Going green with your choice of vehicle won’t require as much of the other kind of green, as in cash, with the debut this week of the new Honda Insight.

The five-passenger, five-door hybrid vehicle is set to go on sale in the UK this spring. Honda is billing the Insight as a “more affordable petrol-electric hybrid car,” although it hasn’t explicitly named a price yet. (Reports on various car and tech sites peg the likely cost at $20,000 (US) or less.)

If the exact price-tag isn’t certain, the other numbers promised by the Insight look encouraging. Honda says the vehicle sports a more cost-efficient version of its Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) technology, giving the car an average mileage of 64.2 miles per gallon (27.3 kilometers per litre). The SE model also boasts a carbon emissions rating of just 101 grams per kilometer (the EU mandate is currently 140 grams per kilometer).

“By combining an electric motor with a highly efficient petrol engine, the Insight offers drivers not only low CO2 emissions, but also very low emissions of other greenhouse gasses like N2O,” adds Ken Keir, managing director of Honda UK.

The Insight was unveiled yesterday at the opening of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which is proving to be a far more sombre affair this year than in years past. While the auto industry’s struggles are hanging a shadow over the event, they are making innovative vehicles like the Insight appear even brighter by default.

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