NTEA Show Features Hybrid Work Trucks

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

FEV Opens Hybrid, EV Development Center

The HEVDC will facilitate the development of hybrid power trains and related technologies by providing accurate testing facilities. The facility will initially test hybrid power trains and transmissions, electric motors, and charging stations for EVs and PHEVs. The HEVDC's charging station is the first in Michigan and will also be used for testing and validation purposes.

The HEVDC features multiple battery emulation systems and a chassis dynamometer to facilitate testing while minimizing downtime. The setup also permits full testing of all hybrid system components at once. The HEVDC can test powertrains of any size and the battery emulators can provide as much as 900V on demand, about three times that required of today's HEVs.

The testing center will help automotive manufacturers test hybrid powertrain designs, as well as integration of those designs into pre-production and production vehicles.

FEV says that it expects to add personnel to meet the demand for the testing center. FEV provides gasoline, diesel and electric powertrain engineering, design and testing services for a variety of commercial automotive applications.

Photo Credit: FEV

Yellow: It's The New Green

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

Aptera Close To Starting Production On EV

The Aptera 2e is a three-wheeled creature that seats just two passengers, and according to the company, will get more than 100 mpg and the company says the hybrid version, the Aptera 2h - available sometime in 2010 - will average more than 300 mpg. The company, whose assembly plant is in Vista, CA, will start cranking out vehicles with a very distinct profile in the fourth quarter of 2009. The vehicles will range in price from $25,000 to $40,000.

The company says that it has taken reservations for more than 4,000 vehicles to date and expects the Aptera to appeal mostly to tech-savvy men who are looking for a second or third vehicle. Initially, the company expects to produce about 10,000 vehicles per year and has plans to step up production to 100,000 units in the next two years.

Aptera is being fronted by Idealab, Esenjay Petroleum and Google.org, but its three-wheel design excludes it from eligibility for interest loans from the federal government for fuel-efficient cars. No matter, the company says; it has plenty of cash to fulfill its Q4 production. Aptera is still taking reservations for vehicles. To reserve an Aptera, visit the company Web site. You'll need to put down a $500 refundable deposit and be prepared to wait.

Now for the bad news: you can't buy an Aptera 2e unless you live in California. The company is working to get sales restrictions in other states lifted but has no timetable for expanded sales.

Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy of Aptera

According to the survey, more consumers are now considering the purchase of a hybrid vehicle. Thirty-three percent of potential buyers would "definitely consider" a hybrid vehicle, an eight percent jump from 2005 survey results. Men are slightly less willing to consider a hybrid vehicle, but Multi Reso noted that differences between genders, age groups and educational levels of survey respondents have decreased, but says that household income and concern for the environment are still the two most likely predictors for hybrid purchases among Canadian consumers.

Among respondents who are "definitely thinking about" buying a hybrid car, Toyota ranked as being the highest quality option for 40% of respondents. Among respondents who already owned a hybrid, Toyota's quality rating rose to 41% and among those who plan to purchase or lease a new vehicle in the next 12 months, Toyota captured the number one spot 42% of the time. Overall, male respondents ranked Toyota hybrids number one in quality as much as 50% of the time, depending upon their demographic classification.

Late last year, RL Polk and Co., predicted that hybrid sales would account for one in 20 new vehicle purchases by 2012, and that the current economy would not impact the growth of hybrid sales in North America. Unfortunately, auto sales figures for the months of December 2008 and January 2009 begged to differ, with hybrid sales sliding well below overall sales rates in both months. Interest in hybrids may be perked up, if not by rising gasoline costs, by tax incentives that have been worked into the stimulus plan set to make a visit to the White House later this month.

Photo Credit: Steve Woods

Big-Box Retailer Elektra Figures Into Chinese Auto Sales Plan

The issue of the dealer network is key, as Tesla and Fisker are finding out. Both of these companies are attempting to build their dealer network right now. Tesla has a few California sales spots, but consumers want to see the cars before they plunk down $100,000 (give or take ten grand) to get them into their driveways.

It takes someone very special to sell a car to a car dealer, especially in today's economy. Right now, dealers are up to their eyeballs in cars that consumers are afraid to buy. So the answer for the Fiskers and the Teslas and the BYDs of the world is critical. No dealers means no sales.

Or does it?

GS Motors CEO Kathleen Ligocki says that she expects her company to be at the forefront of the Chinese invasion. GS Motors will begin producing Chinese vehicles from the First Auto Works at GS Motors' factory in Michoacan, Mexico in 2010. According to Ligocki, the factory has an annual production capacity of 100,000 units.

But what about the dealers? To borrow a phrase from Tony Soprano: fuggetaboudit. In an interview with Automotive News, Ligocki says that she expects the Chinese to transplant their Mexican sales model to the US.

And exactly what is that?

The company uses both independent agencies like traditional car dealerships, and "mini-agencies" located inside Elektra stores, a Mexican retail chain. Big-box retailers, you know…like Wal-Mart or Costco. Right inside the store…

To date, the FAW has sold about 4,000 imported vehicles in Mexico using this distribution model and Ligocki is confident the model will transfer to the US market. So what secret weapon will the Chinese be using in their bid for automotive domination?

Women.

Men like going to the independent agencies to buy their vehicles. Women, on the other hand, like purchasing cars in the retail environment they're familiar with. Women directly purchase nearly half of all vehicles sold in the US and influence the purchase of a whopping 80 percent of every vehicle that leaves the factory.

Ligocki also says that the first GS Motors vehicles will retail for between USD $5,500 and USD $9,000, and will travel north of the border in five years or less.

Source: Automotive News
Photo Credit: Ryan Jesena

Texas May Give $5,000 PHEV Tax Credit

The announcement was part of the governor's State-of-the-State address and would apply to residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and El Paso areas. The move is an effort to stem criticism of the state's air quality measures by the EPA and to head off further federal government regulation in Texas' "non-attainment" zones - those areas of the state that do not meet the EPA's Clean Air standards.

The $5,000 credit would put Texas on the front end of states offering PHEV credits, but more than 40 states now offer some type of tax incentive for purchasers of hybrid-electric vehicles. The governor also proposes using PHEV batteries to store wind energy produced in Texas. Texas generates more wind energy than any other state in the union but lacks storage and transmission infrastructure needed to make it a highly viable energy source.

The federal government is offering tax credits to purchasers of certain hybrid vehicles, depending upon the maker's hybrid vehicle sales to date. Congress passed legislation to authorize the so-called "Volt" tax break - a minimum $7,500 tax incentive for purchasers of hybrid electric vehicles. The size of the tax credit depends upon the power output of the vehicle's battery pack. Currently, the break is available only to purchasers of the first 250,000 PHEVs sold, but that cap may change under the new administration's stimulus package. Likewise, breaks may be extended to purchasers of all-electric vehicles.

Right now, PHEVs are not in mass production, meaning that few people would actually be able to take advantage of the credit, but within the next two model years, several PHEVs will be offered by major car manufacturers including Toyota, GM and newcomer BYD.

The Texas credit isn't a given. The state's part-time legislature must still take up the issue before its current session ends in late May.