GM to Launch a Plug-in Hybrid?
Ladies and gentlemen, the rumor-mongering has commenced. Several sources have reported that GM is planning to unveil a new plug-in hybrid at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January. From a Reuters piece last week on the subject:
The advanced technology vehicle would have an extended driving range on battery power and would also have a diesel or gasoline engine that could power the car when the battery was low, the Detroit News said, citing unnamed GM officials.
Were we to make a Broadway musical about this development, there would be a long and elaborate number wherein a plug-in hybrid would rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes of the ill-fated EV1 electric car. A tenor would wonder, mellifluously, “Could GM be the prodigal son of the sustainable auto industry?/We won’t know…until January."
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Comments
This is very encouraging but all the reports say they'll unveil a prototype, with the possibility of production years away if ever.
Felix Kramer, founder, The California Cars Initiative
Posted by:Felix Kramer |November 15, 2006 11:59 AM
Let's get our vague rumors straight, please. GM's Bob Lutz, No 2, has stated that their fuel cell project has evolved into an electric car project, which is misleading, since a fuel cell vehicle is ALWAYS an electric vehicle, seeing as how the only thing a fuel cell produces is electricity. They are dumping the fuel cell/hydrogen tank and replacing them with either batteries and generator engine to produce a series hybrid that will enable plug-in capability, or batteries alone to produce an all electric car. It's conceivable they could make the power method optional. The architecture is modular and VERY flexible and
very simple, unlike most hybrids out there today. If Altair or Altair-like batteries are economically feasible thru mortgage-like
financing of the batteries (this is where the Feds could make a big difference with no-cost loans), we would need NO crude for transportation, at least not for personal vehicles.
Posted by:kent beuchert |November 15, 2006 12:06 PM
"This is very encouraging but all the reports say they'll unveil a prototype, with the possibility of production years away if ever."
This is very misleading. The vehicle currently is going thru real world tests in Northern Virginia and elsewhere powered by a fuel cell. Rememember - this is a modular design. Virtually everything from the business end of the power cord has already been developed and known about for more than
4 years. The only issue is the producer of the electrical juice - small gas or diesel generator or battery pack.
We're talking about a few months, at most, of development for this well understood and extremely simple part of the vehicle.
Just look at the descriptions of the GM fuel cell "sled chassis" and you're looking at their series hybrid/all- electric. They learned from the EV1 that the public isn't going to buy a piece of exorbitantly expensive crap like that car was. Its batteries alone cost over $4500 per year and the car over $45,000. And you couldn't count on getting to any destination over 40 miles away and still get home. And take 8 hours to recharge the most inconvenient and impotent vehicle ever produced.
Posted by:kent beuchert |November 15, 2006 12:16 PM
At least they are even considering it.
Posted by:Mark Bradford |November 18, 2006 10:02 AM