Hybrid News

. . . The company is requesting $400 million in low-interest federal loans as part of the $25 billion loan package for the auto industry passed by Congress last year.

The program is intended to encourage automakers to improve fuel efficiency, . . .

. . . Earlier this month at the Los Angeles auto show, BMW unveiled its all-electric Mini E, with a smaller battery, a motor with about 20 percent less horsepower than Tesla’s and a shorter range, 150 miles. BMW believes that current technologies used in the all-electric vehicles have not been tested enough in real conditions to be ready to be sold to the public. It will begin by leasing for one year a fleet of 500 Mini E’s for $850 a month each. At the end of the lease term, the cars will be returned to BMW for testing.
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LAST week, I visited the Tesla showroom in Menlo Park, Calif., and took the Roadster out on the highway. As I headed back to the showroom and waited at red lights, ready to hit the accelerator and fly, I realized that I was experiencing a guilty pleasure derived not just from the speed available at my touch but also from temporarily possessing something that shouted to the world its exclusiveness.
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The crowds at the show are a reluctant bunch this year. Anxious about the economy, the future of the Detroit Three automakers and the unpredictability of gas prices, few said they had any intention of buying a new car anytime soon. Those who did said they were either downsizing or looking for something with top-notch gas mileage. Nearly all had major reservations about a bailout of the U.S. auto industry.

Mohr, 50, said that under normal circumstances, he would be looking for a new car. He recently dumped his Lexus sport utility vehicle, leaving his four-person family with just a Volkswagen Beetle.

But, as he peered at a Jeep Wrangler at the Los Angeles Convention Center, he said the economic downturn has taken a toll on his dentistry business. He’s holding back on any new car purchase for at least another six months.
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"This is the car I came to see," Sorensen said, pointing to Honda Motor Co.’s Insight hybrid, which the Japanese automaker expects to challenge the Toyota Prius when it goes on sale next year. "I’m kind of like, do I go the diesel route, or do I go the hybrid route. Obviously both are a big step in the right direction from where I’m at right now." what does he drive now?
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Ford has the most impressive spread — indeed, it is the only one with enough cash and credit to survive through next year. The Dearborn, Mich., company showed off redesigned Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans unveiled Wednesday, including hybrid models that can go up to 700 miles on one tank of gas. It also sported a giant Mustang display and a miniature Fusion race car track.

The mood was more subdued at GM. Two weeks ago, the automaker canceled the unveilings it had planned for the show, but its Chevrolet Volt — the extended-range electric vehicle that holds many of the company’s hopes for a turnaround — attracted a modest crowd.

Chrysler’s area, however, was almost funereal. Chrysler also abstained from any vehicle debuts, though it did showcase the three electric prototypes — a Dodge, a Jeep and a Town &amp Country minivan — that it unveiled in September.
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SHENZHEN, China — In this far corner of China’s manufacturing heartland, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s dream of making Oregon home to America’s green car movement is about to roll off the assembly lines.

At BYD Auto Co., China’s fast-growing automotive star, a plug-in electric hybrid sedan is just weeks from meeting millions of Chinese consumers. The ʿDM, which runs up to 80 miles on a single charge and packs a 7-gallon tank, will probably launch in the United States by 2010.

Kulongoski, who clinched a deal last week to bring Nissan’s pure-electric cars to Oregon, is vying for BYD’s bid for a North American pilot site. On Friday, he met with BYD President and Chairman Wang Chuanfu at the company’s mammoth headquarters nearly two hours from China’s booming industrial zone.
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This hybrid system, developed from that fitted in the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner, combines a 155bhp 2.4-litre petrol engine, a CVT gearbox, regenerative braking and electric motor.

It can do up to 47mph in electric-only mode, and the total city driving range possible between refuelling stops is more than 700 miles. The Fusion Hybrid gets a special EcoGuide display to help drivers achieve maximum economy, plus special badging, unique 17" wheels, and upholstery made from 100% recycled materials.
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IRVINE, Calif., Nov 21, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Fisker Automotive, Inc., a green American premium car company, today announced that General Motors has been selected to supply, through its on-highway integrator Powertrain Integration LLC, the gasoline engine that will be used in the Fisker Karma, Fisker Automotive’s new Extended Range Hybrid Electric Vehicle. GM’s Powertrain organization will supply the gasoline engine that generates electricity when the driver has exceeded the 50 mile electric-only range. The 2.0 direct injection, turbo-charged 4-cylinder Ecotec gasoline engine will deliver 260 horsepower. Fisker Automotive is also considering the purchase of several additional GM vehicle components to enhance the Karma.
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&quotIt’s the world’s first Stirling hybrid electric car,&quot its inventor said with a flourish.
Installed in the car’s trunk compartment is a Stirling engine invented at DEKA, Kamen’s technology company in the Manchester Millyard. It powers the features that would normally drain huge power from the battery, notably the defroster and heater.
That leaves the battery primarily for propulsion. "You’re running a pure electric, which is enormously cheaper to operate and enormously more environmentally friendly," Kamen explained.
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AFS Trinity Power Corporation today announced it pulled its 150 MPG plug-in hybrid SUV prototypes out of the LA Auto Show but will independently exhibit and demonstrate the super fuel-efficient vehicles on their own elsewhere in downtown LA during the show.

The company’s decision followed actions by the LA Auto Show to muzzle AFS Trinity from highlighting the 150 miles per gallon fuel economy of its XH150 prototype vehicles. "The suppression by the automakers of information about technologies such as this raises serious questions about the judgment, vision, intentions and capabilities of the leadership of these companies," said Edward W. Furia, Chairman and CEO of AFS Trinity. "Such conduct by the automakers, who are currently seeking tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, ostensibly to develop fuel efficient vehicle technologies, is evidence they are reluctant to embrace solutions they didn′t invent."

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Sanyo’s powerful lithium-ion battery business for autos is another gem for Panasonic, which can hope for a significant global share when combined with its own battery operations, said Tatsuya Mizuno, director at Fitch Ratings in Tokyo.

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This is a safety concern, more so for blind people as they cannot hear when one of these vehicles is coming. GM might have found the solution to this problem, and are now thinking of adding a Star Trek soundtrack to their Chevrolet Volt, part of the E-Flex range.

Frank Weber, E-Flex vehicle line executive, has said that he was thinking of adding the sound effects of the transporters or maybe the hissing of the doors opening. . . .

Azure Dynamics signs new agreements with eight Ford dealerships

Last update: 12:03 p.m. EDT Oct. 29, 2008
OAK PARK, MI, Oct 29, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — Azure Dynamics Corporation, a leading developer of hybrid electric and electric powertrains for commercial vehicles, announced today it has signed Sales & Service agreements with eight additional Ford dealerships to represent Azure’s innovative Balance(TM) Hybrid Electric commercial truck. This brings the total number of dealerships to fourteen since the enrollment program began in June.
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Toyota Hybrid System (THS)

The Prius is propelled by a parallel hybrid system, in which two drive sources are employed either separately or simultaneously - a petrol engine and an electric motor.
The electric motor - drawing from a large hybrid battery - serves as the sole power source in instances when the petrol engine is relatively inefficient; this includes driving conditions such as slow-moving traffic jams, sitting stationary, deceleration, light acceleration and low speed cruise. Under these conditions, the electric motor is relied upon for drive, and the petrol engine is automatically switched off - completely eliminating fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions.
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Tess Kalinowski
Transportation reporter
The TTC is going back to buying diesel buses because the batteries on its newer hybrid diesel-electric models are proving too "hit and miss."

An existing order for 130 hybrids next year will go ahead, but next week TTC staff will recommend the commission approve a $61 million order for "clean diesel" buses in 2010.
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The remaining 2009 hybrids will be delivered with Chrysler’s new lithium-ion batteries rather than the lead-acid cells already in use on the TTC fleet. The TTC wants to test the newer batteries but isn’t prepared to commit to that technology, said spokesperson Brad Ross, who didn’t rule out the possibility of trying hybrids again after the 2010 order.
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Batteries [lead-acid rjw] that should be lasting five years are surviving only about 18 months, which affects service because those buses have to come off the road for repairs, he said.
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It was hoped the hybrid buses would save 20 to 30 per cent on fuel but they are achieving only about a 10 per cent saving, he said.
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