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High-Tech Senator Buys High-Tech Car

19 July 2000

New Honda Insight Arrives in Washington for Senator's Commute to Capitol Hill

    WASHINGTON - Senator Bob Bennett, chairman of the Senate High-Tech Task 
Force, is the proud new owner of a high-tech car -- a 2000 Honda Insight, the 
first gasoline-electric hybrid automobile sold in the United States.  He is the 
first member of the U.S. Congress to purchase an Insight.

    "When it was time to replace my seven-year-old car, the new hybrid really
caught my attention," Bennett said.  "Now, not only do I have a new car, I
have a new high-tech marvel."

    Bennett's interest in the Honda Insight came in part through his immersion
in technology issues which began with his chairmanship of the Senate Y2K
Committee, and more recently as chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech
Task Force.

    Bennett also hosts an annual technology conference in Utah and regularly
uses many high-tech devices and online services.

    For his five-mile commute to the Capitol, and the time he and his wife
Joyce spend in and around Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia where they
live, Bennett looks forward to the ease of driving and parking a small car in
a busy city.

    The gas-electric Insight contains the most advanced and affordable
environmental technology in an automobile on the American road.  Its suggested
retail price is below $20,000.

    The Insight features Honda's "Integrated Motor Assist" (IMA) system -- a
1.0-liter, 3-cylinder gasoline engine combined with an electric motor for
improved efficiency.  The electric motor is powered by a nickel-metal hydride
(NiMH) battery pack, which is charged by the gasoline engine and by
recapturing the vehicle's momentum during braking.  It does not require an
outside source of electric power -- the Insight never needs to be plugged in.

    Achieving an unprecedented EPA-rated 61-miles-per-gallon (mpg) in city
driving, 70-mpg on the highway, the Insight can travel up to 700 miles on a
single tank (10.6 gallons) of gas.

    Car Magazine calls the Honda Insight a "statement by Honda of its
technological muscle."  The Sierra Club recently honored the vehicle with its
first-ever endorsement for a product of any kind in its 108-year history, for
"Excellence in Environmental Engineering."  Automobile Magazine's "2000
Technology of the Year" award recognized the IMA system as "the foundation for
all future vehicles."

    "I'll fill the tank every two months, whether it needs it or not," the
senator said.