Sanyo and Volkswagen announced an agreement on Wednesday to make lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, turning up the competition in the field for energy-efficient cars.
Sanyo intends to open a factory to make the batteries in 2010 and Volkswagen plans to introduce a car with them the same year, according to a Bloomberg report. The first car to get the batteries will be an Audi AG, Reuters reported.
The pact also calls for the two companies to make software to electronically control the batteries.
Sanyo already provides nickel metal hydride batteries for Ford and Honda.
Lithium-ion batteries are growing in favor with carmakers. The Tesla Roadster uses lithium-ion batteries, as will the Chevy Volt when it is released in two years.
The Sanyo factory will have the capacity to supply batteries to power between 1.7 million and 1.8 million hybrid vehicles a year, the company told Bloomberg.
A hybrid electric vehicle runs on a battery and a conventional gasoline engine. The batteries are charged by the engine and regenerated power from braking.
(Credit:
General Motors)
While it still won't get you the 45 mpg of a Toyota Prius, the new version of the Chevrolet Silverado hybrid may make you feel less guilty about driving a large pickup.
General Motors unveiled the 2009 Chevy Silverado hybrid at the 2007 LA Auto Show on Wednesday.
The full-size pickup looks identical to the regular Silverado, but features guts that lessen its carbon footprint.
The 2007 Silverado hybrid, according to the EPA's fuel economy Web site, got about 15 mpg in the city and 19 mph on the highway. That's not much of an improvement over the efficiency of the regular Silverado pickup: depending on which engine you choose, that truck gets at the very worst 13 mpg driving in the city and at most 20 mpg on the highway, according to GM's own specs.
The 2009 Silverado two-mode hybrid will be about 25 percent more fuel efficient overall than its regular counterpart, according to GM. No official figures have been given out, but it's possible that this pickup could get about 21 mpg on the highway.
"We get asked often about why we're making hybrid versions of big trucks and SUVs. There are two answers, and they're both simple: because Americans still need, buy, and love trucks; and because we want to do what we can to lessen the environmental impact when we drive them," Ed Peper, general manager of Chevrolet, said on the company blog.
Peper also gloated about GM's Chevy Tahoe hybrid being a finalist for the LA Auto Show 2008 Green Car of the Year Award.
(Credit:
General Motors)
Honda is upping its production of gas-electric hybrid cars, but has no immediate plans to develop the kind of hybrid that would recharge from an electrical outlet, the company announced Tuesday.
Honda CEO Takeo Fukui also publicly criticized General Motors for its pursuit of the Chevy Volt at a press conference on Tuesday in Japan.
If that kind of high-performance battery power is possible then carmakers would be better served making a completely electric vehicle from an environmental standpoint, said Fukui, according to the The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Honda is scheduled to release several environmentally friendly vehicles at the 2007 Tokyo auto show this week. Among them may be a hybrid sports car and a diesel-engine car that gets 60 mpg.
GM has been touring its Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric car that it plans to make available to consumers by 2010, across the U.S. since its debut at the Detroit auto show. The Volt could possibly run off lithium-ion battery power alone for about 40 miles, according to GM.
Many critics have raised questions as to whether that battery type, more commonly used in laptops, could be cost effective and energy efficient for car use. GM has said it's developing the necessary technology to make a lithium-ion battery hybrid successful and plans to test out the Volt as soon as spring 2008.
The news follows statements made Monday by Toyota that it's taking its time to develop a plug-in hybrid to address questions of cost, efficiency and consumer interest.
FedEx's diesel-electric hybrid van.
(Credit: FedEx)FedEx Europe subsidiary FedEx Express plans to add 10 diesel-electric hybrid vans to its fleet, the company announced Monday.
The vehicles, made by Fiat Group company Iveco, will be used in routes around Turin, Italy, where the company has a manufacturing plant.
"FedEx is making smart strategic investments in projects that will help drive the commercial development of new technologies for industry. We expect these hybrid-electric vehicles to perform with increased fuel efficiency and decreased emissions, making them ideal for city and urban environments," Robert W. Elliott, president of FedEx Express, said in a statement.
A sample van and the hardware used to make the diesel-electric hybrid possible will be on display at the European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam October 25 through November 3.
FedEx already has 95 hybrid-electric vehicles worldwide that have traveled more than 1 million miles, according to a company statement. The vehicles are operated in the United States, Canada and Japan. Italy's addition brings the hybrid fleet to more than 100.
Attempts to power hybrid cars with solar panels have been around for a few years. But now a company called Solar Electrical Vehicles is producing commercially available after-market panels for hybrids, starting with the Toyota Prius.
Get the sun to juice your hybrid car.
(Credit: Solar Electrical Systems)The fiberglass, molded panels fit on top of 2004-2007 Prius models. They are attached using an epoxy glue. Unlike previous attempts, these panels fit the curve of the roof.
To maximize your sun power and driving range, you need a larger battery installed than what comes standard with the Prius, according to company founder Greg Johanson, who says that battery storage is the most challenging aspect for solar-powered cars.
In terms of distance, the panels will get you up to 20 miles a day, depending on the size of the battery. They can improve fuel efficiency by up to 29 percent. The standard-equipped Prius battery, recharged by the sun, will take you about two miles at under 35 miles per hour.
Johansen said that because of tax credits, getting a 1 kilowatt solar electrical system on your home to charge your car can make better financial sense than getting a solar roof on your car. But that doesn't taking into account the cool factor.
"It is way cooler driving down the freeway and have people pulling up alongside and giving you a big thumbs up. It's hope for the future," he says.
Next up on their production plans is the hybrid Toyota Highlander and other SUVs.
Toyota's FT-HS hybrid concept
(Credit: CNET Networks)Few people can deny that Toyota's early adoption of hybrid technology has been a stroke of PR genius, giving the world's largest car maker and the producer of such Leviathans as the Sequoia and the Tundra plenty of positive press as well as a green image wherever it goes. (Last year, I even heard Bob Lutz, GM's chairman and product development guru, pay grudging homage to the strategy.)
But here is a headline that deserves its column-inches. According to Motor Authority, Toyota's VP of powertrain development Masatami Takimoto has said that by 2020 hybrids would become the company's standard drivetrain, and that hybrids would account for "100 percent" of the automaker's new cars. Takimoto also said that Toyota expected to improve the profitability of hybrids to bring their price margins up to the same level as gasoline-only cars by 2010. Due to expensive components such as batteries and electric motors, hybrids are currently more expensive to produce and less profitable than regular gasoline-engine cars.
While an all-hybrid fleet by 2020 sounds like an ambitious target, it's not beyond the realms of possibility: After all, Chrysler recently announced that its Hemi V-8 engine is getting a hybrid makeover for 2008. Looks like the green revolution is at the gates.
Via Motor Authority
Toyota FT-HS
(Credit: Toyota)Old Toyota: reliable and practical cars with decent gas mileage for the commuting set.
New Toyota: the Prius, the FJ Cruiser, hybrid Camry, hybrid Highlander and soon...a hybrid sports car.
(Credit:
Toyota)
The FT-HS concept car is meant to be a sample of mid-priced hybrid sports car with ultra-low emissions and fuel efficiency, according to Toyota.
The front-engine rear-drive car would have a V6 3.5-liter engine, putting out approximately 400 horsepower when coupled with the hybrid system, and be able to do zero-to-sixty in four seconds.
Not sure of the look? Well those "aero-corners" on the body that you may be skeptical of are intended to "promote smooth airflow and reduce turbulence," according to Toyota's statement about the car. The roof is retractable, as is the rear spoiler. The headlamps are also clusters of LEDs.
Toyota FT-HS rear
(Credit: Toyota)The Toyota FT-HS hybrid sports car will debut at the 2007 North American International Auto Show (click here to check out a few other concepts that will be shown in Detroit).
Another question remains. Now that Toyota has a stake in Isuzu, known for its diesel expertise, when will we see a diesel hybrid?
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