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Toyota Hybrid Sales Hit 1M Mark

admin — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:01:33 +0000

Toyota Hybrid Sales Hit 1M Mark

Toyota announced that its combined US Prius sales have topped the one million mark. The company began selling the Prius in the US nine years ago and reached the milestone mark earlier this model year. The company will be introducing its redesigned Prius to the US market shortly and will introduce a plug-in hybrid version in 2010.

Right now, however, the company reports that its February sales slid by nearly 40% over sales figures from last February. Sales of the Prius were down by one-third over last year's sales tallies. The company has also cut production in both its US and UK facilities. Earlier this year, Toyota halted final construction on its new Blue Springs, MS plant. Originally, the facility was to produce Toyota trucks and SUVs, but the company announced it would re-tool the plant to produce Priuses instead. The company has not yet announced when it will activate the new plant.

The industry-wide global sales slump has not prevented Toyota from opening new markets, however. The company announced that it will begin sales of the Prius in India in 2010. Toyota is in talks with the Indian government that may lead to a local production plant. If local production isn't an option, Toyota may not be able to price the vehicle competitively enough to drive sales in that country.

Toyota will face increasingly stiff competition in the hybrid market in most major sales regions with the introduction of the Honda Insight, priced at slightly less than $20,000. In addition, several Chinese manufacturers say they will be bringing low-cost hybrid vehicles to the market within the next few years.

When gas prices topped $4 per gallon, hybrid vehicles were nowhere around, but with the sharp decline in gas prices, the number of new and used hybrid vehicles available is mushrooming. AutoNation, the country's largest used car locator, reports that it currently has more than 600,000 hybrids from all manufacturers in its inventory, and that the selling price for hybrid vehicles has dropped by nearly one-quarter.

The major factor in hybrid sales may be the cost of gasoline. In a recent survey, about 80% of respondents said they were considering a hybrid purchase to save money on gasoline. Only 20% of the respondents in that survey said they would purchase a hybrid primarily for ecological reasons.

Photo Credit: Gregory Williams

Frazer-Nash Rises From The Ashes With A Tiger

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:11:41 +0000

Frazer-Nash Rises From The Ashes With A Tiger

The joint efforts of Italdesign Giugiaro and Frazer-Nash have produced a tiger… a hybrid vehicle called the Namir. The vehicle is on display this week in Geneva and could change a few minds when it comes to hybrid styling.

The vehicle has a top speed of more than 187 mph, a fuel economy of better than 90 miles per gallon and will go from 0 to 60 in just 3.5 seconds. With a truly European flair, the vehicle features an 814 cc engine and four electric motors. The engine charges a lithium polymer cell in the vehicle and the hybrid system has a combined output of 370-hp.

The drive train was designed by Frazer-Nash, which is now a division of Kamkorp. The interior is designed with British luxury in mind. The vehicle was built in Turin at Italdesign's design and engineering center. The body is made from carbon fiber and weighs less than 250 pounds. Its design was inspired by the Frazer-Nash company's diamond-shaped logo.

Frazer-Nash hasn't built a vehicle in more than 50 years. The company spends most of its time these days designing hybrid drive trains for cars and mass transit systems. Despite the welcoming the car received in Geneva, don't expect Frazer-Nash dealerships to start popping up like McDonald's, The company has no plans to mass produce the vehicle.

Photo: Courtesy of Italdesign

CMU Says Volt Won’t Be A Consumer Hit

admin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:40:29 +0000

CMU Says Volt Won't Be A Consumer Hit

GM can't catch a break. Carnegie Mellon University's latest report, which deems the Volt "Not Cost Effective In Any Scenario" may just replace Ralph Nader's 1965 indictment of the company's Corvair (and the rest of the auto industry), "Unsafe At Any Speed." An analysis of GM's Volt says that the plug-in electric vehicle's 400-lb battery pack guarantees that the car can never be priced for consumer success.

Despite GM's protestations about the desirability of the car's 40-mile all-electric range, the cost to manufacture and replace the Li-ion battery pack will doom the car's commercial success, and relegate it to a collector curiosity. According to the report, smaller cars with smaller battery packs will provide better consumer value than the Volt will. Hybrids with an all-electric range of ten miles or less or improvements to current hybrid design will more likely provide the consumer with the right mix of fuel efficiency, acquisition and operational costs, and charging times.

Jeremy Michalek wrote a professor of engineering at CMU the study, which will be published in a future issue of Energy Policy. The research team constructed computer models of PHEVs that account for the impact of various battery sizes on fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions and charging cycles.

The study found that for moderate travel, which the group defined as those trips between 20 and 100 miles, PHEVs produced fewer greenhouse gas emissions, but fell short on cost-effectiveness. The models indicated that hybrid electric vehicles were more cost efficient with the study's controls. PHEVs became more attractive from a cost perspective only when the price of fuel was high, the price of batteries was low, the cost of electricity generation was reduced or other costs, like carbon taxes, were added to the model.

Carbon taxes are not currently applied as such, however the automakers do face fines if the combined average fuel economy of their fleet does not meet federal standards. Regulations do not govern the tailpipe emissions of any model in particular, so models with lower fuel efficiency and higher carbon emissions can be offset by sales of higher fuel economy models from the same manufacturer.

Recently, several states won the right to regulate tailpipe emissions, a reversal of a long-standing policy that preserved federal control of vehicle emissions. The change in policy means that states can enact tougher emissions standards than those imposed by the federal government. Even with increased restrictions on emissions, and changes to other study variables, the author concludes that the most effective PHEVs will be small urban vehicles whose drivers have access to regular charging facilities.

Source: Carnegie Mellon University PDF link

Photo Credit: MR38

Hybrid Demand Sags

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:11:23 +0000

Hybrid Demand Sags

It's no secret that the automobile industry is in the tank. Virtually across the board, vehicle manufacturers are reporting steep declines in demand for new vehicles in most markets around the world. Hybrid vehicles, which the manufacturers are being pushed to build, are faring even worse. Hybrid vehicle sales are falling faster than even the overall sales figures, which are off by 50% or more over this time last year.

Now Kelly Blue Book and AutoNation are both saying that demand for used hybrid vehicles is way off, too. The reason: cost. Most hybrid vehicles, even used ones, come with a premium price tag. In most cases, the vehicle manufacturers aren't willing to discount the product too much because they're already priced near their manufacturing costs.

Toyota says that the company makes about $100 per Prius sold, once all of the automakers costs are factored into the deal. The automakers' other option is to sell their hybrid vehicles at a loss, which few manufacturers are willing to do right now. With gasoline prices averaging around $2 per gallon nationally and an exceptionally weak economy, there is little incentive for consumers to spend additional money on a hybrid vehicle.

Ford is hoping that the mileage estimates for its newly introduced Fusion Hybrid will lure consumers back into its showrooms. The vehicle is scheduled to arrive at Ford dealerships beginning this month, and the four-door sedan is priced at about $28,000. At 41 mpg, which is nearly 20 mpg better than the standard Ford Fusion (MSRP $19,270), buyers wouldn't hit the break-even point for nearly eight years under the best circumstances, and assuming that the price of gasoline stayed relatively constant at $4 per gallon. At the current average per-gallon price, the break-even point is a hefty 15 years at the earliest.

Still, automakers are hoping to see an increase in demand for hybrid vehicles as the summer approaches. Gasoline prices typically climb in the summer, due mainly to fuel reformulations required by states and the Federal government once the mercury starts to rise. Toyota says it expects to see a year-over-year increase of about 15 percent in sales of its Prius hybrid. Other automakers are not as optimistic and are building hybrids only when they've been pre-sold by a dealer.

Photo Credit: Ford Motor Co.

NTEA Show Features Hybrid Work Trucks

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:02:40 +0000

NTEA Show Features Hybrid Work Trucks

You'll find some very green trucks this year at the 2009 National Truck Equipment Association Convention and Work Truck Show in Chicago. Navistar is showing off a line of DuraStar work trucks, including an International DuraStar Hybrid, which the company presented to the City of Chicago. The diesel-electric vehicle can offer a fuel savings of as much as 60 percent over a comparable conventional diesel truck.

In addition to providing fuel economy on the road, the hybrid system can also power booms, aerial buckets and tools for up to 90 minutes without needing power from the engine. The system significantly reduces carbon emissions and noise associated with the trucks. Navistar is sponsoring the City of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Kraft Foods also announced that it had taken delivery of an International DuraStar Refrigerated Hybrid delivery truck this week. The truck is the first of its kind, and Kraft will use it to deliver frozen foods to retail outlets. According to Mike Cole, Kraft's North American Director of Transportation, the truck is part of the company's efforts to reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption. The new vehicle is expected to produce a fuel savings of as much as 30 percent over a conventionally powered delivery truck.

Honda has also added a Class 8 hybrid delivery vehicle to its fleet. The truck, which is built for Honda by Peterbilt, will be used to deliver parts to dealerships in Tennessee and Georgia. The company will evaluate the truck's performance in comparison to a conventional vehicle that drives the same routes. The test period for the truck is expected to last about a year.

The truck features a parallel hybrid system developed by Eaton Corp. The hybrid system powers the truck's climate control systems and electrical accessories, and incorporates stop-start technology to provide electrical power when the vehicle is idling.

Photo Credit: Image Courtesy of Navistar

Three-Day Work Weeks, A Li-Ion Plant In Portugal, and Wow At Geneva

admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:35:56 +0000

Wow!

In an effort to stanch the bleeding, Toyota says it may cut European production in a move that will leave the automaker with a three-day workweek in most locations. Toyota says that it is forecasting a 30 percent decline in European sales in 2009 and doesn't expect to recover fully for three to four years. Another option the company is considering involves shuttering its European plants for three months, leaving workers with just five days' pay. Overall, Toyota says its goal is to preserve permanent employment at its plants and is negotiating with the autoworkers' union in Britain to achieve that goal.

Despite the glum predictions, Toyota says it still expects to sell about 67,000 hybrid vehicles, a 15 percent increase over 2008 sales figures. The company also says it believes it can meet its 2010 sales goal of 400,000 units of the new Prius in 2010. Toyota also uncovered the RX450h Lexus hybrid, which it plans to sell in Europe in 2010.

Slow sales haven't stopped the competition, however. Nissan introduced a diesel-electric concept that sports a look reminiscent of the Fisker Karma or Tesla Roadster. The Essence two-seat luxury hybrid sedan features a 434hp, 3.7L diesel engine coupled with a 158hp electric motor. The company hasn't said whether it plans to put the vehicle in production, but did announce plans to study the construction of a lithium-ion battery plant in Portugal, leaving many to speculate that a production version of the Essence will see the light of day.

Last year, the national government in Portugal announced plans to build a nationwide charging network for plug-in electric vehicle as part of its plans to reduce CO2 emissions. Renault-Nissan will begin selling electric vehicles in Portugal in 2011, and also has zero-emission plans in Denmark, Monaco, Yokahama, Japan, Tennessee, Oregon and California.

PSA Peugeot Citroën Will Make Mini Cars

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:03:49 +0000

PSA Peugeot Citroën Will Make Mini Cars

Peugeot Citroën has entered into a deal with Mitsubishi to make compact electric cars for the European market. The product is scheduled to hit the streets in 2010. The vehicle will be based on Mitsubishi's i-MiEV, a tiny vehicle with an electric range of 100 miles. The i-MiEV is scheduled to hit the streets in Japan later this year. The vehicle will have a small gasoline engine that powers a generator for the vehicle. Peugeot Citroën says it also has a plug-in hybrid EV under development.

Daimler plans to produce an all-electric version of the SmartForTwo and Volkswagen will produce the Audi Up!, an all-electric mini car with a top speed of about 80 miles per hour and a range of about 60 miles. Renault has a small electric vehicle in development for sale in 2011. Toyota has also announced the development of a short-range all-electric vehicle for the 2012 model year.

The development of small electric vehicles is in response to both perceived consumer demand and the technological realities of current battery capabilities. EV batteries perform better in smaller vehicles. It's not surprising that most of the smaller EVs are initially destined for the European market, where consumers are more likely to make short trips and less likely to want larger vehicles. The companies have not yet indicated whether any of these vehicles will be available for sale to the North American market.

Small EVs or city cars may have a passenger capacity of only two or three adults, but are likely to be less expensive than gas-electric or diesel-electric hybrids. Whether electric cars will be cleaner than hybrids remains to be seen, since power-plant emissions must be taken into consideration when determining the carbon footprint of a PHEV. However, all-electric vehicles that have a gasoline generator on board used only for battery recharging will produce lower carbon emissions than gas-electric hybrids.

Photo Credit: Mitsubishi Motor Sales Of America

New Hybrid Technology Halves Fuel Consumption

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:00:00 +0000

New Hybrid Technology May Cut Fuel Consumption In Half

Researchers at Artemis Intelligent Power, a Scotland-based engineering firm, say that they have perfected hybrid technology that can cut fuel consumption by 50 percent or more. The system uses a hydraulic drive system to capture energy that would otherwise be lost when the car brakes. The recaptured energy is stored as compressed gas, which is then returned to the vehicle's wheels, reducing the load on the engine.

Artemis Intelligent Power has converted a BMW 530 sedan to demonstrate the system. The computer-controlled hydraulic transmission system outperforms other hydraulic hybrid designs. Under test conditions in Europe, the modified BMW 530 used 52.7 percent less fuel than a regular gasoline-powered BMW530i. The system was also tested in the US under more aggressive test circumstances. In addition to a significant reduction in gasoline consumption, the modified prototype reduces carbon emissions by 30 percent.

In the US, the system achieved a reduction in fuel consumption of one-third, which compares favorably to the Toyota Prius and other highly fuel-efficent hybrids. The engineers at Artemis Intelligent Power are confident that the technology will be widely adopted in the next decade because it is cheaper to produce than current hybrid electric drive trains, and could eliminate the "hybrid premium" that currently prevents more drivers from adopting the technology. The company has already licensed the technology to commercial partners, including Bosch-Rexroth.

Photo Credit: Artemis Intelligent Power

Kia Will Introduce Hybrids, Stop-Start in Geneva

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:31:23 +0000

Kia Will Introduce Hybrids, Stop-Start in Geneva

Kia Motors has announced that it will bring several new models, including those outfitted with stop-start technology and hybrid drive trains to the 79th Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva next week. The Kia ISG and Kia Hybrid will make their debuts in the European market.

The ISG (Idle Stop&Go) automatically switches the vehicle's gasoline-engine off when the vehicle is idling. The ISG will offer a choice of a 1.4L or 1.6L engine, in three different body styles, including a hatchback, a sport wagon and a three-door sedan. Billed as a family vehicle, the emphasis of the ISG will be on passenger comfort and fuel economy. According to the company, the stop-start technology will improve fuel economy by 15% over similar vehicles without the same technology.

Kia will also display its prototype hybrid fleet. The vehicles will be produced for testing in the European market. The basic hybrid powertrain includes a 1.6L gasoline engine combined with a 15kW electric motor, a continuously variable transmission and Kia's ISG system. According to the company, the hybrid prototypes can go from 0-60 in a stately 11.8 seconds and achieves nearly 50 mpg. In addition, the CO2 emissions for the prototypes are measured at 109g/km, a reduction of 25% from the company's conventional 1.6L gasoline engine.

Photo Credit: Kia Motors

Yellow: It’s The New Green

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:47:31 +0000

Yellow: It's The New Green

Quick: what's eco-friendly, takes 36 cars off the road two times each day,and saves billions of gallons of gasoline each year? Need a hint? It's yellow.

According to John McKinney, president of IC Bus, the lowly yellow school bus can be a super-hero in the fight against everything from gridlock to greenhouse gas emissions. Especially if the bus happens to be IC Bus' hybrid school bus. The company is planning to give away one of these lovelies in May to one lucky school. The company is holding an essay contest for school children in grades K-12. Children who can describe their school's eco-friendly practices in 500 words or less may score one of company's hybrid buses.

McKinney says that IC Bus is the only company that makes hybrid buses, and says that the company's product reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent compared to a standard diesel model while improving fuel economy at the same time. The company makes two different parallel hybrid versions - one for school use and one for commercial/limousine transportation - that incorporate regenerative braking. The buses don't employ stop-start technology, a standard component of many hybrid vehicle designs, and also don't offer an all-electric drive. One hybrid model is powered by a lead-acid battery pack. The other uses Li-ion cells with a special cooling system to ensure vehicle safety. According to the company, operators can expect to see fuel economy improvements of between 20% and 70%, depending upon the hybrid model they choose, the route and the size of the engine installed in the vehicle.

The contest is open until April 30. After that, McKinney and author Terra Wellington will sift through the entries looking for that one essay that says it all. Entries can be posted at AmericasGreenestSchool.com. While they're there, students can also read about ways to conserve energy and inspire a more sustainable school environment. The author of the winning essay may not get to take the bus for a spin, but will receive a $5,000 scholarship and the company will throw in an extra $3,000 for educational materials for the winning school.

Photo Credit: Sam LeVan