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U.S. Automakers Talk Up Hybrids at D.C. Auto Show

Toyota and Honda Showcase Their Second-Generation Production Hybrids

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 25, 2006

• GM Invests In Electric Car Engine Plant • GM Increasingly Viewed As "Green" By Online Consumers • Honda Plans New Hybrid for Earth Day 2009 • Hybrid Technology a Presidential Campaign Issue • Hybrid Parking Perk Under Fire in Los Angeles • Tax Credit for Honda Hybrids Dwindles • Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Car Tops Greenies' List • D.C. Auto Show Goes Green • Iowa Testing Hybrid School Buses • Hybrids Star at Detroit Auto Show • How Green Can Your Drive Get? • Hybrid Universe Expanding Rapidly • ExxonMobil Claims New Hybrid Battery Technology • Honda Hybrid Tax Credit Fades Away • Diesels, Hybrids Top RAND Study • Cadillac Touts Huge Green SUV Machine • Next Generation Prius to Stick with Nickel-Hydride Power • Honda Plans Prius-like Hybrid • Hybrid Cop Cars for Aspen • Chrysler Plans Hybrid Unit • Lithium Ion Batteries to Power Mercedes Luxury Hybrid --- • More ...

The two remaining U.S. automakers are at the Washington Auto Show trying to one-up each other when it comes to the environment and fuel economy while mostly German DaimlerChrysler bets on sophisticated diesel technology to win the day.

The Ford, GM and DaimlerChrylser exhibits pointedly demonstrate how far the three automakers lag behind Toyota and Honda in bringing hybrid technology to consumers.

Both Japanese automakers are already producing and selling second-generation hybrid technology while Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler continue to wait and see how the hybrid market is going to develop.

Ford is showing off an ethanol-electric hybrid version of the Escape SUV which is still in the concept stage. The hybrid runs on any combination of gasoline and E-85, the most popular ethanol-gasoline blend.

GM is wagering its hybrid future on fuel-cell cars. The struggling automaker received a boost for the concept when U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced $119 million in research grants targeted at solving technical problems slowing the advancement of hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars.

DaimlerChrysler is making no new announcements in Washington but is showing off the Bluetec diesel emissions-control system the company touted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

New Mercedes and Jeep diesels are the first to meet tough emissions regulations for soot and smog-forming gases while producing a significant fuel economy boost.

Ford's Washington production included a flex-fuel F-150 truck, the hybrid Escape and its Reflex small-car concept.

GM backed up the fuel cell pitch with a hybrid show that included a low-cost Chevrolet Silverado pickup, a more efficient Saturn Vue Greenline sport utility vehicle and a two-mode hybrid system that will be installed on the Chevy Tahoe full-size SUV in 2008.

Plug-In Hybrids

While the U.S. automakers showed off their visions of a hybrid future, a group of environmentalists talked about pressuring them to build hybrids that could be plugged in when they are not in use in order to charge battery packs that are heftier than those in existing hybrids.

Plug-in hybrids operate longer in the electric-only mode than existing hybrids, especially on short trips and daily commutes.

The centerpiece of the Ford environmental display still requires testing and development and is not yet intended for production. The flex-fuel Escape Hybrid gets worse fuel economy and doesn't meet the same emissions standards when it runs on ethanol instead of gasoline.

Nevertheless, Ford points out that the Escape Hybrid research vehicle is the first to combine hybrid technology with the ability to burn a mixture of gasoline and up to 85% E85.

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