2010 Toyota Prius hits a home run vs. the 2010 Honda Insight

Honda has realized that the hybrid space is hot and it’s getting serious with the 2010 Honda Insight. It has a sleeker look than its previous generation and an attractive price point meant to appeal to the masses. All of that is pretty directly targeted to compete with its arch nemesis the 2010 Toyota Prius.

Honda has a few refinements to make before it trumps Toyota though. The 2010 Prius is third generation and packs in a lot of technology, performance and good looks. Marketing and brand recognition play a role too, almost everyone knows what a Prius is.

The most obvious advantage the 2010 Prius claims is its 50 mpg average fuel economy, compared with the Honda Insight’s 43 mpg. Stay tuned though because money saved through fuel economy can take a while to exceed a difference in upfront fuel costs.

Consider a driver who puts 15,000 miles on a car every year. Assuming the above mpg averages and $2.50 per gallon of gasoline, the 2010 Toyota Prius would cost $750 per year in gas and the 2010 Honda Insight would cost about $872 per year.

Toyota starts its Prius at $22,000 while Honda begins the Insight at $19,800. With price difference of $2,200 it would take about 18 years to realize a savings gain with the Prius based purely on mpg.

Appealing to the mainstream consumer requires a car that has good performance and the Toyota Prius wins out on that point because of its larger engine. The 2010 Honda Insight also has a louder engine noise during acceleration which could hamper pleasant conversation.

Lyle Dennis over at GM-Volt.com has a direct comparison of the two vehicles with his analysis primarily favoring the 2010 Toyota Prius. Lyle primarily focuses on the Chevy Volt scheduled to debut in 2010 which makes his unbiased and lends some weight.