Testing the Insight on a Mid-May Road Trip to Mt. Washington

From: Brian Pirie (June 25, '00)

We've been planning a serious cross-country trip in our Insight. Our idea is to leave from our home in Ontario and travel across Canada, via Northern Ontario, through the Prairies, and over the Rocky Mountains to the west coast. Along the 8000-9000 km trip, we'd camp most nights. But what would it be like to travel with the Insight over this sort of long-distance trip?

As a small test of the Insight's mettle, in May we decided to take a long weekend trip through Vermont and New Hampshire to Mt. Washington. This would allow us to find out whether the Insight's cargo area and weight capacity would allow us to carry all the gear we'd need. It would also give us an opportunity to experience first-hand how the Insight deals with more mountainous terrain than we have near our home.

Having been subjected to countless television commercials showing camping and SUVs inseparably married, it might be understandable if some people question whether a car like the Insight could haul all the gear they'd want for a trip like this. So we were pleased when, after packing everything we wanted, we found that we had space left over!

We loaded our Insight with a few maps and magazines, our camera, tent, pair of sleeping bags, air mattress, suitcase, dishes & pot set, camp stove & fuel, a cooler full of ice & food and also bags of non-perishable food. The cooler, stove, pots and dishes went in the below-floor cargo box. The tent, sleeping bags and suitcase fit nicely in the front half of the main cargo area, leaving the back half of the cargo area only partially occupied by our two bags of non-perishable food. Nothing was piled high enough to interfere with the view out any windows; even the horizontal hatch window was left unobstructed. Having food at the back proved a convenient arrangement when stopping for a quick meal.

Even though some people regularly exceed the Insight's rated weight capacity by a significant amount with no adverse effects, we wanted see whether we could stay within the limit. Our final estimate put us right at 365 pounds, based on our combined weight of 290 pounds, and a total of 75 pounds of gear.

With the car loaded the previous night, we got up early on Saturday morning, and pointed our Insight in the direction of Upstate New York. With a number of stops along the way, we found ourselves in the Burlington Vermont area for our first night of camping. The following morning we headed towards New Hampshire, and over Kancamagus pass in the White Mountains.

We were also pleased with how the Insight dealt with significant grades, having no trouble maintaining highway speeds. In most cases we found that on downhill stretches the regenerative braking system was more than capable of restoring battery charge that was used on the previous uphill stretch. However, I noticed on a number of occasions after the IMA had been active for a while, that the charge gauge would only light part way with the brake pedal applied, even though we weren't at full charge. My guess is that the battery and/or power conversion circuitry was beginning to run warm, and so the computer was smart enough to limit the amount of regen to protect the system from overheating.

I am happy to report that the downshift light (which we never when driving near our home) worked as advertised, requesting a downshift from fifth to fourth or third when climbing steep hills where the car is unable to maintain speed in the higher gear.

The Insight was proving to be sufficiently comfortable for long hauls. The seats are certainly comfortable enough that it wasn't my rear end or back that I found becoming tired, but my gas pedal foot.

Our final test for the Insight was to come when we arrived at Mount Washington early on the cloudy morning of Monday, May 22nd. Over the years many new vehicles and alternative forms of transportation have been tested on the Mount Washington Auto Road.

The road is eight miles in length, and climbs almost a mile in elevation. The average gradient is 12%, with some extended grades at 18%, and the final 50 yards at 22%. The road is paved for about two thirds of its length.

While no comparison in height to the Rock Mountains, the extended climb and descent is such that the operators of the Auto Road have a list of cars that they won't allow up the mountain, cars that have had trouble dealing with the climb in the past.

As it turned out, the day we arrived was the first day that the Auto Road was open to the summit this year. What's more, having arrived at around 8:30am, our Insight was to be the private first vehicle to set out for the summit this year. So with warnings that some of the shoulders were still quite soft, after the significant road building that was needed this year, we set off up the mountain.

I'm happy to say that the Insight shrugged off the climb with ease. In fact, the low speeds required on the Auto Road meant that the Insight didn't even make much use of electric assist on the climb. In a way this was in way a bit of a disappointment, as I was predicting that the full charge would be used before we reached the summit, and I was curious how the Insight would perform with no battery charge. When we arrived at the summit at around 9:00am, we still had close to a full charge.

If anything, the trip down was more difficult, as even in first gear, with regenerative braking engaged, a fair bit of additional braking (e.g., applying enough brake pressure to engage the mechanical brakes) was needed to keep the car's speed down. The Insight is just so eager to go!