covered, enabled an impressively low drag figure of 0.25 Cd.

The hybrid system in the Insight was known as Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). It relied mainly on power from the 1-litre lean-burn VTEC petrol engine, using additional power from the electric motor to provide stronger acceleration when required.

Electricity was supplied by a nickel-metal hydride battery pack which was recharged while the car was on the move. While decelerating, the motor acted as a generator to recover energy. Thus, as with the e:HEV system in today’s Honda hybrid models, the driver did not have to worry about finding a charging station to recharge the battery.

The approach allowed for a significant reduction in complexity and weight, and more importantly, lower fuel consumption which was 35 kms/litre. The reduced consumption also meant less exhaust gases being emitted, helping to reduce air pollution. CO₂ exhaust gas emissions were just 80 gms/km, which was then the lowest level in the world for any mass production engine (including diesel engines).

The Insight showed that hybrid powertrains were viable and Honda kept improving the technology. Honda gradually developed hybrid variants for other models, starting with the Civic in 2003. While performance was increased, the engineers also worked hard on reducing the cost of the hybrid powertrain which was a priority when they developed the second generation of the Insight.

Honda hybrids in Malaysia
Although the first Insight was not sold in Malaysia, it did make an appearance in 2001 when a demonstration drive was done from Bangkok to Singapore. Media from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore took turns to drive the car in their respective countries. An informal contest was run to inspire them to achieve the best consumption which was generally better than the factory figure of 35 kms/litre.

Honda Malaysia was already established then and promoted the new hybrid technology. It was the first company to sell a car with a hybrid powertrain when it introduced the Civic Hybrid in 2003. This had an improved IMA system with a 1.3-litre i-VTEC engine (with dual sparkplugs) and 20 bhp electric motor. Peak torque could be boosted from 118 Nm to 142 Nm when the motor provided assistance.

At that time, the government did not see the value of hybrids to protecting the environment, so no special incentives were offered to reduce the prices. On its part, Honda Malaysia reduced the price of the Civic Hybrid to close to that of the Civic Sedan which was around RM30,000 cheaper (based on the same taxation structure).

“We hope that we can convince the government to provide tax incentives for the Civic Hybrid – as what is done in Japan and Singapore – so that it will not be so expensive. After all, it is proven to be exceptionally environment-friendly and also uses much less fuel than conventional petrol-engined cars,” said Seiji Kuraishi, MD/CEO of Honda Malaysia then.

“If we can obtain some reduction in import tax for hybrid vehicles from the Malaysian government, more people will use such cars and help to reduce pollution while also helping conserve energy resources,” said Mr. Kuraishi (who later became Chairman of Honda Motor).

The tax incentives eventually came in 2011, when the government wanted to demonstrate its commitment to reducing the country’s carbon footprint on the planet. Vehicles with electrified powertrains were exempted from import and excise duties from 2010 to 2013.

 

Honda by then had a number of models with hybrid powertrains and the Civic Hybrid was joined by the sporty CR-Z, second generation of the Insight and Jazz Hybrid.

The government also indicated that it would like to see companies assembling hybrid models locally and offered incentives to those that would do so. Honda Malaysia was the only one to do so, with the first Jazz Hybrid rolling out of its plant in Melaka in November 2012.

In the years that followed, Honda Malaysia included hybrid variants with its new models. Today, the its range of models with e:HEV technology (the name for its hybrid technology) are the Civic, CR-V, HR-V and even its bestselling model, the City.

Click here to know more about Honda e:HEV models in Malaysia