Although many hybrid cars are bought to make an environmental statement, a lot of people consider the choice of a hybrid on more dispassionate grounds. They’re looking to get better gas mileage, but the question alway is: Does the fuel savings offset the hybrid model’s extra cost?

That’s because in most cases, where a vehicle is offered with a choice of hybrid or conventional powertrains, the hybrid version is usually more expensive, sometimes a lot more.

That’s certainly the case with the ultra-luxury hybrids out there: the BMW Activehybrid 7 will run you $19,250 more than a 750i, and a Lexus LS hybrid carries a $34,350 premium over an LS460L AWD. With the Mercedes-Benz S-class, however, the hybrid is actually the least expensive variant: an S400 Hybrid undercuts the S550 by $3650.

So even before your first refuel, you’re ahead of the game. And speaking of refueling, the S400 Hybrid gets a not-insignificant 5 mpg better gas mileage than the S550, in both city and highway ratings. Still, its 19/26 mpg figures don’t exactly make it an economy car.

And there is a price to pay in performance. The S400’s 0-to-60 mph time of 7.2 seconds isn’t exactly slow, but neither is it the 5.4-second rocket blast of the S550. Nor does the S400 Hybrid’s big V-6 equal the muscle of competitor hybrid’s V-8’s (their V-8s help explain their higher prices). Still, the S400 is very quick pulling away from a stop, and its powertrain exhibits the same liquid smoothness as the S550. It’s only once you’re moving along that foot-to-the-floor acceleration requests are met with a noticeably less urgent response than in the V-8-powered car. When the S400 is doing its hybrid thing, shutting down the engine as you brake to a stop, restarting when you remove your foot from the brake, the processes are so transparent that the only way to tell is by watching the tachometer.

At $88,825 (before options), the S400 Hybrid is hardly an economy car, nor is its 19 mpg city fuel economy especially green. But the fact that it’s both significantly greener and also a bit cheaper than other S-class models and competitors’ hybrids, make a very strong case for the S400 Hybrid as a smart buy amongst megabuck sedans. And I’d guess that even rich folks are happy when they can both go green and save some green at the same time.

SOURCE: Automobile

California-based Home builder KB Home will begin offering an option to have homes pre-wired to handle charging stations for electric vehicles, the San Jose Business Journal reported.

KB said the option is designed to ease the future installation of a station to charge an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle conveniently at home.

According to the San Jose Business Journal, California has the highest percentage of plug-in hybrid cars registered in the country.

Despite recent excitement about a type of electric car called a plug-in hybrid, such vehicles are unlikely to arrive in meaningful numbers for a few more decades, according to new analysis by the National Research Council.

The study, released on Monday, also found that the next generation of plug-in hybrids could require hundreds of billions of dollars in government subsidies to take off.

Even then, plug-in hybrids would not have a significant impact on the nation’s oil consumption or carbon emissions before 2030, the report estimated. Savings in oil imports would also be modest, according to the report, which was financed by the Energy Department.

Several carmakers, including Toyota and General Motors, are developing plug-in hybrid models, which will appear in showrooms next year. Toyota just announced on Monday that it planned to begin selling “tens of thousands” of plug-in hybrid Priuses in two years.

Plug-in hybrids are cars that would be built to run primarily on an electric battery, but if extra power were needed for a long drive, a gasoline engine would kick in. Users would recharge the cars by hooking them to electric power outlets at home or work, meaning they could cover most or all of a daily commute on battery power, not gasoline.

The report found that plug-in electric vehicles could number 40 million by 2030 — provided that rapid progress was made in battery technology, and that the government provided large subsidies and incentives. However, the study suggested that a “more realistic” number would be closer to 13 million vehicles. That would represent 4 percent of the 300 million vehicles projected to be on the road by then.

The main reason for the slow rollout is the potential cost of batteries. Manufacturers are betting on lithium-ion battery technology similar to that in laptops and cellphones. While the technology has evolved rapidly, the report noted that declines in cost would not be steep enough over the next few decades to crowd out other types of cars.

Under the report’s most optimistic assumptions, 6.5 million plug-in hybrids could be sold annually in the United States by 2030, out of total sales of 19.4 million vehicles. Under the more realistic assumptions, 1.8 million plug-in hybrids would be sold that year.

Michael P. Ramage, who headed the study, said that its assumptions — and results — were more conservative than other studies. “Over the next 20 years, we felt that a 50 percent reduction in battery costs would take place,” he said in a telephone interview. “Other people have assumed a lot greater battery cost reductions.”

Building a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that could run for 40 miles on electricity would cost $18,000 more than for a similar conventional car, including a $14,000 battery pack, according to the report. While each mile driven on electricity costs less than a mile powered by gasoline, “it is likely to be several decades before lifetime fuel savings start to balance the higher first cost of the vehicles,” the report stated.

More recharging outlets, as well as other infrastructure improvements, must also be in place for plug-in hybrids to reach large numbers of American households, the report said.

The National Research Council, in Washington, provides scientific and technical advice to the federal government under a Congressional charter.

SOURCE: New York Times

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

Volvo has now released more details of the all-electric C30 concept car it will launch at next week’s 2010 Detroit Auto Show. We covered early details a couple of weeks ago; here’s the rest of the story on the little electric hatchback with no tailpipe.

The electric C30 concept car will let the Swedish automaker assess the viability of a limited-range all-electric vehicle, and how it’s used under real-world driving conditions.

Volvo expects to release 50 of the cars to consumers around the world, starting late this year. Its plan follows the pattern used by BMW for its Mini E, which it plans to replicate with the ActiveE concept, an electric model of the 1-Series sedan it will show in Detroit as well.

90-mile range

Volvo quotes an eight-hour recharging time for its 24-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, assuming standard European 230-Volt power. (That time could double using U.S. 110-Volt current; U.S. drivers will likely have to install a 240-Volt circuit, like those used for electric stoves and clothes driers.)

The pack is located in the tunnel between the seats and in the space formerly occupied by the gasoline tank. It powers an electric motor under the hood that drives the front wheels, just as on the standard 2010 Volvo C30.

Volvo quotes acceleration of “less than 11 seconds” from 0 to 62 mph. Top speed is limited to roughly 80 mph, and the range is approximately 90 miles–a distance that fewer than 10 percent of vehicles in Europe and the U.S. travel each day.

Plug-in hybrids to be “main track”

Lennart Stegland, Director of Volvo Cars Special Vehicles, says, the company expects electric cars “primarily to be used in and around cities and for daily commuting.”

Volvo also plans to introduce diesel and hybrid models that will be sold starting in 2012, although likely in small numbers at first. But it calls plug-in hybrids its “main electrification track” rather than battery electric vehicles.

From its point of view, plug-in hybrids offer long range and good environmental performance, but lower battery cost. The pack in the plug-in hybrid, says Volvo, will be just 12 kilowatt-hours.

SOURCE: Green Car Reports

Score one for diesel hybrids.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory got its hands on six hybrid vans that United Parcel Service is using, and after testing them nine ways from Sunday found diesel-electric technology improved fuel economy more than 28 percent. What’s more, it cost significantly less per mile to operate while delivering the same reliability and performance as conventional diesel vans.

The federal eggheads spent a year analyzing fuel economy, maintenance and vehicle performance data for six first-generation hybrid UPS vans developed by Eaton Corp. It’s no surprise a delivery service would be eager to give diesel-electric tech a try — UPS must spend money by the truckload on fuel — and the NREL joined UPS in putting the trucks through their paces in Phoenix.

So why’d they team up for the research?

Because the Eaton parallel hybrid system was developed in part under a $7.5 million, 33-month contract from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Heavy-Hybrid Propulsion System program. The feds like the technology because it increases fuel economy and reduces emissions, and they wanted to see what we got for the money.

“Having provided funding for the development of the Eaton hybrid system, DOE was eager to participate in testing the system in a commercial fleet,” Lee Slezak, manager of the advanced heavy-hybrid program, said in a statement. “Our goal is to help develop more efficient vehicle technologies and then document their on-road performance.”

The feds compared six diesel-hybrid vans to six diesel vans. According to the lab’s report, the hybrids delivered 28.9 percent better fuel economy, averaging 13.1 mpg to the diesels’ 10.2 mpg. Maintenance costs were about the same, but the diesels showed slightly better reliability — a factor the researchers chalk up to “troubleshooting and recalibration issues” associated with prototype components.

The hybrids were driven 15 percent fewer miles per day, which the feds attribute to the fact the diesel-electrics were assigned to urban routes where they made more stops per mile and spent more time at low speeds or idling. Overall, the hybrids delivered a 15 percent improvement in total cost per mile.

UPS is, as you’d expect, quite pleased with the results.

“NREL’s report on the performance of our hybrid delivery vehicles is helping make this type of energy-efficient vehicle a standard in the industry,” said Robert Hall, the company’s director of maintenance and engineering. He’s hoping the findings speed up market acceptance of the technology.

Eaton supplied the hybrid propulsion systems for the vans, which were manufactured by Freightliner. The system uses an Eaton automated transmission with an integrated motor-generator and lithium-ion batteries. The electric bits are mated to a four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz diesel engine — the same one used in the conventional vans.

UPS must like what it sees, because the delivery company just ordered another 200 Eaton hybrid vans.

SOURCE: Wired

As more diesel and hybrid vehicles enter the market, drivers increasingly want to know which is better. This is an especially big question for sport-utility fans who feel they could easily justify owning one of the large vehicles if only it could match the fuel economy of a car.

Of the diesel and hybrid SUVs I have driven – there are only a dozen or so available — the Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited and Volkswagen Touareg TDI come closest to combining midsize-car-like fuel economy with the size and cargo capacity that make SUVs appealing. Most other models are either too small to give drivers the high-riding sense of command they seek, or don’t come close to having decent fuel economy.

The Highlander and Touareg are well matched in price, power and practicality, and are about the same size. But the $41,020 Highlander runs on hybrid technology and the $42,800 Toureg on a diesel engine. The Highlander also offers a third-row seat the Touareg lacks, but it is too small for convenient regular use.

Each has a relatively small six-cylinder engine that still manages to power a large vehicle competently. The Touareg’s engine is typical of most diesels — they are generally good at getting a vehicle moving from a stop, and have more power at low speeds than gasoline engines of similar size. Diesels don’t have as much high-speed horsepower, but their low-speed muscle, or torque, is a better fit for the way most people drive.

The Highlander’s hybrid drive system uses an electric motor to provide similar torque that assists the gasoline engine under hard acceleration. The result is that neither gives its driver that frustrating, underpowered feeling.

On paper the Highlander seems like the easy winner because its estimated fuel economy is 27 miles per gallon in city driving and 25 mpg on the highway, compared with the Touareg’s 17 mpg in city driving and 25 mpg on the highway. But in typical everyday driving I found the two to be much closer in performance and fuel consumption. During long highway trips, both clawed their way to 27 miles per gallon, which is remarkable for big, heavy SUVs.

But I found that the hybrid’s urban fuel economy usually fell short of its estimate unless I drove in a slow, plodding way that makes the most of the hybrid’s electric motor. The problem is this driving style annoys other motorists, especially those caught behind you.

The Touareg diesel usually performed a bit better in the city than its estimate suggested, though it never came close to matching the hybrid in pure stop-and-go city driving. The Highlander’s ability to run on its electric motor alone at lower speeds lets it excel in the slow, choppy driving conditions at which gasoline and diesel engines are least efficient.

In everyday driving, I avoided unnecessarily fast starts and tried to drive smoothly, but did not truly strive for top fuel economy. The result: About 24 miles per gallon overall in both the Highlander and Touareg. However, when I tried a little harder to squeeze extra miles out of each vehicle by obeying speed limits, planning suburban routes to avoid stop-and-go driving and coasting whenever possible, the Highlander began to edge ahead. Both SUVs have trip computers that keep track of average fuel economy, and the Highlander’s seemed to respond more readily to small changes in driving style. If you work hard to hone your driving technique to maximize fuel economy, the Highlander seems to work with you and is therefore more rewarding to drive.

The biggest difference between these vehicles lies in their mechanical feel on the road. Other than using diesel fuel, the Touareg feels conventional. Its engine rumbles steadily and its six-speed automatic transmission shifts with a rhythm that most drivers will find familiar.

The Highlander, however, has a continuously variable transmission that smoothly varies its drive ratios in a way that lets the vehicle’s speed build without the distinct steps of a transmission with conventional gears. The feel is seamless, but less engaging. The engine often sounds like it is laboring, but “CVTs” tend to be more efficient than typical transmissions.

Drivers who are especially fond of SUVs with traditional power plants and familiar mechanical layouts may still prefer the way the Touareg feels on the road and responds more sharply to the throttle, while finding the Highlander a bit off-putting. Still, I got used to the Highlander’s transmission quickly and liked the way it smoothed out its overall ride. I also appreciated that the Highlander weighed several hundred pounds less than the Touareg despite carrying two power systems (electric and gas). Drivers who frequently tow heavy loads will almost surely pick the Volkswagen for its 7,716-pound towing capacity, compared with a rather weak 3,500 for the Toyota.

I would happily drive either vehicle every day. Both run smoothly, handle well and are comfortable for long trips. But the Highlander always felt like Toyota took more time and care in putting the car together. And then there are the numbers — the Environmental Protection Agency’s average fuel cost estimate for the Highlander is $1,542, compared with $2,100 for the Touareg diesel. While such estimates aren’t perfect, they are especially helpful when comparing vehicles. In the end, the Highlander does a better job at mixing the often incompatible elements of SUV size and space with small-car fuel economy.

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal

The world’s cheapest car is about to get greener and sportier.

A hybrid version of the tiny Tata Nano has been confirmed by Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, according to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper.

The current gasoline-powered Nano — on sale in India since April — is hardly a gas guzzler. Powered by a tiny, 35-horsepower 2-cylinder gas engine, the Nano is capable of approximately 50 miles per gallon. A greener variant of this engine (or the larger 3-cylinder motor planned for export markets) could make the Nano the world’s cheapest hybrid.

Mr. Tata did not elaborate as to when a Nano hybrid might go on sale, or offer specifics regarding the powertrain.

More likely to appear first is a hot-rod version of the Nano — or something close to it. D.C. Design, a car customizer based in Pune, India, is planning to release its modified Nano in early 2010, reports the Business Standard. The transformation comes complete with massive front grill, blistered fenders, alloy wheels and over-sized air intakes. Not since Wayne and Garth cruised Aurora, Ill., in a flamed powder-blue AMC Pacer has there been a more ironic custom car.

“The world’s cheapest car has thrown up a few interesting scenarios,” said Dilip Chhabria, founder of D.C. Design. “Firstly, we think the world’s cheapest car does have a lot of sex appeal – in fact its silhouette of one sweeping arc is quite unparalleled and lends itself to customization.”

During my drive of the Nano earlier this year, I praised the cute tortoise shell-like exterior. In comparison, the D.C. Design model appears to have taken inspiration from Darth Vader’s helmet. The outrageous exterior screams high performance, but the engine offers only a mechanical whimper. Accelerating from 0-60 miles an hour takes approximately 30 seconds — making the Nano 15 seconds slower than the Smart Fortwo, presently the slowest accelerating car sold in the United States.

But according to Mr. Chhabria, Nano customers are looking for design exclusivity on a tight budget. “Because it is so cheap, it has spawned, we think, a whole new segment,” explained Mr. Chhabria. “For a customer spending 80 percent value as a D.C. addition, it still is cheaper than other entry level car — albeit a highly differentiated and exclusive one.”

SOURCE: NY Times

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

AFTER 12 YEARS of speculation and the odd jibe from cynics, Toyota’s Prius is finally getting a plug.

The car that brought hybrid technology to the attention of the mainstream masses has always offered a mix of petrol engine and battery electric power. However, the electric charge has always been created from either spare energy in the engine or recouped through gathering the brake-force energy.

Now, with the third generation of the car – in full family guise – on our roads, Toyota has finally added the option of recharging the battery directly from the mains.

While the additional power source will be available only on 500 prototypes at first, all signs are that Toyota is preparing to roll out the plug-in option to the general public once electricity suppliers and governments get their acts together on providing recharging points.

Of the initial batch, 150 will come to Europe, with 20 destined for the British market. These will be leased to people who will then feed back their views and reports to the development team in Japan.

So what is different from the current Prius? Well, nothing much in terms of the appearance, except for what looks like a secondary filling cap on the front left wing. This is the plug-point for the car. Bootspace is also slightly compromised by the larger battery. And it’s here, under the boot floor, that the most significant changes have been made, with Toyota finally moving to a 5kW/h Panasonic lithium-ion unit.

Lithium is regarded as the future saviour of battery technology for electric cars, allowing more power to be stored for less weight. While this new battery does add 110kg to the car, it’s a worthwhile trade-off in terms of power.

Where the regular hybrid Prius with its nickel-hydride battery can power the car up to 50km/h on electric power for short bursts, the plug-in lithium battery version can reach speeds of 100km/h without needing to call on the petrol engine for support, and the car can run on battery power alone for between 12km and 20km.

Combine the extended speed range and distance and you see that for city or urban driving, this plug-in Prius is effectively an electric car. The big difference is because it’s hybrid, it also offers the chance to call upon a petrol engine for extended range. While we await batteries that can challenge combustion engines for range and the introduction of a proper recharging infrastructure, it’s the best combination on offer.

On a brief test drive we cruised along at 80km/h completely on electric mode and it was only when we floored the accelerator on the test track that the petrol engine kicked in. Lift off slightly and the engine gives way again to electric power.

On the most gentle of obstacle courses we also got the chance to test the car’s handling and though the Prius has never been dynamically enthralling, the added weight of the battery at the back made little difference to its ability.

In terms of recharging, Toyota promises it will fully recharge from the mains in 100 minutes. With a 12km range if you are pushing the car on, you can expect it to cut your fuel bill, particularly for short commuter runs.

If you take that away from an average journey and run the rest of the time on a mix of regular engine and Prius’s current hybrid system, it’s not unrealistic to suggest you could achieve figures in the realms of 70-80mpg. The estimated emissions level of 65g/km will certainly reap rewards in terms of motor tax.

It has been long overdue and admittedly Toyota lost some of the electric buzz to the likes of Opel’s Ampera, which for all the media attention is still a couple of years from delivery.

Mitsubishi will have its fully electric plug-in city car, the i-Miev, on sale in Ireland next year. For now we’ll have to wait and see if any of these plug-in Priuses make it to Ireland under the test programme.

First impressions behind the wheel suggest it will be another string to the Prius’s bow, making a car that remains something of an icon of green motoring even more attractive.

After several months of bad news about recalls and the loss of its leadership in electric car development, it could offer a much-needed boost to the brand, if they can get it into showrooms.

SOURCE: Irish Times

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

Sales of fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrids are expected to rise next year, outpacing the U.S. auto market’s overall growth, according to a new forecast.

Automotive research firm Edmunds.com predicted U.S. auto sales would recover modestly next year, to 11.5 million cars and light trucks from an estimated 10.3 million this year.

Its forecasters expect hybrids to outperform the market, even though they cost more, on average, than comparable gas-powered models.

Hybrids are expected to increase their share of the market to 3.2 percent in 2010 from around 2.8 percent this year, according to Edmunds. It expects the market share for hybrids to grow by about half a percentage point a year for the foreseeable future.

The share of diesel-powered light vehicles is expected to dip next year to 2.1 percent, from 2.2 percent this year, reflecting a reduction in the availability of diesel models due to more stringent emission rules coming into force.

The high point in the past decade for diesels was in 2006, when they accounted for 4.1 percent of total sales.

Pure electric vehicles will hit the market next year but will account for less than 1 percent of total sales, Edmunds estimated.

On the basis of past alternative-fuel trends, early adopters will snap up zero-emission electric cars right away, “but it will take some time before significant market share builds for the segment,” said Zhenwei Zhou, Edmunds’ senior statistician.

A poll conducted last month by Kelley Blue Book, the car pricing specialist, found that diesels topped the list of alternative technologies that consumers would consider.

Asked what type of alternative-fuel or alternative-powertrain vehicle they would be most likely to buy, 34 percent of respondents said diesel, 31 percent said hybrid, 21 percent replied electric, and 8 percent said compressed natural gas.

KBB said demand for hybrids and other fuel-efficient models would be underpinned next year by rising gasoline prices.

Consumers have several new hybrids to choose from, including gas-electric versions of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, Toyota’s redesigned Prius, a premium Lexus HS 250h and an all-new Insight from Honda Motor Co.

SOURCE: DetNews.com

Toyota Motor Corp. will release a plug-in hybrid vehicle that can be charged at home beginning in late 2011, the company has said.

The carmaker said it hoped to initially sell about 15,000 vehicles of the new model annually in the United States, and was considering releasing the model in Japan around the same time.

The vehicle likely will be priced at about 3 million yen (46,200 Singapore dollars) or more.

Amid fierce competition among automakers worldwide to develop next-generation eco-cars, Toyota concluded that a plug-in hybrid vehicle, which has better mileage than a car solely powered by electricity, will become the market mainstream.

The carmaker hopes the new model will attain market penetration with its lower price tag than electric cars.

With its fully charged high-power lithium-ion battery, Toyota’s new plug-in hybrid vehicle can operate for about 20 kilometers powered only by its motor.

Even after the battery runs out, the vehicle continues to run as a hybrid car powered by its gasoline engine.

The longest operating distance achieved by existing electric cars is about 100 kilometers or more. The carmaker is expected to further take the lead in eco-car development due to the new hybrid model’s greater efficiency than electric cars.

Toyota plans to launch sales of the model in the United States because California regulations to require carmakers to sell a certain percentage of eco-cars will likely become tougher.

SOURCE: Asia One

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