[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I don't think so. Take for instance a perfect comparison opportunity: an Insight with and without assist active. With assist, it has reasonable acceleration from a stop. Without, it takes seconds to get to 10-15 mph or so. ...

Though I adhere to your point in general, I do not think this is a fair comparison.
I have many Insights, one of them material with wheels and all and I can assure you that it is very quick on the 0-30 with or without assist, if you really boot it. I have had my traction control system jump in a few times, even in the dry...

The ICE yields say 63 kW while the electric motor can only do 10 kW. When it is way below freezing the electrical assistance is almost nil at first, as the batteries play dead until their cheeks glow.

The Insight's CVT allows the ICE to operate at max power all the time, no need to shift. 0-30 mph is done in 3 seconds, maybe 3.5 in the cold with dead batteries. That's very hard to beat with the average stick-shift or conventional auto trannied car.

30-60, that is a whole different story. Now the Insights lowish power/weight ratio comes into play. Even with full assist that takes almost 9 seconds.
It feels weird as though you are still accelerating, the RPM stays the same and the actual acceleration becomes gradually less. It almost feels like decelerating. But you don't have to shift, it just keeps on pulling.

It does list its 0-100 km/h (62 mph) time as 12.4 seconds (iirc, I don't do that on a daily basis). Many cars are quicker on paper. But you do not have to be a gearhead, slam-shifting in the minimal time while keeping on the gas like they do to minimize 0-60 acceleration times on stick-shift cars. Just put your foot down and wait. Anyone can do that.