Toyota officials last week confirmed that the Lexus CT 200h, a premium hybrid hatchback, is coming to the United States, according to a report in Automotive News. The Lexus CT 200h would be Lexus’s first compact car, and the first compact hybrid sold by Toyota in the US.

The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last week, but until recently the company insisted that the compact hybrid would only be sold in Europe. According to Automotive News, Lexus executives pleaded with Japan to bring to the car to the US—partly in hopes that the smaller Lexus would appeal to a younger demographic. “When the all-new Lexus CT 200h enters the market it will be the only hybrid vehicle in the emerging premium compact segment,” said Mark Templin, Lexus Division group vice president and general manager.

The Lexus CT 200h will make its US debut at the 2010 New York Auto Show later this month. Production begins in late 2010. The car could go on sale in the US sometime in 2011.

Small Luxury Compact Hybrid Hatchback

The recipe for the CT 200h is to place a Prius-type hybrid system—featuring a 1.8-liter gas engine with variable valve timing, and energy storage with a nickel-metal hydride battery pack—into small relatively affordable premium compact car. Lexus said the CT 200h will ride on a new front-wheel-drive platform with a MacPherson strut front suspension and double wishbones at the rear.

While fuel economy numbers have not been announced, the CT 200h’s small size and aerodynamics should push its mileage ahead of the 50-mpg 2010 Toyota Prius [1], currently the highest rated car for mpg. It could also mean a more sporty drive compared to the larger Prius. Lexus claims that the CT 200h “does not compromise interior roominess,” despite the compact package.

The CT 200h will be Lexus’s second dedicated hybrid, behind the mid-sized Lexus HS 250h [2]. The smaller CT 200h is likely to be offered with the same luxury appointments and high-tech features [3] found in the HS 250h and other Lexus vehicles.

Commitment to Luxury Hybrids

There are also rumors that the Toyota Auris Hybrid, a small hybrid hatchback built on the Scion xB platform, will head to the US. The Auris Hybrid promised more than 60 miles to the gallon. However, the US launch of the Auris Hybrid could be delayed in Europe, according to the Sunday Telegraph in the UK. Tadashi Arashima, the chief executive of Toyota Motor Europe, said the global recall of Toyota vehicles due to accelerator problems could change the planned timeline. “We are discussing that, if necessary, we will postpone the launch timing. For us there is the hybrid in late May, which is really key,” said Arashima. “We want to make sure that this car is properly launched without any major issues.”

SOURCE: Hybrid Cars

Mercedes entered the entry level luxury vehicle category years ago with it C230 Kompressor coupe.  The vehicle was a capable model with strong performance, solid handling and a refined driving experience.  Mercedes buyers showed little interest and sales were unexpectedly low.  Then BMW entered the same segment with its recent 1 Series.  A capable performer on all fronts with a price that undercut the 3 Series by thousands and according to sales numbers, the model is a hit.

Why is the BMW a success and the Mercedes a failure?  It could easily be a result of the economic times right now and Mercedes seems to think so too as they are now considering a second go around at the entry level luxury segment.  The company is expected to offer a 2 door C-Class to compete with BMW’s 1 Series, but this time around Mercedes will offer a hybrid option as a a fuel efficient alternative to competitors.

The hybrid is rumored to be powered by a V6 engine from the Mercedes lineup.  It will be naturally aspirated and is expected to be the most efficient vehicle in its class.   Along with the hybrid option, Mercedes is considering a twin turbo V6, a 5.5 liter twin turbo V8 AMG model, and a DOHC V6 as the base engine.  Interestingly, no diesel option has been reported.

The C-Class coupe is expected to go on sale in 2011.  There is no word if the hybrid option will be available immediately at launch and pricing has yet to be announced.  Stay with us for more details as they emerge.

SOURCE: All Cars Electric

Biodiesel technology is low on the list of priorities for auto industry research, according to a global survey of 200 senior auto executives conducted by KPMG that was released Thursday.

When asked to rate which were the most important alternative fuel technologies to the auto industry over the next five years, hybrid systems were ranked first followed by battery electric power, fuel cell electric power, and biodiesel, respectively.

Fuel efficiency was ranked as the feature auto executives believed makes the biggest impact on customers’ purchasing decisions, while “environmental friendliness” was second followed by safety innovation in third.

A car’s style and looks came in last on the list of factors auto executives thought customers looked at these days when deciding which car to buy. They’re likely right. The information follows news that Ford Motor announced in December it saw record sales for its hybrid cars in 2009 compared to hybrid car sales in other years.

“Automotive manufacturers are in the challenging position of being asked to compete on both technology and cost. With global consumers still feeling the pinch of the recession, those OEMs who can deliver on this equation will be in the driver’s seat,” Gary Silberg, national automotive industry leader for KPMG, said in a statement.

The survey was conducted September through November 2009.

SOURCE: Cnet

Hyundai plans to show off its Blue-Will hybrid concept to North America during the 2010 Detroit auto show next week. The Blue-Will debuted in Seoul last March, but the visit to Detroit will be the first time we’ve seen the concept in person.

“Blue-Will’s bold character lines and innovative design language give the perfect expression to the advanced eco-friendly technologies found beneath the skin,” said Oh Suk-Geun, executive vice president of design for Hyundai. “At a time of rising concern about the environment and our energy future, Blue-Will demonstrates to eco-conscious car buyers everywhere that Hyundai has practical hybrid solutions that will appear on the next generation of vehicles.”

The Blue-Will, also known as the HND-4, features a host of alternative energy and eco-friendly technologies including recycled materials and solar panels integrated into the all-glass roof. Other tricks include a thermal generator to turn exhaust gas heat into electricity and a new Lithium Polymer battery, the first to be used in a car. It powers a 100 kW electric motor that’s mated to Hyundai’s new 152-hp 1.6L direct-injected four-cylinder engine, both of which send power to the ground via a continuously variable transmission. As a parallel hybrid, the Blue-Will can be powered be either motor alone or any combination of the two as driving conditions dictate. This new hybrid architecture is more than just a science experiment – it will be the basis of the new Sonata Hybrid that will debut in the U.S. later this year.

Not all of the Blue-Will sleek technology is under the skin. All the lighting up front is LED to save power, and it only gets better inside. Transparent Organic LEDs create a high-resolution, ultra-thin color screen in place of the traditional gauge cluster, while a touchscreen replaces the traditional center stack and takes over all of its duties, including climate control, stereo control, navigation, and even the transmission gear selection. Topping off the green creds is the Eco-Coach, a graphic-based program designed to teach you to be a more economical driver.

SOURCE: Automobile Magazine

Who drives hybrid automobiles? If one were to watch the annals of the Hollywood elite then it would be a safe assumption that actors of all stripes who care about the environment drive them. Were a person to watch Fox News, then it would be a safe assumption that the Liberal elite drive hybrids. The real question is though, who does drive these cars and why?

For many, an automobile is the 2nd most important investment after their homes. A car takes one to and from work, as well as on various other trips that can potentially lead to a great and fulfilling life. It is fair to say that the automobile has replaced the dog as man’s best friend, at least in terms of economical practicality.

The question remains though, who buys hybrids? For many Americans the benefits of having a hybrid car do not outweigh the negatives of having such an auto. The amount of gas spent in a hybrid auto is certainly less (depending on driving style), but besides that, what do you really get? The amount of time it takes to get from 0-60 is often near to 10 seconds in most models, which doesn’t make a hybrid particularly practical for getting up to speed while entering the freeway. The initial cost of a hybrid is far higher than a normal internal combustion car, and the styling on hybrid cars is, without a doubt, some of the ugliest ever created. There are more benefits than previously stated, such as reduced emissions and other eco-friendly advertisement gold, but what does it all come down to? Is the hybrid car a luxury item, just like a fine bottle of wine (wine industry hurt by economic downturn), or perhaps taking a vacation (amount of traveling down due to economic downturn). The answer is, not surprisingly: yes.

The new Honda Insight Hybrid has failed to make any kind of significant dent in the hybrid market, and thus the general automobile market. When a car company tries to make a knock-off of a proven success, the chances of failure are quite high. This is the case with the Honda Insight, which clearly copied much of the Toyota Prius. This is lack of success is a bit surprising however, due to the fact that the Honda Insight is in the same echelon of ugliness as the Toyota Prius but costs $2,000 less than its rival. Yet, the Prius is still outselling the Insight nearly 6 to 1.

This strange development in the hybrid market has induced speculation as to how the General Motors Volt will fare. Due to its extreme amount of gas mileage (53 miles to the gallon), and its certain lack of driving pleasure it should capture a large portion of the hybrid market. Chevy is producing this car, which is set to cost about the same as a Toyota Prius, though it looks far better than the elongated excrement body styling that the Prius has relied on all these years.

Despite the hybrid market growing at a good clip, who is going to spend $32,000 on a car that doesn’t have a shred of performance, sex-appeal or jaw-dropping speed? More to the point, who is going to spend $32,000 on the Chevy Volt when they can spend $10,000 less on a brand new Camaro? Who is going to drive a car that gets 53 miles to the gallon for anything but the amount saved at the pump? The young crowd won’t go for it due to the initial price, the midlife crisis folks won’t go for it because it doesn’t induce any sort of adrenaline rush. Who will want to buy this car is all speculation at this point. But it’s not hard to guess that it will likely be eco-friendly folks with a lot of money who want to “help the environment”. Many hybrid drivers have an annual average income of over $100,000, making the hybrid market a niche one, based solely upon this diminishing economic group. The question of who would buy the Volt having been answered, when are the car companies going to make a hybrid that all of us can afford and actually want to buy? The clock is ticking.

SOURCE: Green Street Journal

Between kleptomaniacs, zippy $900 Hondas, and VW’s unexpected Suzuki takeover, India has earned more than its usual share of two-wheeled headlines of late. And here’s another to add to the mix: Bangalore’s Eko Vehicles has unveiled what they’re claiming will be the world’s first hybrid motorcycle.

The Eko ET-120 (which is more of a scooter than a motocycle, really) runs on a 70cc gasoline-powered engine that works in conjunction with a battery system to produce the power and torque of a 120cc powerplant. The gas engine yields 100 mpg, while the hybrid system should produce a combined total of 280 mpg. Emissions are claimed to be reduced three-fold. And best of all, retail price is expected to be around $850 in India*.

While it’s easy to pooh pooh this ungainly looking ride for its Toyota Prius-like aspirations, considering its potential for smog reduction in places like India (or heck, even here in the States), I’m predicting the ET-120 might be one of the more significant (and controversial) two-wheeled offerings we’ll see in 2010.

SOURCE: About.com

Ford Motor Co. has outlined plans to invest as much as $500 million in Michigan to engineer and assemble battery packs for a new generation of electric vehicles and manufacture a new hybrid and plug-in hybrid here — if state lawmakers approve a request for tax credits it is submitting today in Lansing.

These moves would consolidate much of Ford’s electric vehicle research, development, engineering and manufacturing in the state, creating approximately 1,000 new jobs at the company.

“We think it has a great opportunity to help in the economic growth of Michigan,” said Nancy Gioia, director of Ford’s global electrification programs. “It promotes Michigan’s competitiveness.”

Ford’s announcement comes a day after General Motors Co. said it would invest $336 million to upgrade its Hamtramck plant to produce the Chevrolet Volt and the next-generation Malibu.

Ford, which was the first U.S. car maker to manufacture a hybrid, plans to begin production of a battery-powered commercial van next year, to be followed by a battery-powered version of its new Focus compact in 2011. The company also is readying a new generation of gasoline-hybrids.

It currently purchases battery packs for its hybrid vehicles from Delphi Corp., which assembles them in Mexico. But the automaker said battery engineering is a “core competency” that is too important to entrust to a supplier.

If the state does not approve tax credits for Ford, the automaker said it is considering other sites.

The new Ford Focus and other vehicles based on the global compact platform are slated to be produced at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne.

Ford said it has not decided where in Michigan the batteries would be assembled.

SOURCE: Detroit News

Authorities said Tuesday there are currently no plans to levy more fees on hybrid cars as demand on such vehicles has surged recently, a trend attributed to concerns that extra charges are imminent.

According to figures by the Jordan Customs Department (JCD), a total of 4,796 cars have been cleared from the free zone since the beginning of 2009, with 859, or 18 per cent of the total number, entering the market between December 1 and 21.

The value of the environment-friendly cars, which are mostly imported from the US is JD102.5 million, the JCD indicated.

During the past month, people started to speed up clearance procedures for hybrid cars in the free zone, where over 2,850 hybrids were cleared between January and November, said Nabil Abu Rumman, president of the Jordan Free Zone Investors Association.

“There are rumours that the new government plans to impose more custom fees on hybrid cars early next year, but we have not received anything about such plans,” he added.

Current fees on green cars, which use both gasoline and electricity, range between JD1,000 and JD4,000 depending on the size of the engine, according to Abu Rumman.

Earlier this year, the Environment Ministry requested customs fees to be imposed on large-engine vehicles, saying that only hybrid vehicles under 2,000cc should be exempt from taxes and fees because they are more fuel-efficient and environment-friendly. But the Finance Ministry announced then that it had no plans to impose such fees.

JCD Director General Ghaleb Sarayreh told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that there are no plans to introduce more fees or taxes on hybrid cars, saying this issue has not been discussed by the new government.

“Even if a decision in this regard was taken, it will take into consideration the vehicles on display at the free zone,” the official noted.

Nadim Haddad, the marketing and sales manager at the Central Trade and Auto Company, a Toyota agent in Jordan, said that in addition to the availability of maintenance and spare parts for such cars at some dealerships, rumours about new custom fees were the main reason for the increasing demand.

Jordan is the largest importer of fuel-efficient cars in the region due to high fuel prices in addition to the fact that importing vehicles is not exclusive to agents, Haddad said.

According to Luay Shurafa, the regional manager of General Motors (GM) in the Levant area, said Jordan is the region’s first country with demand for hybrid models, expecting hybrid SUV sales to overtake conventional SUV sales in Jordan in the coming few years because buyers want to take advantage of low customs fees on hybrid models in addition to the element of fuel efficiency.

Haddad stated that maintenance and spare parts are available at agencies for hybrid cars, which are made to suit the topography and the climate of the Kingdom.

The battery costs between $4,000 and $5,000 while the price of the electric motor is $7,000, according to Haddad.

Abu Rumman explained that availability of green car maintenance and spare parts will increase in the coming year with more affordable prices because most manufacturing companies will focus on producing such types of cars.

SOURCE: Jordan Times

Ford will invest up to $500 million for its hybrid vehicle projects and create more than 1,000 new jobs in Michigan if state lawmakers expand an existing incentive program and approve $85 million in tax credits, according to the Detroit News.

If Ford’s needs are met, the company will go ahead with plans to design and assemble battery packs for a new generation of hybrid vehicles in Michigan, and possibly even make a new hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicle based on the Ford Focus platform it plans to launch in Detroit in January, The Detroit News reports.

Last year, Michigan lawmakers authorized tax credits for the assemblage of high-capacity lithium-ion battery packs, but Ford is now requesting them to expand the incentives to include lower-capacity batteries used in hybrid vehicles.

Ford is specifically requesting $85 million in tax credits from the program through 2014, and on top of that, an additional $35 million beyond 2014 if the lithium-ion cells for the battery packs are made in Michigan, the Detroit News reports.

Currently auto-parts supplier Delphi assembles the battery pack for Ford’s current hybrid vehicles in Mexico according to Reuters. Ford says the change it is trying to make is in no way a reflection of Delphi’s performance. Rather, it represents Ford’s desire to set itself apart from competitors through battery development.

Ford is the only large U.S. automaker not to reorganize under a government-funded bankruptcy this year. Ford captured a larger market share in November than a year ago and is getting ready to ramp up its vehicle production in North America by more than a half for the first quarter of 2010.

SOURCE: The Street.com

German automakers Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are selling their newest “clean” diesel vehicles nationally, including in California—home of the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show—a state that, historically, with its air pollution regulations, has been hostile to diesel cars.

But even the auto companies with umlauts on their computer keyboards are making plug-in electrics and hybrids a major part of their U.S. future. The Germans keep plugging away to make their case for diesel to Americans. At the same time, BMW showed a hybrid, and Audi showed its fully electric e-Tron Concept at the LA show.

Speaking of plugging in, one of the biggest rivals to diesel in terms of grabbing the green spotlight is Chevrolet’s Volt extended-range electric plug-in, which we drove recently. The car promises to go around 40 miles on a charge before the gas-powered motor kicks in to power the battery.

At an estimated $40,000-plus before government tax credits whittle the price down, one wonders why GM wouldn’t consider opting to bring a diesel over from Europe. “A lot of it is marketing,” says independent marketing consultant Dennis Keene. “An extended-range electric is greener, cleaner and whiz-bang technology that could vault Chevrolet’s image ahead by light years if they pull it off, and a diesel Malibu that gets 40 mpg just isn’t going to do that.”

Chevrolet chief Brent Dewar agrees. “Diesel presents a big hurdle in terms of marketing to American consumers,” he says. Plus, “we [GM] aren’t convinced the cost of meeting future clean-air regulations is going to make diesel cars and light trucks too tough a business case to sustain,” Dewar says. GM had several separate events touting the Volt this week, including a panel to discuss electric infrastructure in California and the rest of the U.S. to support what Chevy hopes is an onslaught of interest in extended-range EVs and straight EVs.

Toyota has avoided diesels in the U.S. as well, instead focusing on plug-ins and hybrids. Toyota not only showed its Lexus LF-Ch hybrid concept, but also the plug-in Prius that will challenge the Volt for attention. When fully charged, the Prius is targeted to achieve a maximum electric-only range of approximately 13 miles and will be capable of achieving highway speeds up to 60 mph in electric-only mode. The Lexus offering, in the meantime, is a slick, brawny-looking hatchback. Finally, Toyota put some styling mojo into a hybrid.

“One of the things hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles have going for them is that two behemoths like Chevrolet and Toyota are invested in making these vehicles successful and are spending big money to market them as the best technology,” says Peter Sullivan, a Los Angeles–based consultant specializing in green marketing. “What diesel has been in Europe, hybrids and EVs are in the U.S. And that train has left the station.”

Indeed, Chevrolet and Toyota seem to be in a cage match over which company seizes the plug-in-hybrid limelight. Toyota is putting 150 U.S. drivers into PHEVs starting early next year for real-world driving evaluation and, of course, social-networking fodder. That’s 50 more cars than GM is planning. The battle between automakers used to be about horsepower, and now it is kilowatt-hours and the number of vehicles you can get into the field with the Twitter and Facebook crowd.

Volkswagen, on the other hand, is the diesel leader in the U.S. with its TDI technology. About 40 percent of Jetta sales today are running diesel, and 90 percent of Jetta Sport Wagons are TDIs. But VW is grappling with an interest in hybrids too—unveiling a concept at this show that has the best of both worlds, according to the German automaker; diesel and hybrid. The Up Lite is a diesel hybrid capable of up to 70 mpg on the highway, with room for four adults. It’s powered by a 0.8-liter two-cylinder TDI clean diesel engine, and an electric motor that acts as the vehicle’s starter, alternator, and e-drive unit. “Hybrid technology is uniquely popular in the U.S., but we think there is definitely an opportunity to combine the best of our diesel technology with hybrid to set new standards in fuel economy,” says VW U.S. chief Stefan Jacoby.

Audi, along with sibling company Volkswagen, perhaps the biggest booster of diesel in the industry when it comes to marketing spending, showed the e-Tron electric sports car in North America for the first time, trying to prove it too is ready to play both sides of the green street. But the company is far from abandoning diesel. Audi this year funded an ad campaign to promote clean diesel as a flanker effort to the Q7 and A3 TDI launches. The campaign—whose tag line is “Diesel: It’s No Longer a Dirty Word”—has been aired on TV and the Web, specifically all over Facebook. “We have a great advantage in diesel technology that other automakers do not have,” says Audi executive director of powertrain Wolfgang Hatz. “We have enormous economies of scale for diesel, and the experience of selling it on multiple continents for decades.” The TDI moniker is 20 years old.

Is the campaign working? Audi is finding that 40 percent of its Q7 sales are TDI, above expectations of about 15 percent. Those are the kind of numbers that encourage Indian automaker Mahindra, which plans to enter the U.S. in 2010 with a midsize pickup offered with only a diesel engine. Mahindra is not represented at the Los Angeles show, and is not expected to be at the Detroit Auto Show either. “It could be they will stand out for being the first Indian brand and for having the uniqueness of an all-clean-diesel lineup,” says green marketing consultant Sullivan, “but they would definitely have an easier time of it if it was a hybrid.”

SOURCE: Popular Mechanics

If you thought BMW was about to bring environmentally responsible driving to the average Joe, then you might be a touch disappointed with the price tag slapped on the 2011 ActiveHybrid 7 models.

The vehicles made their North American debut at the Los Angeles International Auto Show ahead of arriving in showrooms from spring 2011. So how much will they cost? Well the base price will be $103,215 (£62,406) which includes destination and handling for the ActiveHybrid 7 and $107,025 (£64,713) for the long wheelbase ActiveHybrid 7L.

Better start saving now then.

So what do you get for your money?

Well, the ActiveHybrid 7 is a mild-hybrid application that offers a 15 per cent reduction in fuel consumption. It includes a combination of an upgraded 4.4litre twin-turbo, high precision direct injection V8 engine with a three-phase synchronous 15kW electric motor, which is supplied by a compact, 400Wh lithium-ion battery. This gives the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 a combined output of 455hp and a maximum torque of 516lb-ft according to preliminary figures.

SOURCE: Green Car Website

I have many a fond memory of my friend’s old supercharged Toyota MR2. The peppy two-seater was a rarity for its day; an affordable, fun, mid-engine sports car from the generally conservative Toyota. We used to whip around parking lots, burning rubber, and raise a ruckus… until the car wound up on its roof due to, uh, mysterious circumstances.

So the news that Toyota might be considering bringing back the MR2, as a hybrid, fills me with mixed emotions, but mostly hope that the ‘yota might be making a comeback to old-fashioned fun [Ed. Note: Toyota could do for a good dose of that these days, what with all the recalls, lawsuits, and generally bad karma].Now this is pretty much pure speculation on the part of Japanese magazine Best Car, but, with Toyota’s crosstown rival Honda bringing their hip CR-Z hybrid to market sometime in the next year, Toyota might be wise to deliver a competitor. Honda’s CR-Z recalls its CRX roots; why shouldn’t Toyota bring the MR2 out of retirement?

Reportedly, the car would be called the MR-S (Can someone explain to me why most modern cars lack proper names? Would you like to drive a Mrs.? Er, on second thought, don’t answer that) and would use a reworked version of the Prius hybrid synergy system. As I like to remind my readers, electric motors provide 100% of their available torque at 0 RPM, making them an excellent choice for performance applications. An MR-S with an electric torque dump could prove quite the competitor, though the rendered styling could use some help. It reminds me a little too much of an Audi TT.

With many customers focused on fuel economy-yet still demanding performance-a line up of quick, fuel-efficient cars should sell well.

Source: Gas 2.0

The producer of the “world’s cheapest car,” the Tata Group, has announced its plans to produce a hybrid Nano. According to the company, the hybrid Nano will allow them to join the dozens of automakers that are producing hybrid vehicles. The company is India’s largest auto maker and Americans may be most familiar with its Jaguar Land Rover brand.

However, this is not the company’s first foray into the new green car sector, as earlier this year, the company announced that it may begin selling its Indica Vista EV, all-electric vehicle in Europe as soon as the end of this year.

As reported by the Maeil Business Newspaper, Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata said that in Mumbai, “low-priced goods would create stronger demand than high-end products in India, and the so-called low-price revolution would continue across the world.”

The Nano sells for approximately $2,000 US dollars and its high sales have helped the company see growing profits. In fact, Tata recently announced that it is considering letting other companies manufacture and sell the Nano under individual brands. Staying with its mission of manufacturing affordable cars, Ratan Tata said that the hybrid version would also be affordable but declined to name a price range.

In addition to being a player in the auto industry, the Tata Group is looking into South American biofuels investments in Brazil and Argentina, and has made significant inroads in the U.S. telecommunications business.

While the company has no plans to sell the Nano in the states, it will be of interest to watch if the country’s growing demand for affordable hybrids will spur Tata Group to enter the American market with the world’s “cheapest hybrid car.”

SOURCE: Gas 2.0

Whether you call them myths, urban legends, fables or old wives’ tales, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about plug-in electric hybrid vehicles. These vehicles, abbreviated PHEVs, hold great promise as the key to weaning America from its dependence on imported oil, which represents nearly two-thirds of all the petroleum burned in the United States today.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has taken a lead role in developing and testing plug-in hybrid technologies. At the lab’s Center for Transportation Research (CTR), vehicle systems engineer Forrest Jehlik and his colleagues work to bring these cars to market quickly and cheaply. Here, he dispels some commonly held myths about plug-in hybrids.

Myth #1: A significant number of plug-in hybrids are currently for sale.

Although several major auto manufacturers — including General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, and Volvo — have plug-in vehicles currently in the development pipeline, the first wave of these cars is still at least a year away from officially hitting the market, Jehlik said. The first plug-in hybrid for sale will likely be the Chevrolet Volt, which General Motors claims can travel up to 40 miles on a single charge. The Toyota Prius and other hybrids currently on the roads are not plug-ins — their batteries are charged by kinetic energy transferred from the brakes and wheels.

Myth #2: Researchers can measure the fuel economy for a plug-in hybrid just as easily as they can for gasoline-powered cars.

Establishing fuel economy standards — how many miles a plug-in hybrid vehicle can travel per gallon of gasoline burned — is a complicated question. The answer, Jehlik said, depends entirely on the driving and charging habits of the vehicle’s owner. If a particular plug-in hybrid gets 40 miles on a single charge, then a driver who has a 15-mile commute each way to work and does 10 miles of additional driving each day before charging the battery overnight would, theoretically, use no gasoline at all. If the same driver had a five-mile-longer commute, she’d probably burn just over a gallon of gasoline per week, despite driving 250 miles.

Myth #3: Prices for plug-in hybrid vehicles are currently so high because manufacturers are trying to make a killing on them.

“The truth of the matter is that the components required to build a viable plug-in hybrid are still quite expensive,” Jehlik said. In many cases, the battery for a plug-in vehicle by itself costs nearly $10,000. Because the price of petroleum remains relatively low, consumers may not yet be willing to invest the extra money in a plug-in vehicle — even with sizable government rebates.

Myth #4: The batteries in plug-in hybrid vehicles are unreliable, possibly unsafe, and require frequent replacement.

Most plug-in hybrids currently under development use lithium-ion batteries in their battery packs. Although complex chemical processes produce energy within the battery, vehicle system engineers have built in advanced control systems to prevent fires or other safety issues. “Researchers have devoted just as much time and effort to developing inner-pack safety systems as they have to the batteries themselves,” Jehlik said. “Consumers don’t need to worry about battery malfunction.”

Jehlik and his colleagues in the CTR have also tested the current generation of lithium-ion batteries in what are known as “lifecycle vehicle tests,” which take the car through its paces for more than 150,000 miles. Even at the end of the car’s life, the vast majority of batteries still function quite well, Jehlik said. “When these cars become available for sale, the batteries are going to last as long as any part of them will,” he said.

Myth #5: Scientists have identified lithium-ion batteries as the only battery technology that could work in plug-in hybrid cars.

Although lithium-ion technology came to replace nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries as the preeminent focus of electric vehicle development efforts, scientists at Argonne and around the world are currently investigating several different approaches for energy storage that could help to bring down the cost of plug-in hybrids. “Manufacturers are looking at these possible solutions not as silver bullets but as silver shotgun pellets,” Jehlik said. “The organizations that hedge their bets among a number of different technologies will likely be the ones that bring vehicles to market the earliest and the most successfully.”

Myth #6: America’s electric grid can’t handle the increased load caused by the charging of millions of electric vehicles.

According to Jehlik, the nation’s current electric grid has the capacity to accommodate the imminent rollout of plug-in hybrids onto the country’s roads. “If everyone were somehow able to buy a plug-in hybrid tomorrow, that would probably present a problem as far as the supply of electricity is concerned,” Jehlik said, “but given the pace that they are likely to enter the market, we won’t face a system-wide failure.”

However, Jehlik noted that the country’s electric infrastructure would need to change eventually—not only to keep up with added demand, but to ensure the smarter transmission, distribution and consumption of electricity.

Source: PhysOrg

BMW Japan Corp. said Thursday it has begun to take orders for its German parent’s first gasoline-electric hybrid cars with delivery planned to start next summer.

Available for ordering are the BMW Active Hybrid 7 and 7L of the flagship BMW 7 series.

Among other foreign auto dealers in Japan, Mercedes-Benz Japan Co. has already launched a hybrid car in a bid to take advantage of government tax breaks for eco-friendly vehicles.

The BMW hybrids raise fuel efficiency by 15 percent from the level for its BMW 750i by combining a 4.4-liter V-shaped eight-cylinder engine with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery. They feature an idling-stop system that automatically stops the engine when the car comes to a halt, to help prevent unnecessary fuel consumption.

The Active Hybrid 7 will sell for 12.8 million yen and the Active Hybrid 7L for 14.05 million yen