News

Expanding HEV Universe

A capsule of trends and developments that point to the future of hybrid and electric propulsion.

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August 2008

Volt/PHEV Development to get Tech Boost at GM

General Motors Corp. has opened its new $463 million powertrain development center in Pontiac, Michigan. The automaker said its global Powertrain Engineering Development Center will do much of the work that formerly required road testing and will bring advanced, fuel-saving powertrains to market faster and at less cost. A key project already underway at the lab is the power system for the plug-in Chevrolet Volt, set to hit showrooms in late 2010. The center has announced the intention to apply advanced math and computer modeling to chop 40% off the development time for its vehicle power systems.

PSA Peugeot Citroen and Mitsubishi in New EV Powertrain Partnership

As a component of its 2010-2015 Strategy and Ambition Plan for environmentally friendly cars, PSA Peugeot Citroen has entered into an exploratory agreement with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to collaborate in development of electric powertrains for future advanced technology urban vehicles. The two companies are already jointly constructing a vehicle production facility in Kaluga, Russia. For its own part, Mitsubishi reiterated its plan to introduce a new-generation electric drive mini-car into the Japanese market in 2009, with possible later extension to Europe and the U.S.

Houston, Texas Maintains USA Leadership in Hybrid Municipal Fleets

The city of Houston has welcomed its 500th hybrid vehicle and more are on the way as the city hopes to expand its fleet of hybrid vehicles to 1,500 by 2010. Houston's fleet includes 334 Toyota Prius models, 164 Ford Escapes and two Honda Insights. "Hybrid vehicles are economically and environmentally beneficial," Mayor Bill White said. "Houston is setting an example by improving air quality and making great savings on fuel costs." Officials estimate that the 500 hybrids will save 226,000 gallons of gasoline.

Toyota to Produce Hybrids in Thailand and Australia

Toyota Motor Corporation continues to expand the international manufacturing base for its popular HEV models. Two corporate announcements, one from Toyota Motors Thailand and the other from Toyota corporate headquarters, have described plans to begin production of the Camry Hybrid at Toyota's Thailand manufacturing facility as well as its Australian plant in Altona, Victoria. Production start time and annual projected output at the latter facility were announced, respectively, as early in 2010 and 10,000 vehicles.

July 2008

Toyota promises plug-in hybrid vehicle by 2010

Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe by 2010, under a recently-announced corporate energy strategy. The ecological gas-electric vehicles, which can be recharged from a home electrical outlet, will target leasing customers, Toyota Motor Corp. said. The joint venture that Toyota set up with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic products, will begin producing lithium-ion batteries in 2009 and move into full-scale production in 2010, Toyota said. "Without focusing on measures to address global warming and energy issues, there can be no future for our auto business," Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters. The company announced it will start making the Camry hybrid in Australia and Thailand (in addition to its Kentucky USA plant) as part of its efforts to step up production of "green" cars around the world employing more environment-friendly manufacturing technologies.

Ford Delivers FlexFuel PHEV to DOE

Ford Motor Company delivered its first flexible-fuel capable plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV to the US Department of Energy (DOE). Like the other prototype Escape PHEVs, this vehicle is equipped with a 10 kWh lithium-ion battery supplied by Johnson Controls-Saft that stores enough electric energy to drive up to 30 miles at speeds of up to 40 mph. The Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid, which runs on gasoline or E85, is part of a demonstration fleet that Ford is developing in a partnership with Southern California Edison and the Electric Power Research Institute. The DOE will include the Escape Flexible Fuel Plug-in Hybrid in its fleet to obtain real world experience with the vehicle as it continues its support of advanced fuel technologies. When fueled by E85 ethanol, which has a lower energy content than gasoline, fuel economy can reach up to 88 mpg in urban driving and up to 50 mpg on the highway, according to Ford. Based on current estimates, the vehicle would emit 60% less CO2 than a conventional gasoline powered vehicle. The vehicle leased to the DOE also is equipped with an interactive vehicle display which shows the driver how efficiently the vehicle is operating and calculates the fuel savings for each trip.

DOE Awards $30 Million for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research

Under its PHEV Technology Acceleration and Deployment Activity plan, the US Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $30 million to fund three separate Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) research projects. Ford, General Motors, and General Electric will share the funds to develop and demonstrate PHEV technology over the next three years. The DOE says the projects will hasten the development of vehicles capable of traveling up to 40 miles without recharging, which includes most daily roundtrip commutes and satisfies 70% of the average daily travel in the U.S. The DOE has adopted a goal of making such cars cost-competitive by 2014 and ready for commercialization by 2016.

FedEx to Expand its Hybrid Truck Fleet

FedEx will add 75 more hybrid-electric (HEV) trucks in California, New York City, and Europe to its current worldwide fleet of 95. Trucks currently in FedEx's HEV fleet have travelled over 2 million miles (3.2 million km) and saved 83,000 gallons of fuel, by company estimates, improving fuel economy by 42% (i.e, consuming 70.42% of the fuel that conventional models would have used).

June 2008

Natural Gas Hybrid Bus for San Diego

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) had placed a 40-foot standard transit bus with a compressed natural gas (CNG) hybrid-electric drive system developed by ISE Corporation into service. The $1-million CNG hybrid prototype bus will further cut emissions and fuel consumption of the CNG buses already in the MTS fleet, but with more power and a quieter ride. The CNG hybrid system features a Cummins ISB Gas Plus engine, a Siemens 165 kW electrical generator, two Siemens duo inverters, two Siemens 85 kW drive motors, and Cobasys-developed NiMH batteries. The addition of the new CNG hybrid bus to the MTS fleet comes in conjunction with the recently authorized MTS purchase of up to twenty 35-foot gasoline hybrid buses for delivery this fall.

Hybrids Integral to Big Brown Going Green

United Parcel Service (UPS), North America's most prominent private package and parcel delivery service, has expanded its commitment to cleaner propulsion technologies for its units in service by growing its original fleet of 50 hybrid electric trucks to 250 (200 trucks being the largest commercial order of these trucks by any company). The hybrids join the almost one thousand CNG-powered trucks in UPS service, and thus constitute a growing proportion of the company's Green Fleet.

Nissan CEO, Once a Skeptic, Says Company Now Will Go Electric

Nissan Motor Company plans to sell an electric car in the United States and Japan by 2010, and may base the design on the vehicle involved in the joint venture with Israel (see Horizons news stories for 2007). The commitment would be the first by a major automaker to bring a zero-emission vehicle to the American market since California's Zero-Emission Vehicle programme was essentially discontinued several years ago. Nissan also expects to sell a lineup of electric vehicles globally by 2012. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, once an EV skeptic, said Nissan has decided to accelerate development of battery-powered vehicles because of high gasoline prices and environmental concerns, not just because of the need to meet stricter fuel-economy standards. Nissan envisions a broad range of electric vehicles, starting with small cars but later complementing them with small commercial vehicles and possibly a crossover.

It's Official: Prius Sales Top One Million Globally

Toyota has underlined its dominance of the hybrid vehicle market by announcing that Prius has passed the one million sales mark worldwide. The company said that, as of the end of April 2008, it had sold approximately 1,028,000 units globally since the car was first launched in Japan in 1997. According to Toyota, these vehicles have contributed to a reduction in carbon emissions of approximately 4.5m short tons when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class. In recognition of this market success, the company is planning to address increasing demand with three new hybrid battery factories, including one dedicated for next-generation lithium ion packs. It is reported that the company is likely to spend around $673.1 million on the planned plants to facilitate an annual battery output of one million units by 2011. A new nickel-metal hydride plant is scheduled to start production in 2011 with an estimated output of around 300,000 batteries a year, while the lithium ion plant is likely to start production in 2010.

May 2008

Tesla Roadster Hits the Market

First orders have been taken and deliveries made for the all-electric roadster from Tesla Motors, which boasts highway-quality performance (0 to 100 km in 3.9 seconds, redline 13,000 rpm) and an impressive 220 miles (355 km) full-charge operating range. The roadster's base price of US $109,000 has apparently not dissuaded enthusiasts and other interested parties, who have bought out the entire 2008 model year production and created a reservation/orders backlog of 900 units.

GM Seeks to Accelerate Volt Introduction

General Motors has announced its intention to place the pHEV Volt on the market before the end of 2010. Round-the-clock testing is apparently accelerating the pace of systems development that strives for a goal after vehicle startup of 40 miles (64 km) of 100 percent electric operation with 10-year battery pack durability and a 400-mile (640-km) operating range between (gasoline) fill-ups. Design modifications continue to lower the Volt's coefficient of drag (now 30 percent better than the original concept) in a redesigned four-passenger body.

China Company Announces Marketing Plan for Long–range EV, pHEV

BYD Auto of Shenzhen, China has targeted the year 2010 for mass marketing (in China) of a 4- to 5-passenger EV capable of a 300-km (185-mi) range that will be priced at the approximate equivalent of US $28,500 and aimed (initially) at the taxi fleet. Subsequent offering to the U.S. market is possible. BYD has already slated 2008 introduction for a pHEV powered by patented lithium-ion battery technology that employs an iron phosphate electrode. This F6DM ("dual-mode") hybrid can be plugged into a home outlet for recharging and should achieve 100 km (60 mi.) in all-electric mode. It was unveiled at this year's Detroit Auto Show and will sell for the Yuan equivalent of about US $21,460 in China.

Capstone will Produce Micro-turbines for Italian and North Carolina-manufactured HEV Buses

Capstone Turbine Corp. has announced receipt of purchase orders for 15 of its micro turbines, to be deployed in 12 eight-meter hybrid-electric buses in the Abruzzi region of Italy and in three buses for the Italian Ministry of the Protection of the Environment, as well as for 150 C30 micro turbines for installation in EcoSaver IV hybrid electric buses to be built at the new North Carolina manufacturing facility of DesignLine International.

Quebec City Research Consortium and Duke Energy Join the Drive to pHEVs

Two new players in the rapidly-developing world of pHEVs are a (1) Quebec City, PQ (Canada)-based consortium (Université Laval, Desjardins Group, EnerSys—a supplier of Li-ion batteries that use Redundant Cell Array Technology--and the Quebec City government) that will conduct a major field study of pHEVs in use in the city (up to 50 may be deployed); and (2) Duke Energy Corp. of North Carolina which, with its partner GridPoint Inc. has conducted the first successful commercial test of utility-controlled "smart charging" for pHEVs. In "smart charging," recharging of a plugged-in vehicle commences only after peak transmission hours, about 10 p.m., in order to gain maximum benefit of cheaper base load supply.

Volvo's Hybrid Wheel Loader Prototype

Volvo Corp. Construction Equipment Division of Asheville, NC has rolled out the prototype of its parallel hybrid wheel loader (the L220F): off-road equipment featuring an Integrated Starter Generator module placed between the engine and transmission to provide instant spin-up power (up to 50 kW of instant mechanical energy) if the diesel engine has been turned off to limit idling. Deliveries are expected to begin late next year.

Sales of Toyota's High-MPG Hybrids Remain Strong despite Overall Cooling of Market

USA sales of HEVs rebounded to 38,214 units in March, up 19% over March 2007, whilst the combined total sales of Toyota Division cars and light trucks declined slightly relative to values of one year before. These sales are second only to May 2007 sales of 45,892 units. Toyota Prius accounted for 54% of the March sales (20,635), and Camry hybrid recorded the highest ever monthly sales of 6,930 and is the fastest to cross the 100,000 total sales mark (within 24 months). Total 2008 sales of Toyota hybrids through March were 50,204.

April 2008

Hybrid Sales Slowing May be Related to Economic Downturn

February and March 2008 sales of HEVs in the U.S. trailed those of their 2007 counterpart months, leading to speculation that the car market overall is cooling off along with the American economy. Despite the continued and in most cases still-climbing high prices of gasoline, only about 11 percent of prospective U.S. car buyers in a J.D. Power & Associates survey expressed a preference for hybrid versus traditional power in a new car purchase. Many of those interviewed pointed to comparable fuel economy gains achievable by purchase of a new-generation light-duty diesel vehicle (although diesel fuel prices at the pump can be up to 20 cents per gallon higher than gasoline's).

GM Making More News in Both Light and Heavy HEV Applications

General Motors Vice Chairman Robert Lutz has indicated that doing the math tells him that 80 percent of vehicles sold in the United States by the year 2020 must be hybrids in order for his company to meet the 35 mpg (6.72 l/100 km) average fuel economy standard of the recently-adopted federal fuel economy rule. However, Lutz included only the hybrid technologies currently employed by GM in his calculation, not those such as plug-in hybrids that may be at or near maturity by 2020. Meanwhile, transit agencies in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis/St. Paul have placed orders for over 1,700 of GM-Allison's full-size series hybrid buses, with the largest single order (952) coming from the Washington Metro Area Transit Agency.

New EVs Coming to Market, but Supply may not meet California ZEV Requirements

As Subaru went forward with plans to roll out its all-electric R1e with fast-charge Li-ion battery technology and 50-mi (81-km) range (top speed 65 mph—105 km/h) at the New York International Auto Show, the State of California through its Air Resources Board was announcing that it was cutting required sales of zero-emission automobiles--ZEVs (generally conceded to be EVs as the only capable technology available)--by 70 percent for the 2012 to 2014 period. The original target for that period, set in 2003, was 25,000 ZEVs, and is now 7,500. Shortcomings cited by manufacturers in both production capacity and technological advance by 2012 played a key role in the decision. It is now expected that the gap in emission reduction goals that was to be closed by the 17,500 now-deleted ZEVs can be closed by mandates for partial ZEVs, such as plug-in hybrids and CNG-fueled cars, if partial ZEV fleet additions total about 60,000 over that period.

Toyota Announces HEV Production and Sales Plans

According to the Nikkei, Toyota Motor has announced in will increase Japanese domestic output of its Prius hybrid model to 450,000 units by the end of 2009, and expects to be selling on its own 1 million hybrids per year worldwide after 2010. The company will also inaugurate sales of Li-ion battery-powered pHEVs in 2010, to which end it is seeking with joint-venture partner Panasonic EV Energy to convert the Omori plant in central Japan to mass production of lithium-based hybrid batteries.

Lithium-ion HEV Battery Production Gets Rolling

The first mass-production facility for lithium-ion hybrid vehicle battery systems has come on line. Operated by the Johnson Controls-Saft joint venture discussed in prior Expanding Universe items, it is located in Nersac, France and was brought in at a cost of about € 15 million. Other facilities of this joint venture that will be integrated in some measure into the li-ion production process are located in Bordeaux, France; Hanover, Germany; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; and Shanghai, China.

March 2008

Production of Chinese GM Hybrids Launched

General Motors Corp. has unveiled its first China-made hybrid vehicle. Shanghai GM, GM's largest joint venture in China, unveiled the Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid in Shanghai and said it would introduce three more green vehicles this year to the world's second-largest market. The new Buick hybrid promises 15% better fuel economy than the standard model and is equipped with a so-called mild hybrid system, such as the one available in the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. The company said one of the new offerings this year would be a two-mode hybrid that provides 50% better fuel economy than a traditional gasoline-burning engine. Until now, GM has built and sold all of its hybrid vehicles in North America.

More Inroads by Light HEVs in Urban Transport

This month, the enviroCAB Company, with operations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, will have placed into taxi service 50 hybrid vehicles, making it the first all-hybrid taxicab fleet in the USA. As an inaugural promotion, enviroCAB offered free rides to polling stations for the February 12 primary election to up to 100 residents of Arlington County, Virginia. The company's fleet consists of Toyota Priuses, Camry and Highlander hybrids, and Ford Escapes that provide regular taxi service at conventional fares and, according to company spokespersons, will "remove the emissions of two regular cabs for every replacement enviroCAB we put on the street."

Segway on Board! New Dual EV Concept Vehicle Shown

General Motors has partnered with Segway Inc. to roll out a demonstrator that combines the Saturn Flextreme concept car built on GM's global E-flex electric drive architecture (debuted by Opel) with two onboard Segway PT personal mobility devices charged by the car's E-flex battery system. The Flextreme's FlexLoad cargo bay has been configured with ramps to accommodate loading and unloading of the Segways, which themselves have undergone compatibility redesign that includes optimization of tire diameter and track width and refitting with retractable handlebars to fit comfortably in the cargo area. Once fully charged (8 to 10 hours) by the E-flex system, the lithium-ion battery equipped Segway PTs can travel up to 24 miles at an electric power consumption rate of 0.052 kWh/mi (0.032 kWh/km).

Vehicle-to-grid Applications will be Key in Achieving Denmark's Renewable Energy Goals

The Danish government has embarked a new energy strategy with a long term vision to win independence from fossil fuels. It is the specific goal of the government to at least double to 30 % by 2025 the current 15% share of energy utilisation accounted for by renewables. Within that mix, it is possible that up to 50% of electricity will be produced by wind turbines, through expansion of the total wind generation capacity from 3,000 MW to about 6,000 MW. This will necessitate much greater flexibility in electricity consumption in which battery-, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles could play a very important role. Central to the realization of the energy strategy are near- and medium-term demonstration projects involving plug-in electric vehicles and development of vehicle-to-grid technologies, in which vehicle batteries charged at night by wind power provide electric power to the national grid when not in transport use during the day.

February 2008

HEV Production to Mexico

Production of the Saturn Vue HEV has begun at a General Motors plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, according to official GM corporate communications. The plant's production, with an output capacity of 6,500 HEVs per year, is targeted at the U.S. and Canadian markets.

ESCAPE PHEVs to Southern California Edison

The first of 20 research plug-in hybrids (PHEV) on the small SUV Escape HEV platform has been delivered to Southern California Edison by Ford, five months after the announcement that the two organizations would collaborate to advance PHEV commercialization. The customer testing (under likely aftermarket conditions) that will employ these prototype units seeks to improve the cost, durability, and reliability of PHEV technology prior to mass production of vehicles.

PHEV Future Looks Promising Along Many Fuel Total-energy Pathways

A study by a team at Argonne National Laboratory has concluded, employing a "total energy cycle" methodology, that the superior charging option for future PHEVs, with respect to distance traveled per unit of electric power feedstock, is combined-cycle electricity generation and vehicles operating in charge-depletion (CD) mode. Moreover, "…regardless of which abundant domestic fuel one would wish to use, use of the fuel to serve a PHEV in CD mode would provide more kilometers of service than (all) competing options evaluated," including fuel-cell vehicles powered by hydrogen produced by the same types of electric power plants.

Hybrid Bus Orders Received by Daimler Trucks Top One Thousand Mark

New York City Transit and OC Transpo of Ottawa, Canada have combined to place orders for over 1,000 hybrid buses from Daimler Trucks, manufacturer of the Orion VII Next Generation diesel-electric hybrids which are claimed to deliver up to 30 percent better fuel economy than conventional counterparts whilst emitting 90 percent less particulate matter, 40 percent less oxides of nitrogen, and 30 percent less carbon dioxide. The orders will send 850 buses to New York and 202 to Ottawa.

Update on the Chevrolet Volt

Development of GM's multi-fuel Chevrolet Volt HEV/PHEV, currently targeted for mass production as early as 2010, has entered the stage of refinement of aerodynamics, for which optimization will be critical to achieve the planned fuel savings targets for the vehicle. So far, body redesign to improve aerodynamic slickness has reduced the original Volt concept's drag coefficient (CD) by over 30 percent. Aerodynamic drag is usually responsible for about 20 percent of an average vehicle’s fuel consumption.

January 2008

USA Light-duty Hybrid Sales officially top 1 Million

Total HEV sales in the U.S. in December 2007 were 30,871; resulting in cumulative USA light-duty HEV sales total passing the one million mark since the introduction of the Honda Insight in December 1999. Cumulative sales as of the end of 2007 were 1,007,348. Toyota Prius leads the pack of 13 HEV models (including Saturn Vue, for which information directly from General Motors in unavailable) with sales since its 2000 introduction of 515,944 (accounting for 51.2% of the 1,007,348). Honda Civic is second with cumulative sales of 151,183 (15%) and Toyota Camry is third at 85,818 (8.5%). Toyota Highlander (71,526 -- 7.1%) and Ford Escape/ Mariner (67,657 -- 6.7%) are fourth and fifth, respectively.

Nissan Altima Hybrid Qualifies for AMV Income Tax Credit

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has announced that the 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid is officially certified as a hybrid motor vehicle qualifying for a US$2,350 income tax credit under the Alternative Motor Vehicle Act. This credit puts Altima in the upper echelon of earned credits, along with Toyota Prius and Honda Civic. As of the end of September 2007, over 2,600 qualifying Altimas had been delivered to Nissan retailers.

Israel Looks to More EV-Intensive Future

The Israeli government has announced support for a broad effort to promote the use of electric cars, which will rely heavily on a joint venture between American-Israeli lithium-ion battery entrepreneur Shai Agassi and Renault and Nissan Motors, currently chaired by Carlos Ghosn. The scheme applies principles of cell phone purchase/leasing to EVs, which enclose a much larger array of Li-ion batteries than a cell phone. The EV buyer will obtain an Israeli government purchase subsidy (for the Renault/Nissan-made vehicles) and pay a monthly fee for expected total distance travelled—similar to cell phone minutes. Such a plan anticipates significant operating and long-run cost savings relative to running a vehicle on gasoline, which currently retails at well over US$6.00/gallon in Israel. Meanwhile, the government will significantly increase the availability of public recharging infrastructure across the country. Spent battery packs can be swapped out at service stations. The private principals behind the scheme are looking to Israel as the test bed from which can be launched similar programmes in congested cities and comparably-sized entities such as Denmark and Singapore. Even China and India, for which petroleum demand has become an economic issue, could be eventual targets for this concept.

Chrysler Previews 2009 Model Year HEV Offerings

The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango pick-ups (LDTs) will retain a HEMI powerplant in their 2009 two-mode CVT full hybrid versions, according to an announcement from Chrysler Corp.'s Executive Vice President of Product Development. These first Chrysler hybrids will be equipped with a 5.7-liter engine rated at 385 hp (285 kW) and be capable of towing 6,000 lb (2,700 kg). Number of engine cylinders operating will vary in use from four to eight depending on load, which may be all-electric at low speed; net fuel savings of about 25 percent relative to the conventional truck model are expected.

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