Automakers Moving To All-Hybrid Vehicle Lines

Both Toyota and Chrysler have indicated that they plan to elevate the status of hybrid vehicles in their product development cycles. Last May, Toyota announced its plans to redesign all of its product lines to incorporate hybrid technologies. Following suit, Chrysler president Jim Press announced last week that the company would use hybrid technology in every model in the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep lines.

The timetable for this kind of changeover isn't entirely clear, but Toyota plans to wait until the 2020's, when battery technology catches up to the power demands placed on contemporary vehicles. Likewise, Chrysler has not announced a timetable for its phase-out of gasoline-only engines.

At last week's 2008 Geneva Motor Show, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said that the company's goal is to develop technologies that limit their impact on the environment and specified that the company's plans included the development of hybrid gasoline engines only.

At the North American International Auto Show, the company announced that it would offer a diesel engine in the 2010 Tundra and Sequoia models, raising hopes that its Hybrid Synergy Drive system would be modified to work with a diesel engine. According to Watanabe, diesel-electric hybrids don't provide a large enough increase in efficiency to justify joining the two premium technologies.

European manufacturers have introduced several diesel-electric concept cars at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. Volkswagen created significant buzz with its 71-mph diesel-electric Golf, and also introduced a natural-gas powered Passat Variant alternative fuel vehicle.

Despite the competitive pressure, manufacturers believe they can achieve better fuel economy and carbon emissions using gasoline-hybrid engines. Currently, no production gas-electric hybrid can achieve mileage comparable to the Golf, but manufacturers are working hard to expand the mpg of their production vehicles, in the face of looming regulations on mileage and emissions. Last year, New York City became the first metropolitan area to apply minimum mileage and maximum carbon emission standards for the city's taxicab fleet, effectively requiring cab companies to use hybrid vehicle technology.