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

Fisker Automotive is buying the old General Motors factory in Wilmington, Delaware, to produce an affordable, family-oriented plug-in hybrid sedan to cost under $40,000 after federal tax credits.

Fisker expects the production facility will create or support 2,000 factory jobs plus more than 3,000 jobs for vendors and suppliers when the factory goes on-line in late 2012.  Plus thousands more consctruction jobs between now and then to retrofit and upgrade the factory, which dates from 1947 and used to produce Pontiacs, Saturns and Chevrolets.

Right now, Fisker is calling the project to build an affordable plug-in hybrid car Project NINA. But it is unlikely the model itself will be called Nina. Fisker’s other plug-in electric car is the Karma, an $80,000 beauty that looks and acts like a sportscar. It should. Company founder Henrik Fisker used to be design director for Aston Martin. The Karma is being produced in Irvine, California, where company headquarters are located.

Fisker expects to produce 75,000-100,000 fuel efficient PHEV hybrids a year at this former GM factory, which was chosen for its size, production capacity, world-class paint facilities, access to shipping ports, rail lines and available skilled workers, according to a statement by Henrik Fisker at the ribbon cutting.

Access to shipping is important, because Fisker expects to export more than half of the sedans it produces in the USA..  Fisker Automotive announced today, Nov. 4, that it is partnering with the  Emil Frey Group one of Europe’s most prestigious auto groups, to import, market and service Fisker hybrids in Switzerland, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland will provide Fisker with a strong operational base in Europe.  .

The Wilmington Assembly plant has a proud history. It was built by General Motors in1947 and over the years it churned out more than 8.5 million cars, including the Pontiac Streamliner, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn L-Series and the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky/Opel GT roadsters.

SOURCE: Examiner

General Motors took a big step toward its reinvention as the “New G.M.” today when it opened what it calls the largest automotive battery laboratory in the United States, a move the struggling company believes will hasten the development of electric vehicles.

The GM battery lab is located at its sprawling Warren Technical Center campus outside Detroit, Michigan.

GM invested $25 million in the 33,000-square-foot Global Battery Systems Lab to develop and test the drivetrains underpinning the Chevrolet Volt and other hybrid, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The automaker believes the facility, at its sprawling Warren Technical Center campus outside Detroit, Michigan, will help make it a market leader in battery and EV technology.

“The new global GM battery lab will benefit consumers across America by helping us advance the development of battery technology in the United States and put cleaner, more efficient vehicles on the road more quickly and affordably,” CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

“Our new lab improves GM’s competitiveness by speeding the development of our hybrid, plug-in and extended-range electric vehicles.”

The lab’s opening comes one week after General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and vowed to reinvent itself as a leaner, greener company focused on fuel efficiency.

It also comes as major automakers align themselves with battery manufacturers to bring cars with cords to market. Volkswagen, for example, recently signed a deal with Chinese auto- and battery-maker BYD, and Daimler bought nearly 10 percent of Tesla Motors last month.

The Global Battery Systems Lab is four times larger than the cramped quarters where engineers had been working on the lithium-ion battery pack used in the Volt. It employs more than 1,000 engineers.

The operation features 160 test channels and 42 thermal chambers that subject batteries to real-world driving conditions and temperarture variations. It also has 32 battery cyclers, “treadmills” used to deplete and charge the packs repeatedly.

“This facility is state-of-the-art and represents one of the largest and most capable battery test labs in the world,” said Jim Queen, vp of global engineering. The lab has a maximum power capacity of 6 megawatts.

The lab also features a thermal shaker table for testing the structural integrity of each pack and a battery tear-down workshop for failure analysis and reverse-engineering competitors’ batteries.

The Global Battery Systems Lab is the crown jewel in GM’s battery program, which includes labs in Mainz-Kastel, Germany and Honeoye Falls, New York.

General Motors is working with LG Chem on the battery that will provide the Volt with an all-electric range of 40 miles, and it has a joint deal with Compact Power and LG Chem to continue developing the technology.

GM also has joined the University of Michigan in creating a battery-specific engineering curriculum and a battery lab in Ann Arbor.

GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week and is radically scaling back its operations, but work on the battery lab started in December 2007 shortly after GM started developing the Volt. Construction started in August and engineers started testing batteries there in January.

The company plans to open a factory somewhere in Michigan to begin producing batteries by the end of 2010, at which point the Volt is slated to start rolling off an assembly line at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly factory.

SOURCE: CNN.com

General Motors offers an immense lineup of mainstream and performance-oriented models all across the globe. Cars like the Corvette, Camaro and CTS-V might make North American hearts go aflutter, but elsewhere VXR and SS V-Series stir the souls of young and old.

But a new day has dawned, when even young enthusiasts are more interested in a vehicles’ impact on the planet than they are about zero to sixty times, slalom speeds or skid pad results, which has resulted in a bevy of low and even zero-emissions vehicles that target an entirely different kind of performance enthusiast. GM is at the forefront of this new wave of performance, with vehicles like its new Chevy Volt, Opel Ampera and, now that it’s official, Converj.

According to Motor Trend magazine, the upscale Cadillac Converj, a spinoff of the Volt, will be built in 2011, a year after the four-door Chevy bows. Will the production Cadillac look the same, or change as much as the Volt did from concept to reality? The Volt, initially shown in concept form with two doors and a very different overall shape, got a thorough redesign that included a more practical four-door configuration. Most applauded GM’s decision, and most like the looks of the new car. Such a move, especially considering Cadillac will bring the CTS Coupe to market the year prior, would be smart.

Whatever Cadillac finally shows for production, the Converj will ride on the same Voltec architecture as the Volt and Ampera, which is also a smart move by GM as it will need to recoup as much research and development costs from its unique plug-in series hybrid chassis as possible, and there’s no better way to do that than via a higher end, pricier model. It is also possible that, while the shared powertrain will be identical, it may be calibrated to offer a little more performance in the premium Cadillac offering.

While Cadillac may be celebrating this news, there is still the hurdle of funding the operation. Volt will be built, says GM’s executive team, which is currently lobbying the US Treasury and Energy Departments to allow access to ATVM loans and will no doubt drop another project in order to fund the series hybrid if necessary, but if money is tight it’s possible the Converj could be delayed. It would be unlikely to get cancelled altogether, however, as the money for Volt will have been spent and GM will need to take advantage of the economies of scale possible by a Cadillac version.

SOURCE: Canada.com

In all of the statements released by General Motors, the now bankrupt automaker said that its new products and technologies are on track. It said that that the New GM will continue with key vehicle launches in 2009 and 2010 including the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, 2010 Buick LaCrosse, 2010 Cadillac SRX and CTS Sport Wagon, the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, Cruze and Volt along with the 2010 GMC Terrain.

“Our products are our future, and our lineup of new cars and crossovers are a great foundation for success,” said CEO Fritz Henderson. “The New GM is here to stay, and our brands position us to compete well in profitable segments with vehicles that are second-to-none.”

GM said that it will launch the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid by the end of 2010 and expects to have 14 hybrid models in production by 2012. It said that 65 percent of its vehicles will be alternative-fuel capable by 2014.

“The New GM will become a long-term global leader in the development of fuel-efficient and advanced-technology vehicles,” said Henderson. “In doing so, the New GM will contribute to the development of advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities in the United States, which are critical to the future of the U.S. economy.”

SOURCE: AutoSpies

Toyota is recognized as one of the leaders in hybrid technology, so it may come as a surprise to some that the company is not terribly keen on selling hybrid plug-ins to consumers. Even though the company is planning to build 500 plug-in Prius cars for test fleets, there are no immediate plans to develop plug-in hybrid technology for consumers.

At first, it may seem counter-intuitive for Toyota to shun plug-in hybrids. After all, GM plans to release the Chevy Volt — its plug-in hybrid — next year. But it makes a little more sense after you read Toyota’s reasoning, reported by AutoMonster.ca:

Toyota estimates sales of hybrids that can be recharged at household outlets may be 50,000 units a year at most and could be as few as 3,500, Bill Reinert, U.S. national manager for advanced technology, told a National Academy of Sciences panel today in Washington. Sales of Toyota’s Prius, the best-selling gasoline-electric vehicle, were almost 159,000 last year.

A market for the plug-in electric hybrid vehicles “will emerge, but their success depends on advantages over existing hybrids,” Reinert said in prepared remarks. “There is a great deal of variation on how current PHEVs perform in real-world conditions.”

Clearly, Toyota think it already has a good think going with its current Prius — no plug needed. Plug-ins are considered somewhat inconvenient right now by many consumers. They have to be charged regularly, and there needs to be the proper infrastructure to support plug-ins so that commuters can charge up their cars while at work.

Of course, the fact that 75% of Americans live within 20 miles of their work means that the 40-mile range of the Volt may be sufficient. Besides, the Volt also has an electric-gasoline hybrid engine that can switch to gasoline when the battery runs down. So at least there isn’t the fear of being stuck. Current electric-gasoline hybrids don’t have the plug-in factor. They are desirable because they don’t require consumers to make any significant changes in their behavior. Although, technically, the Volt wouldn’t require a change, either. But its battery is more expensive (adding to the cost of the car).

Honda is also reluctant to introduce plug-in hybrids. The company says it’s studying the matter to determine whether it is worth the investment in plug-ins. The reluctance of the Japanese automakers to get involved may pave the way for American carmakers to lead the way for plug-ins. But with Honda and Toyota offering a product consumers are already comfortable with (and may prefer), does it even matter?

SOURCE: PhysOrg.com

The new 2010 automobiles will soon change the future in transportation as conventional vehicles make the switch to hybrid cars. The new cars also qualify for government incentives to use as a 2009 hybrid car tax credit. Hybrid cars can achieve better fuel efficiency and are led by car manufacturers including Ford Motor Company, Toyota, Honda, and General Motors.

If you’re in the market to buy a new eco-friendly car, you may want to check out the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Toyota Prius, or the Honda Insight. These hybrids are the ones we reviewed so far, and I’m sure the list will keep building as we test-drive and gather more information. Owning one of the environmental safe vehicles will also qualify for government incentives to obtain a 2009 hybrid car tax credit.

While GM might be heading for bankruptcy on June 1, 2009, it’s clear what direction the car manufacturer is heading. It has three prototypes of a new electric vehicle known as the Chevy Volt. The Volt can plugin to any 110 volt outlet to recharge.

Only time will tell if hybrid cars will reduce America’s dependency for foreign oil. However, one thing is for sure, that the battery electric cars are fuel efficient. The bottom line is, this will save time and the price at the pump for automobile owners. The other matters to consider are the distances and mileage a person drives each day.

America experienced the worst gas crises in 2008. Prices soared to nearly $5.00 per gallon in some states, while the national average was about $4.50. Small cars were costing drivers as much as $80 to fill up at the pump. Skeptics argue that the automakers are 20 years behind while foreign countries are price gauging.

Some people have often wondered how hybrid cars work. This would be another topic of discussion, but one that is very fascinating. Most people believe that running a cord between the electrical outlet to the vehicle will do the trick. However, some car manufacturers are coming up with some new techniques.

Some car makers are using the brake pedal as a way to power accessories such as air conditioning by sending the energy directly to the battery to store a recharge. This method is utilizing all possible ways to produce energy from the driver without taxing comfort ability and the driving experience.

SOURCE: NewsOxy

President Barack Obama may be the only investor willing and able to keep General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC alive, but his biggest endorsement at today’s announcement on fuel economy went to Ford Motor Co.

At the end of a Rose Garden ceremony unveiling new mileage standards, Obama stepped back from the podium, then threw in an impromptu plug for his hybrid Escape sport utility vehicle.

“By the way, I just want to mention, I think I still have my Ford parked in Chicago,” Obama said. “It’s a Ford hybrid, it runs great, you guys should take a look.”

Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, standing next to the president, pumped his fists in the air as the crowd laughed.

As he turned to leave again — perhaps realizing there were executives from nine other automakers standing behind him, including GM and Chrysler — Obama threw in one more aside.

“But there are also some outstanding hybrids and energy-independent cars represented up here, so I didn’t want to just advertise for one,” he said.

Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli and GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson ducked out of the White House after the ceremony. Henderson headed back to the Treasury Department next door for meetings with Obama’s auto industry task force, which will decide in the coming days whether to push GM into bankruptcy.

SOURCE: FreeP

The death of the Saturn brand won’t slow down the rollout of General Motors’ plug-in hybrid power train, says Tom Stephens, vice chairman of GM’s global product development.

After GM said on April 27 that it would stop building Saturns at the end of this year–not 2011, as previously planned–company sources said they knew of no other plans to use the plug-in hybrid power train, which had been scheduled for the Saturn Vue.

But Stephens says: “It doesn’t just go away because Saturn goes away. We are going to plug it in.”

GM plans to install the advanced gasoline-electric drivetrain, teamed with GM’s Two Mode front-wheel-drive transmission, in a compact crossover and introduce it when the Saturn Vue plug-in crossover was to debut, early in 2011, Stephens told Automotive News.

He would not say which vehicle would get the plug-in power train, but vehicles similar to the Vue that might be candidates include the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.

The plug-in Vue would have delivered fuel economy of about 35 mpg or slightly higher in city driving.

GM plans to deliver the first plug-in hybrids to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute for fleet testing in 2011, Stephens said. The institute is a nonprofit group that studies electricity.

GM had planned to launch a full hybrid version of the Vue this summer using its acclaimed Two Mode transmission, then add the plug-in in 2011. Now GM is going to launch the Two Mode with the plug-in feature all at once in that year.

No date has been set for when consumers will be offered a plug-in hybrid. Stephens said the price of fuel may play a role in determining that. Toyota Motor Corp. also plans to launch a test fleet of plug-in Priuses before offering them to consumers.

With the death later this year of the Saturn Aura Hybrid, GM will have more available hybrid parts, such as batteries and electronics, to build the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid if sales are strong. The two vehicles use the same power train.

SOURCE: CNET

So let’s pretend for a second that you are directly working for team Obama, and the word comes down from the big cheese himself that you should seriously consider getting a hybrid as your next car.

After all, the Obama administration has made its renewable energy policy central to its core agenda of change.

And let’s also suppose that you are very amiable to the idea of driving one them newfangled hybrids that gets over 40 mpg.

And to be fair you don’t have to suppose any of this because this scenario is exactly what is happening in Washington these days.

In a recent story titled, “Ford Scores Another Obama Hybrid Sale” U.S. News and World Report” says:

“Maybe it’s Ford’s refusal to take bailout money, or maybe the Obama gang just likes the company’s hybrids, but team is a big fan of the car company. The proof: President Obama and spokesman Robert Gibbs drive Escape hybrids. And now, Ford tells Whispers, former Obama campaign manager and adviser David Plouffe is sitting nicely in a Fusion Hybrid.”

So the question that naturally comes to mind is why exactly is team Obama buying Fords?

The answer is pretty straightforward—they have no other viable hybrid choice.

There is no doubt that with over a million Prius sales in America, and a deep model selection of full hybrid cars, Toyota leads the pack with the biggest and most diverse selection of hybrid models.

But even though Toyota manufactures tens or thousands of cars in the United States annually, and directly and indirectly employs ten of thousands of workers here, if you are on team Obama you can’t buy a Prius or any other Japaneses hybrid brand. It is still not politically expedient or wise to buy a “foreign” car.

That rules out a lot of choices. And to be fair the German brands don’t really do hybrids yet. They seem to have gone “all in” on diesel in their home European markets and now to some extent here as well.

So if you are on team Obama that means you buy American, and that means you turn to the big three Detroit car manufactures new car lots in and around Maryland.

1) Chrysler makes some of the best, most fun, and fastest gas guzzling cars on the planet including many Jeeps and HEMI SRT8 models.  These cars, like the 300C SRT8 I recently drove and reviewed HERE are a hoot to drive, but spew enough carbon to compete with a small coal fired steam locomotive.

Chrysler, of course, also sells small cars, and they make the XXL Aspen Hybrid SUV, which works well, but makes the same political statement as driving that small steam locomotive to work.

2) General Motors, before it jumped on the Volt bandwagon, decided that hybrid technology would and could be best used to make their big trucks and SUVs a bit more fuel efficient.  So once again you can go out and buy a big GM hybrid truck or SUV from the General, but in today’s Washington DC that may not fly.

You can also purchase one of GM’s mild hybrid sedans (like the Malibu Hybrid), but these cars basically use electric power the way your spouse uses their electric toothbrush. It may be more sexy, but it’s really not that much more efficient than the traditional tried and true owner operated model.

When GM roles out the Volt (or perhaps if GM roles out the Volt) they may leapfrog the competition with their technology, but currently they are barely on the same page as Toyota when it comes to hybrids offerings.

So that means you have only one clear choice—Ford.

3) Ford has several full hybrid models. The Escape and the Fusion come to mind first, and it looks like the top brass of team Obama have at least one of each.

Ford hybrid cars offer great millage and perhaps a tab more sportiness and performance than similar models from Toyota. The current Ford hybrids can (and do) complete in terms of technology and millage with the current generation of Toyota hybrids, but that’s about to change.

The new Prius, which I test drove a few weeks ago (you can read about it HERE) takes Toyota’s hybrid game to the next level. It easily gets well above 50 mpg, and it can even drive for short periods of time on battery power along.

Honda’s new Insight will most likely undercut the new Prius in price, but not in terms of mpg.

But all this is irrelevant in Washington were politics and policy rule the roost. So that why, at least for now, the only hybrid game in town for team Obama is Ford.

And just in case you were wondering, below are the Top Five best selling hybrids of 2008:

5. 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid
MPG: 34 city/30 highway

4. 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
MPG: 27 city/25 highway

3. 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid
MPG: 40 city/45 highway

2. 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid
MPG: 33 city/34 highway

1. 2008 Toyota Prius
MPG: 48 city/45 highway

SOURCE: Examiner.com

General Motors offers an immense lineup of mainstream and performance-oriented models all across the globe. Cars like the Corvette, Camaro and CTS-V might make North American hearts go aflutter, but elsewhere VXR and SS V-Series stir the souls of young and old.

But a new day has dawned, when even young enthusiasts are more interested in a vehicles’ impact on the planet than they are about zero to sixty times, slalom speeds or skid pad results, which has resulted in a bevy of low and even zero-emissions vehicles that target an entirely different kind of performance enthusiast. GM is at the forefront of this new wave of performance, with vehicles like its new Chevy Volt, Opel Ampera and, now that it’s official, Converj.

According to Motor Trend magazine, the upscale Cadillac Converj, a spinoff of the Volt, will be built in 2011, a year after the four-door Chevy bows. Will the production Cadillac look the same, or change as much as the Volt did from concept to reality? The Volt, initially shown in concept form with two doors and a very different overall shape, got a thorough redesign that included a more practical four-door configuration. Most applauded GM’s decision, and most like the looks of the new car. Such a move, especially considering Cadillac will bring the CTS Coupe to market the year prior, would be smart.

Whatever Cadillac finally shows for production, the Converj will ride on the same Voltec architecture as the Volt and Ampera, which is also a smart move by GM as it will need to recoup as much research and development costs from its unique plug-in series hybrid chassis as possible, and there’s no better way to do that than via a higher end, pricier model. It is also possible that, while the shared powertrain will be identical, it may be calibrated to offer a little more performance in the premium Cadillac offering.

While Cadillac may be celebrating this news, there is still the hurdle of funding the operation. Volt will be built, says GM’s executive team, which is currently lobbying the US Treasury and Energy Departments to allow access to ATVM loans and will no doubt drop another project in order to fund the series hybrid if necessary, but if money is tight it’s possible the Converj could be delayed. It would be unlikely to get cancelled altogether, however, as the money for Volt will have been spent and GM will need to take advantage of the economies of scale possible by a Cadillac version.

SOURCE: Canada.com

When one thinks of fuel efficiency, pickup trucks don’t usually come to mind.

But consider that pickup trucks make up more than 12 per cent of all vehicles sold in Canada, averaging around 200,000 units per year for the past decade. And consider also that for businesses large and small, from family farms to construction companies, owning a pickup truck is a necessity and not a choice. These vehicles are tools, and fuel is a cost of doing business.

Improving the fuel economy of pickup trucks could save a lot of fuel, keep a lot of pollutants out of the environment, and save business a lot of money. Makes good sense, right?

Manufacturers have responded by making gasoline and diesel engines more fuel efficient, relatively speaking, while maintaining the power needed to haul and tow heavy loads.

Now, General Motors has introduced a full hybrid powertrain that will maximize fuel economy without giving up any of the heavy hauling capability for which these trucks are needed.

The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 hybrid pickups have been rated by Canada’s Energuide at 9.8 L/100 km in the city and 9.2 L/100 km on the highway for two-wheel drive trucks, and 10.5/9.8 L/100 km city/highway for four-wheel drive versions, according to a review posted on Canadiandriver.com.

To put this in perspective, rear-wheel drive Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra hybrids have better city fuel economy than six-cylinder versions of the Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, and better than some popular four-cylinder vehicles, such as the Subaru Legacy and Toyota Matrix AWD.

This feat is even more impressive when you consider that the powerplant in the Sierra and Silverado is neither a four- nor a six-cylinder, but a 6.0-litre V8 with a 2,767 kg (6,100 lbs) towing and 662 kg (1,459 lbs) payload capacity.

The trucks pull away smoothly from a stop and accelerate well onto the freeway. At cruising speed, the engine, equipped with Active Fuel Management (AFM) and late intake valve closing (LIVC) technology, will shut down four cylinders and cruise in V4 mode. The hybrid system can also provide a power boost at speed, to keep the engine operating for longer periods in V4 mode.

The hybrid trucks use a 3.08 gear set, smaller than other 1500 series trucks. The combination of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and electric boost means less gear is needed to get the truck moving. Less gear means less fuel consumption and fewer emissions.

Fuel consumption and emissions are reduced in several other ways as well. When idling, the engine does not run. At low speed, the truck will drive on electricity alone. Depending on load and environmental conditions, it will accelerate up to 48 km/h on electricity alone.

With GM’s two-mode hybrid system, the electric power used to propel the vehicle is generated by the hybrid system itself. When the brakes are applied or the vehicle is coasting, the electric motors within the hybrid system create electricity that is stored in the 300-volt battery located under the rear seat. This stored energy is used to move the vehicle, and the regenerative braking cycle is renewed.

General Motors offered hybrid versions of the last-generation pickup trucks from 2005 to 2007, but these were “mild” systems, which shut off the engine at idle and provided 120-volt outlets for power tools, and could not drive on electricity alone.

The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra hybrids are available in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive versions. Towing and hauling capability is slightly less with four-wheel drive.

They are also available in two trim levels. The base trim level is essentially the conventional LT trim, plus power driver’s seat, automatic climate control, XM satellite radio, wheel-mounted audio controls, Bluetooth telephone connectivity, head curtain air bags, 18-inch polished aluminum alloy wheels with low rolling resistance tires, EZ Lift tailgate, soft tonneau cover, locking differential and trailering package. The MSRP is $46,725 (2WD) and $50,875 (4WD).

The premium trim level adds cloth bucket seats with six-way driver and passenger power adjustment, navigation system, Bose audio system, fog lamps, rear park assist, power-adjustable pedals, universal home remote, body-colour mirrors, rear window defroster and three-piece hard tonneau cover. MSRP is $53,905 (2WD) and $58,055 (4WD).

SOURCE: South Asian Post

With the Calgary Herald reporting that any merger between Chrysler and General Motors (GM) is “off the table,” and the Big Three Auto Makers in Detroit trying to figure out how to stay alive, I still ponder their green initiative.  It has always been on the forefront of my mind and only in 2009 is Chrysler even offering an SUV hybrid.  As a former Chrysler dealer, we were always told at the rah, rah meetings that Chrysler’s hybrid was their diesel line. Wow, what a sales pitch!

Of the Big Three, only Ford has an affordable SUV, the 2009 Ford Escape that starts at $29,645 for a base model and $33,000 if you want all the extras.  GM’s hybrid SUVs are made for the elite when you look at the Yukon priced at $50,920 for a base model and the Cadillac Escalade is a whopping $73,135 for a base.  But if you can afford that, you can probably afford a couple thousand more for the sound and navigation systems for your new Escalade. Chrysler is no better offering a base Aspen for $45,270 and a base Durango hybrid SUV for $45,040.

Of course there are the foreign auto companies that offer quality SUV hybrids at affordable prices, but if you’re a baby boomer like me, our aim is to buy American.  Sure, I know that the foreign auto makers have plants in North America but somehow our parents dredged into our minds that buying American was the patriotic thing to do.  I remember my father who was called by his maker in 1982 looking at a Chevy Malibu brochure week after week at the dinner table.  He never got that vehicle, but he sure did get his point across on how he felt about buying a Toyota or Honda.

Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM told Daily Wealth in a recent interview that, “it’s hard being the captain of the Titanic.”  Wow, that doesn’t inspire much confidence!  Bob Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler blames the congressional hearings and investigation into the Big Three for consumer fallout and lack of trust.  “I think it’s going to take a while to repair the damage done by them,” he told the Calgary Herald.  I’m a little mad and gosh as a former Chrysler dealer I can tell you that instead of coming out with those expensive hybrids, why didn’t Chrysler put an end to the dealer cash they give the dealers on selected models to help push their inventory?  Often, dealer cash can be as much as $8,000 and that’s money the consumer never sees!  Maybe some of that dealer cash could have been utilized more wisely–like exploring how to make a cheaper SUV hybrid.

I like to think of myself as being the glass if half full kind of person and somehow I just don’t think the government is going to let any of the Big Three fail.  Perhaps I’m wrong or way off the path here, but at some point, Uncle Sam will step in to save Detroit and help bring jobs back.  Whether Chrysler and GM’s hybrid SUVs will survive is to be seen, especially with those hefty price tags.  I say they start from scratch or hire an engineer from Ford to figure out what they are doing wrong.  Right now, if you want a GM or Chrysler SUV hybrid, you better be one of the elite or you won’t be able to afford them.

Living green means doing your part by driving green, but if the average consumer can’t afford what the Americans are putting out, what other option do we have but to buy foreign?  Kudos to Ford for trying, even if Detroit looks pretty grim these days.  I, for one, will keep my hopes up for improvement.  When you look at both GM and Chrysler’s websites, they have all sorts of things they are promising to help our environment, but it sure isn’t making a green hybrid SUV.  Well, I’ve said my peace, it’s time to tear the kids away from their Lee Iacocca and Dieter Zetsche action figure dolls.

SOURCE: Examiner.com

A study by engineers from Carnegie Mellon University examining the economics of electricity-intensive “plug-in” hybrid-electric vehicles – a coming class of high-efficiency models typified by General Motors Corp.’s 2011 Chevrolet Volt – bases its primary argument on an outdated assumption, said one of GM’s highest-ranking engineers.

The Carnegie Mellon study concluded that plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) using large, high-capacity battery packs to enable propulsion for comparatively long distances solely on electric power are not the most economically viable path to higher-efficiency vehicles. It said PHEVs with more modest and less-costly battery capacity are the optimum approach.

GM’s highly publicized Chevrolet Volt is categorized by the company as an “extended-range” electric vehicle, but in effect is a PHEV with the kind of large-capacity battery capability the Carnegie Mellon study said is not a cost-efficient solution.

Jon Lauckner, GM vice president-global program management and a high-level engineer with deep involvement in the Volt’s development, told AutoObserver in an interview Monday that there are valid points in the Carnegie Mellon study – but its dismantling of extended-range PHEVs because of high cost is mistaken because the researchers are ill-informed about the cost of new-age hybrid batteries.

Battery Cost Mistake ‘Jumps Off The Page’

The mistake in the study that “jumps of the page,” Lauckner told AutoObserver, is the GM Jon Lauckner.JPGassumed baseline cost of the lithium-ion batteries used by the Volt and, most likely, other future PHEVs: $1,000 per kilowatt-hour.

“That’s very high compared to the cost we’re paying today,” said Lauckner of the Volt’s prototype lithium-ion batteries developed by Korean battery expert LG Chem. “And very, very high compared to the (battery cost) in the near future,” once even modest engineering improvements and economies of scale kick in, Lauckner added.

“For me, the conclusion they draw is very much dependent on what they think longterm battery costs may be,” he said. And the researchers’ battery-cost forecast, ignorant of the latest battery developments, is seriously pessimistic.

He said using the Carnegie Mellon formula, the Volt’s battery pack alone, planned with a capacity of some 16 kWh, would cost $16,000.

“I won’t tell you what that battery pack is going to cost,” when the Volt goes into production in December 2010, said Lauckner – but he insists it’s nothing near the $1,000 per kilowatt-hour on which much of the Carnegie Mellon study’s cost-benefit equation is based.

Batteries Will Cost Less – Maybe A Lot Less

He said university researchers do acknowledge that in their methodology, battery cost plays Chevrolet Volt battery testing – 114.JPG prominently in determining whether PHEVs with large battery capacity – and proportionately lenghty electric-only driving distances – make economic sense when compared to less-capable PHEVs or conventional hybrids.

The Carnegie Mellon engineers do indicate in the study that a significant reduction of battery cost would change the playing field, acknowledging, “Cheap  battery costs of $250 per kWh would significantly increase competitiveness of PHEVs, making them similar to or less expensive than HEVs and (conventional vehicles) across all distances driven.”

Lauckner said a chart presented in the study proves the point that battery cost of significantly less than the study’s “baseline” of $1,000 per kWh improves the overall cost-competitiveness of PHEVS: when battery cost is assumed to be $250 per kWh and battery recharges occur close to the 40-mile intervals for which a PHEV such as the Volt is designed, the PHEVs are almost equal in cost with less battery-intensive PHEVs and even conventional hybrids (note “low battery cost” segment of chart).

“We’re definitely not as high as $1,000 per kilowatt-hour,” he insists. “That’s way high.”

Customer Incentives Reduce Cost

Lauckner said the researchers also fail to take into account another factor: the “already legislated” consumer incentives for plug-in hybrids indexed to their battery capacity. The Chevy Volt is in line to deliver a $7,500 tax incentive to customers. The amount that comes directly off the buyer’s federal tax owed will be much less for the PHEVs with just seven to ten miles worth of electric-only battery capacity the study claims is ideal.

In discussing “cost,” he allows that the Carnegie Mellon engineers may be talking broadly about the various hybrids’ societal costs, but said the fact remains that buyers’ out-of-pocket costs for all PHEVs will be markedly reduced by the tax incentive.

Where’s The Recharging?

Lauckner lobs one final volley at the Carnegie Mellon research, which said the lower-capacity PHEVs are the most cost-efficient relying, in part, on the assumption they can be recharged after approximately every seven miles of electric-only driving.

That assumption is invalid, said Lauckner, because it does not reflect either the reality of a widely available recharging infrastructure – which is all but nonexistent at this moment – or applicability to real-world commuting, which would require low-capacity PHEVs to use their combustion engines much more extensively than PHEVs with large battery reserves.

“How many people are going to stop every ten miles or less and recharge for a half-hour?” Lauckner asked. He added that even if they would, there is no definitively plan for an extensive recharging infrastructure anywhere in the nation – much less funds earmarked to pay for it.

He said use of smaller-battery PHEVs in the most optimal fashion envisioned in the study “absolutely requires (recharging) infrastructure. It may be what the numbers tell you – but it’s not practical.”

SOURCE: Edmunds Auto Observer

General Motors ambitious viability plan announced a fortnight ago called for up to $16.6 billion in additional aid and the reduction of more than 47,000 jobs across the company’s global resources, but there was another major announcement in the plan that went largely unnoticed. GM also pledged to increase the number of hybrid vehicles it sells from the current eight to 26 by 2014.

Unfortunately for GM, while it may have the technology ready, potential parts shortages, especially for the all-important battery arrays, may end up causing delays. That’s the biggest worry according to GM executive vice president of global powertrain and global quality Tom Stephens. Speaking with Automotive News, Stephens said the original viability pledge for all 26 hybrids was made on the assumption that the components will be available.

It’s not just batteries that are in short supply, GM may also have to start producing its own electric motors for its future hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

One vehicle, the Saturn Vue Two Mode hybrid, already has been delayed because of a component shortage. That vehicle was supposed to have been launched by now but has been pushed back to June, Stephens said.

Tom Stephens is an important man at GM as he will replace the head of global product development, vice chairman Bob Lutz, who is retiring at the end of the year.

SOURCE: Motor Authority