The 335-horsepower, dual-motor Mercedes-Benz ML 450 Hybrid has landed on our shores, but the German luxury vehicle maker says we can't buy 'em.
The new hybrid is only being offered on a factory lease: $659 a month for 36 months, or $549 a month for 60 months.
The hybrid package - using the dual-mode transmission system jointly developed with BMW, General Motors and Chrysler - marries a 3.5-liter, 275-horsepower V6 to a pair of electric motors for a combined 335 ponies and a diesel-like 381 lb.-ft. of torque.
Mercedes says the lease-only decision was made because of concerns about limited future battery supplies and the company's desire to keep a tighter rein on customer satisfaction - in the event, for instance, that appropriate replacement batteries weren't available a decade from now - than outright sales would allow.
The ML450 Hybrid is capable of traveling for short distances - under two miles - at speeds of up to 34 miles an hour in all-electric drive with juice from its 2.4 kilowatt-hour nickel-metal hydride battery pack, which is recharged with power generated by the the engine and the regenerative braking system.
The electric moors provide engine assist at high speeds and also enable the engine to shut down at idle and instantaneously restart when the brake pedal is released - a so called stop-start feature.
Mercedes says its new hybrid SUV will deliver fuel economy of 21 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway, for a combined 22 mpg.
Anticipating a payoff in cleaner city air and a lowering of national CO2 emissions, the German environmental ministry is awarding automaker Daimler a grant of up to 9 million euros ($13.46 million) to subsidize development of an all-electric version of its Sprinter commercial van.
Up to 50 of the electric vans will be produced by the Mercedes-Benz Van unit and delivered to customers in environmentally sensitive inner city areas for real-world testing.
Because they travel relatively short distances and spend a lot of time idling while cargo is being unloaded and delivered, commercial vans are an ideal platform for electrification.
They benefit from electric drive systems' powerful torque; don't suffer from the need to be recharged after 50-80 miles of driving and improve both air and environmental noise quality with their zero emissions, near-silent motors.
Daimler today debuted its third-generation Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel-cell-hybrid bus at the site in Hamburg, Germany, where 10 of the buses enter service next year.
In addition, the Hamburger Hochbahn public-transport company will take delivery of 20 Mercedes-Benz B-class fuel-cell cars starting next year.
The buses will take part in large-scale fleet trials scheduled to take place in Hamburg and other European cities as part of a follow-up to real-world hydrogen-vehicle testing in the the European Union from 2003 to the present.
Vehicles participation in the testing "performed outstandingly," Daimler said in a press release distributed Monday, adding that their total operating time exceeded 140,000 hours and the buses covered a total of more than 1.35 million miles.
Daimler said that due to improved fuel-cell components and hybridization with lithium-ion batteries, the latest version of the Citaro fuel-cell-hybrid bus consumes almost 50 percent less hydrogen than the preceding generation.
The operating range of the fuel-cell bus is 155 miles and the fuel-cell drive system is also practically maintenance-free and has a long operating life.
Daimler chief Dieter Zetsche says he's still is betting on a hydrogen future for the automobile.
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Mercedes B-Class fuel cell cars are being used in long-term road tests in Europe and U.S.
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But in a round-table interview with reporters form a variety of media including (subscription only) Automotive News during the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, Zetsche said that hybrids and battery-electric cars will be long-term interim technologies until hydrogen fuel cell cars and hydrogen fueling technology are ready for market.
Daimler is investing heavily in both electric and fuel cell technologies, he said, and has banded together with other German automakers to boost hydrogen fueling technology.
Asked if Daimler would consider four-cylinder engines for its Mercedes-Benz cars as U.S. fuel economy regulations tighten, Zetsche said that he wouldn't rule out the option .
He also said, according to an interview transcript posted today by Automotive News, that he sees a continued weak U.S. market for luxury cars for several years and that the Chinese market is likely to step in to gill the void.
Fuel efficiency for luxury cars is becoming a necessity rather than an afterthought, Zetsche said, adding that he is convinced that many customers continue to want a comfortable and spacious car but "would not like to be called callous by their neighbor because the fuel consumption is astronomic."
Daimler - indeed, the entire auto industry,- is at the "tipping point now" for electric cars, he said, pointing out that hydrogen fuel cell cars use all-electric drivetrains.
With its 2010 S400 Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz has taken some significant steps to redefine the premium hybrid sedan market - in part by minimizing the premium.
The price premium, that is.
Despite cutting-edge technology that includes what the automaker says is the world's first lithium-ion battery designed specifically for automotive use, Mercedes-Benz new entry-level U.S. is priced staring at $88,825, nearly $4,000 less than the S550 that previously was the entry-level S-Class in the U.S.
Of course, being an S-Class model, the S400 Hybrid still offers a high level of luxury and a cavernous interior, along with the same refreshed body styling as the rest of the 2010 model line. Passengers and passersby would be hard-pressed to distinguish it if there weren't Hybrid badges on the trunk lid and the center stack, and BlueEfficiency badges on the front quarter panels.
But the S400 Hybrid's difference is unmistakable from the driver's seat - where we logged hundreds of miles over two days last weekend, with decidedly mixed emotions.
Innovative Battery The leading innovation in the S400 Hybrid is the aforementioned 120-volt, 0.9 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that's small enough to fit into the engine compartment - like an ordinary car battery - rather than beneath or behind the seats, as in other hybrid vehicles.
There's no compromise in terms of people room or trunk space. And even with a high-strength steel housing, its own separate cooling circuit and cells that sit in a vibration- and jolt-dampening gel, the battery still weighs less than most others, and also has a higher energy density, according to Mercedes-Benz.
It's a so-called mild hybrid because the system doesn't propel the S400 on electricity alone, but there's still plenty of power and a decent fuel economy bump other gasoline-fueled S-Class models, including the the European market S350 on which it is based.
A 20-horsepower magneto-electric motor mounted in the torque converter housing between the engine and the transmission produces 118 pound-feet of torque, and kicks in during acceleration, to assist the 275 horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine (which generates 258 lb.-ft. of torque) in driving the rear wheels. The usual stop-start scheme turns the engine off when the car isn't moving.
The result is a fuel economy rating of 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 mpg on the highway, a 30 percent improvement over the S550's mileage rating.
Compared with the V6-powered S350 sold in Europe, Mercedes-Benz says the S400 Hybrid also produces 21 percent less CO2 emissions.
General Motors and India's Reva Electric Car announced today that they will jointly produce a battery-powered vehicle for South Asia based on the Detroit carmaker's best-selling mini-car, the Chevrolet Spark (pictured).
Under the alliance, GM will provide the vehicle platform and manufacturing facilities for the zero-emissions car, which will begin production next year, while Reva will supply the technology for the battery, electric drivetrain and power management systems.
They did not provide forecasts for production, but GM has the capacity to produce 225,000 vehicles of all types at its two plants in India and has plans to scale up its factory in Maharashtra state by an additional 160,000 vehicles.
GM, which is also due to launch its plug-in Chevrolet Volt in the U.S. next year, joins a growing list of the world's major carmakers that are due to launch electric cars over the next three years as part of their carbon-cutting strategy.
Some, including Japan's Mitsubishi Motors, have already launched them.
Last week at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Renault announced that it was launching four electric vehicles in 2011-12. Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz showed planned battery-powered luxury models.
Environmental car data released by a new automotive Website today shows that the latest 2010 range of new cars available in the U.S. is 6.6 percent greener than the 2009 model-year range.
The data supplied by WhatGreenCar also demonstrate that the shift to green is gaining pace. To date, this year's 6.6 percent reduction is more than three times last year's improvement of 2.1 percent.
Comparing model year 2009 cars with the latest model year 2010 line-up, 10 volume automakers are now offering a new model range above the average improvement of 6.6 percent.
The top 10 manufacturers achieving this are: Chevrolet (20.3 percent improvement), General Motors (15.3 percent), Mercedes-Benz (13.6 percent), Lexus (13.2 percent), Mercury (11.6 percent), Kia (11.0 percent), Ford (10.4 percent), Acura (8.0 percent), Volkswagen (8.0 percent) and Suzuki (7.7 percent).
The tables below are self-explanatory, and can be enlarged by clicking on them.
On the eve of the Frankfurt Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz supplies this peek under the skin of the S 500 plug-in hybrid concept it will unveil there.
The see-though shows the location of the rear-mounted lithium-ion battery pack, the charging port on the right rear flank, the regenerative braking system (and could that be a pair of in-hub wheel motors in the rear?) and the transmission and electric motor with what looks to be the power electronics controller sitting atop. Missing is what we understand will be a V6 engine up front. Also missing: Guidance from Mercedes about the hardware the concept will be packing.
Hyundai Motors' ix-Metro Hybrid city car is one of several dozen 'green' cars and concepts debuting at Frankfurt show.
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
This week's Frankfurt Auto Show promises to be the greenest major auto show to date - a showcase for fuel efficiency improvements and alternative powertrains that are coming to the forefront as the mainstream auto industry finally begins coming to grips with the need to begin weaning itself - and us - from petroleum.
Daimler AG has added a pair of BlueEFFICIENCY AMG models fitted with four-cyliner diesel engines to its growing family of Mercedes-Benz GLK sport utility vehicles, and the automaker hints one or both may come to the U.S.
The greener of the two is the rear-wheel-drive 2010 GLK 220 CDI with the familiar 170-horsepower four-banger achieving between 36.8 and 39.2 miles per gallon depending on options, the automaker said in a statement today. That model's claimed carbon-emission figures range from 158 to 168 grams per kilometer.
The all-wheel-drive 2010 GLK 250 CDI 4MATIC features a 204-hp engine producing 368 pound-feet of torque. Daimler claims it is the most powerful four-cylinder diesel engine in the SUV world. It achieves a claimed 35.1 mpg and emits 176 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
As far as acceleration, the RWD GLK 220 reportedly reaches 60 miles an hour in 8.5 seconds and has a top speed of 122 mph, while the AWD GLK 250 completes the sprint in 7.9 seconds and can reach 129 mph.
While not discussing whether it intends to export either model to North America, Daimler made the point of stating that in addition to meeting the EU5 emissions standard, both models have "the potential to fulfil the EU6 limits as well as the BIN 5 requirements in the USA."
We hope the German automaker will provide additional details at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which takes place next week.
The game in fuel economy these days is all about thinking small.
That's because, on the ICE front, most all of the big stuff has been done and improvements in efficiency are being squeezed out of the tiniest elements - a pound shaved off a body panel here, an aerodynamics tweak there.
An announcement from auto parts and components giant TRW Automotive Holdings this morning drives home the point.
The company proudly unveiled a redesigned and enhanced power steering motor pump that it will supply to Mercedes-Benz to use on the electrically powered hydraulic steering systems on a number of its luxury models.
The system saves fuel by using an electronic brain to help determine the mount of hydraulic assist to feed into the steering effort so the parasitic hydraulic system is used only when needed. The newest motor pump dials in varying degrees of assist as conditions demand.
TRW says the system can be used on hybrids as well as conventionally powered cars.
Bottom line? TRW says it can save .29 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers by reducing hydraulic system drag on the engine.
In the U.S., that's the same as a savings of 1 gallon of gas per 800 miles, or just under a teaspoon per mile.
Mercedes-Benz is expected to debut a Vision S 500 plug-in hybrid concept at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show, looking much like the one pictured here.
Although company spokesmen won't discuss it publicly yet, we've been told the concept will feature a V6 gasoline engine connected to a lithium-ion battery that has a storage capacity of more than 10 kilowatt hours.
That's enough to enable the car to go about 19 miles on electricity only before an onboard gas-powered engine-generator kicks in to feed juice to the lithium battery.
Acceleration is said to be 5 and half seconds from a standstill to 60 miles an hour. Mileage is said to be 73.5 mph, but it wasn't at all clear how that number was reached.
We expect to learn a lot more about this concept next week.
Mercedes-Benz has added a small gas engine to its BlueZero E-Cell electric car concept to turn the limited range battery-electric hatchback into an extended-range hybrid in the manner of the upcoming Chevrolet Volt.
The battery-extended Benz, called the E-Cell Plus, utilizes a turbocharged, 1-liter, three-cylinder engine mounted over the rear axle to serve as a generator feeding juice to the lithium-ion battery pack once the initial charge is depleted.
Mercedes says the E-Cell Plus has a range of up to 600 kilometers - 375 miles - including 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, of all-electric drive from its grid-charged battery before the engine-generator kicks in and starts burning gasoline. The original BlueZero concepts were unveiled at the Deptroir Auto Show in January.
The compact concept car uses the same electric drive system as the non-augmented E-Cell, with an 18 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack feeding a 70-kilowatt sustained output (100 kilowatt maximum) compact electric motor capable of 320 Newton meters of torque (236 lb-ft).
It is capable of pushing the car from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (60 mph) in "less than 11 seconds" - nothing to write home about unless its way, way less than 11 - and is electronically limited to a top speed of 150 kph (93 mph).
The gas engine in the E-Cell Plus wouldn't improve performance figures as it would be used only to continue generating electricity to extend the vehicle's range to three times the pure-electric model's 200 kilometers, or 125 miles.
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Concept shows 1-liter gas engine-generator through cutout in cargo bay floor.
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Mercedes says that with a special rapid charger the E-Cell Plus' battery can be brought up to half-full n just 30 minutes and to full charge in just under an hour. Charging could take 6 hours or so with standard household current. On-board electronics would support the billing and information systems used by the electric charging stations that are slowly being installed in cities around the globe to accommodate increased use of plug-in electric vehicles.
Mercedes' new B-Class fuel cell car at Stuttgart airport hydrogen filling station.
Mercedes-Benz, as promised earlier this year, is launching a small fleet of its new B-Class F-Cell, or fuel cell, cars for real-world testing in the U.S. and Europe.
The cars use an on-board fuel cell stack to convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity that powers an electric drive system.
Mercedes didn't say how much hydrogen is stored in the cars' 10,000 psi (70 bar) tanks, but did say the new F-Cell will deliver a range of up to 250 miles with a top speed of 105 mph and the fuel consumption equivalent of 3.3 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers on the European drive cycle.
In U.S. terms, that would be around 71 miles per gallon of diesel or about 64 miles per kilogram of hydrogen.
The company said that the first of 200 B-Class F-Cell cars would be shipped to customers early in 2010.
The fuel-cell electric system delivers the equivalent of 136 horsepower and 214 lb-ft of torque and Mercedes says it has performance characteristics equal to and "in some cases far better than" those of a B-Class with a 2.0-liter gas engine.
The car uses a 35 kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack to store and deliver electricity from the fuel cell and from the regenerative braking system.
With a commercial hydrogen dispensing pump, the F-Cell car takes about three minutes to refuel, the company said, adding that "a comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations still has to be set up before locally zero-emission driving can become a widespread reality."
Tesla Motors announced today that Tesla Motors will develop and manufacture electric vehicle components in a renovated building (pictured) in the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California.Tesla, the only automaker that is producing and selling highway-capable electric vehicles in North America, will lease an 350,000-square-foot building on a 23-acre parcel less than 3 miles from Stanford University. The automaker said the new facility will supply all-electric powertrains to Tesla and to other automakers, greatly accelerating the availability of mass-market EVs.
Tesla will also move its corporate headquarters from nearby San Carlos to the site later this year. Roughly 350 employees will work in Palo Alto initially, with space for up to 650 people at the facility.
In an interview with Green Car Advisor, Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel (left) said selection of the site was based on various factors, among the most important being convenience for existing employees and access to future ones.
He said the location "will give us great access to top engineering and technical talent, and it's also a very central location for all of our existing employees so that we don't have to risk losing some employees just because of moving our headquarters and our operations."
He said the new site will be where Tesla performs powertrain research and development, not automobile assembly. He clarified some reports that suggested Tesla's next model - the Model S sedan - would be built there, stating "We're not going to built the sedan vehicle here. That'll be a separate facility."
"This is more focused on electrical engineering and mechanical engineering rather than something you would traditionally think of as industrial processes," said Straubel, who earned a bachelor's degree in energy systems engineering and a master's in energy engineering from Stanford.
High-performance engine design is all about extracting as much power as possible within rigid confines.
So we weren't shocked to learn today that Ilmore Engineering, a British company that has designed and made racing engines for General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and Honda for Formula 1 and IndyCar competitions, had developed a 5-stroke concept engine (pictured) that it says has the power of a diesel engine and the fuel efficiency and low emissions of a stingy gas sipper.
The engine, which displaces only 700cc and yet puts out 130 horsepower and 122 pound-feet of torque, is turbocharged and equipped with a fifth stroke. Yes, a fifth stroke.
Two of the engine's cylinders, running with a conventional four-stroke design, fire and expend their exhaust gases into a third low-pressure expansion cylinder. A fifth stroke then allows those gases to expand, boosting thermodynamic efficiency.
The result: Ilmore estimates a 5 percent improvement in overall efficiency versus a conventional direct-injected engine of similar displacement.
Ilmore is seeking support for a next generation of the concept offering up 150 horsepower and weiging 20-percent less than current engine.
Specifically, Ilmore engineering manager Steve O'Connor says the company is "looking for a manufacturer to back the idea, and the interest centers on its use in a hybrid application, as they tend to need sudden bursts of energy, and that is what this engine does well."
True. We wish O'Connor and the rest of the Ilmore Engineering gang the best of luck in their five-stroke endeavors.
If C4C Comes Back, Tech Premium For Many Could Be Offset; Manufacturer Rebates Would Do Same
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Got a gas guzzler that would qualify under the cash for clunkers program for a federal credit toward a new, more efficient car or truck? (That's if we still have a cash for clunkers program when the dust settles from Thursday's reveation that the programs's initial funding apparently has run dry.)
The situation's up in the air right now, but if you are in the mood to keep doing research, or perhaps have had the car-buying impulse jump-started and have decided to take the plunge- clunker incentive or no -this is a good time to look at hybrids and diesels.
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2009 Camry Hybrid has lowest technology premium, $239.
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If Congress keeps cash for clunkers going, or automakers step up with bigger incentives of their own to keep the market moving, the credits - ranging in the C4C program from $3,500 to $4,500 depending on the fuel economy of the new car or truck - could help make a previously unaffordable hybrid or clean diesel a lot more compatible with your budget.
German luxury automakers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz are close to benefiting from a U.S. concession that will allow them and a few other foreign makers to keep selling cars that emit more greenhouse gases than those made by mass-market rivals such as Ford, General Motors and Toyota.
So reports the Wall Street Journal today in an article (subscription required) that points out better than most how recent U.S. legislation benefits foreign automakers and harms domestic ones.
Under a provision of a plan to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, the Obama administration has proposed to set less stringent standards for carmakers that sell fewer than 400,000 vehicles a year in the U.S. That target defines the major German brands as well as a few smaller Asian manufacturers such as Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
The easier targets are expected to apply to a limited portion of a carmaker's sales volume, and last for about four years -- unless the government grants an extension.
In effect, the "German provision" would make it easier for Mercedes to keep selling cars like its $147,000, 12-cylinder S600 sedan (pictured), rated at 13 miles per gallon, while GM or Toyota would be required to meet tougher mileage standards with smaller, more efficient cars, the Journal notes.
The rules are expected to be formally proposed later this year by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation to enforce the administration's mandate that makers boost the average fuel efficiency of their fleets to 35.5 miles mpg by 2016.
A spokesman for GM -- now majority-owned by the federal government -- said the Obama administration's proposal "creates fewer concerns" than California's policy because it is expected to exempt only a quarter of each qualifying auto maker's fleet, rather than all vehicles sold by those companies. It also would be in effect for only four years, compared with seven under the California program.
Other industry experts and some former government policymakers take a more critical view of the administration's plan.
David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Michigan, said the provision would hand "a distinct competitive advantage" to German and other exempted companies that compete with the major U.S. and Japanese brands in the U.S.
Daniel Becker, director of the Washington-based Safe Climate Campaign, which advocates tougher regulation of automotive fuel economy and greenhouse-gas emissions, said BMW and Mercedes "should be required to meet the same standards as General Motors and Ford."
As soon as Ford started promoting its upcoming four-cylinder EcoBoost engine earlier this week, pundits started quibbling over the marketability of Lincolns with 4-bangers.
Well, how 'bout a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW with a 3- banger?
In the never-ending search for more fuel efficiency, both German automakers are working on three-cylinder gasoline engines for their small and, possibly, medium-size passenger vehicles.
Both companies are motivated by Europe's strict new CO2 limits, which can be met most rapidly by decreasing fuel consumption.
In an interview with Britain's Autocar magazine, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman said the company has a 1.2-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine that cranks out 168 horsepower and up to 185 lb-ft of torque, "enough to drive a mid-size car like the C-class very well."
It also delivers a 6 percent fuel economy improvement over a small four-cylinder engine with the same performance characteristics.
Mercedes-Benz says it will add a pair of fuel-efficient 4-cylinder models to its E-Class series in Europe later this year.
Both will feature direct-injection engines - one a diesel.
---------- The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. ----------
The gasoline-fueled E200 CGI BlueEfficiency (that's a name that'll take up the whole trunk if plastered on a chrome badge in German) will feature a 32 mpg, turbocharged,1.8-liter direct injected engine capable of delivering 0-60 acceleration in 8.5 seconds and a top speed of 143 mpg, according to Mercedes' literature. (We translated the liters and kilometers into U.S. measurements.)
The 2.1-liter diesel in the E200 CDI BlueEfficiency, delivers 45 miles a gallon, 0-60 acceleration in just under 10.2 seconds and a top speed of 130 mph.
Mercedes says the cars will offer the same level of interior quality, safety equipment and overall driving performance as the larger-displacement E-Class models.
Daimler AG released this see-though illustration of its 2015 Mercedes AMG SLS eDrive this morning, to show off its powerful battery-electric powertrain, featuring individual electric wheel-motors. (Click on illustration or photo-below-to enlarge.)
The gull-wing Mercedes AMG electric car (Daimler calls it a "swing wing") has upward rising doors strongly reminiscent of the famed 1954 300 SL, but that's the only retro touch in the car, which will use a modified version of the standard SLS rear-wheel drive platform.
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An early SLS prototype undergoes winter testing.
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The 98-kilowatt motors at each well produce 133 horsepower each, 532 horsepower combined, and can kick out 649 lb-ft of torque.
Daimler says the system will give the car a 0-100 mpg acceleration time in the neighborhood of 4 seconds.
A rechargeable 400-volt, 48 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack co-developed by Daimler and Germany's Evonik will store enough energy - augmented by juice captured from regenerative braking - to give the big two-seater a range estimated at 90-110 miles.
As of now the car is price-less, but one will be announced - a pretty hefty one, we imagine - as the 2015 launch date nears.
Mercedes-Benz's AMG performance-car unit are developing a 532-horsepower plug-in electric version of the upcoming SLS supercar, an early photo of which appears above.
With a 2015 release date, the zero-emissions, gullwing-sporting supercar draws heavily on the production version of the yet-to-be-fully-revealed SLS, which is scheduled to debut at the Frankfurt auto show this September.
The SLS eDrive is planned to be offered with the same lightweight aluminum body as the production version of the SLS, complete with its signature gullwing style doors.
According to official Mercedes-Benz AMG information, the SLS eDrive will use a heavily modified version of the standard SLS's rear-wheel-drive platform.
Four 98-kilowatt motors producing 133 horsepower each and powered by a lithium-ion battery will provide power to SLS eDrive's four wheels. Together, the motors will generate 532 horsepower and a whopping 649 pound-feet of torque.
Although Mercedes is cooperating with EV-startup Tesla Motors on battery technology for its upcoming Smart ED, AMG is working with German energy specialist Evonik on the SLS eDrive.
Range is put at between 90 and 110 miles. No price has been given.
Audi is joining stablemate VW in an ongoing campaign to sing the praises of diesel in a country that largely considers the fuel an oily, smelly, poor cousin to gasoline.
But the German automakers have invested a ton in bringing several of their diesel-powered vehicles to the U.S., and are determined to make consumers here as aware of diesel's good points as are consumers in Europe - where diesel vehicles are more popular than gasoline versions.
The basis of Audi's diesel campaign, which launched today, is that diesel packs more energy than gasoline, and thus delivers better fuel economy, which can help reduce our national consumption of imported crude oil.
Drive a diesel and help the U.S. cut oil consumption by 1.5 million barrels a day is the message posted on YouTube, plastered on fuel pumps and broadcast on TV in ads like this:
Audi would prefer that you drove one of its diesels - the Q7 crossover SUV is already here and the A3 hatchback launches this fall.
Daimler is presenting its new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid city bus to a conference of public transport authorities in Vienna all of this week.
The fuel-cell hybrid bus is the first vehicle in Daimler's new generation of fuel-cell buses. According to its maker, the bus combines the environmental advantages of the diesel-electric Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid with those of the hydrogen-powered Citaro fuel cell buses, which have delivered impressive performance in fleet tests.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid runs without emitting any pollutants and is virtually silent, making it ideal for use in highly congested inner-cities and urban areas.
Daimler is the No. 1 busmaker by volume worldwide. If any company is positioned to revolutionize that market, it's Daimler. And clearly the compnay is attempting to do just that.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid was developed within the framework of Daimler's global commercial vehicle initiative to use clean, efficient drive systems and alternative fuels to make zero-emission commercial vehicles a reality.
The fuel-cell systems used are identical with those installed in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL passenger car, for which small-lot production will begin later this year. Several components were also borrowed from the B-Class F-CELL, with developers mutually benefiting from their respective test results.
Daimler will produce a small batch of about 30 vehicles of this new generation of fuel-cell buses and offer them to European mass transit companies.
Beginning in fall, Daimler will be conducting extensive, large-scale testing of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCell Hybrid bus in a number of European cities.
The 1,700-mile road trip will begin on May 26 in Chula Vista, Calif. and end on June 3 in Vancouver, B.C. The tour will showcase a number of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles from General Motors Corp., Volkswagen Group of America, Daimler and other manufacturers. Though some of the planned events are by invitation, most are open to the public, and some lucky folks will be invited to test drive hydrogen-powered vehicles.
"Fuel cell technology is on the verge of becoming a practical alternative to burning gasoline," said CARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. "This year's road tour demonstrates how far the industry has come and how near we are to putting these cars in the public's hands."
Given recent budget cuts proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the hydrogen sector could use an upbeat road trip to clear its collective head.
On May 7, DoE Secretary Steven Chu proposed that more than $100 million be cut from his department's hydrogen program. The proposed cut in the 2010 federal budget would slash hydrogen fuel cell spending by 59 percent to just $68 million and shift research to stationary power generation from transportation.
Why? "We asked ourselves, 'Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?' The answer, we felt, was 'no,'" Chu said in a briefing.
Chu's action marked a dramatic reversal from 2002 when former DoE Secretary Spencer Abraham boasted that "At the Department of Energy, we're not just talking about the hydrogen economy. We're working to make it a reality."
The German Auto Giant Acquires a 10 Percent Equity Stake in the California EV Maker
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile, and Tesla Motors, the California newbie that remains the only automaker currently producing highway-capable battery-electric cars, announced today that they will partner to manufacture electric vehicles.
As part of the agreement, Daimler has acquired a 10 percent equity stake in the San Carlos, California-based EV maker.
The deal provides Daimler with advanced lithium batteries, a seat on Tesla's board of directors and the know-how needed to bring an electric car to market "at the highest possible speed," Thomas Weber, a member of the board of Daimler AG, said at a news conference at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today.
In exchange, Tesla will receive "a double-digit million sum," Weber said, and the parts and engineering expertise it needs to mass produce its second plug-in battery-electric vehicle, the Model S sedan. Tesla's $109,000 Roadster is the only highway-capable production plug-in battery-electric vehicle on the market.
"Tesla brings expertise in the battery-electric front," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the news conference, which was carried live via Webcast. "Daimler brings expertise in everything else. This will be a very productive relationship where both Tesla and Daimler benefit."
The announcement comes as the Obama administration is due to propose stricter fuel-economy standards in a bid to reduce automotive greenhouse-gas emissions.
Auto Industry Lines Up To Praise National Program Idea, Now the Hard Work Begins
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
The auto industry, tired of being seen as the bad guy whenever fuel economy and emissions regulation is on the table, is wasting no time lining up in support of tomorrow's White House announcement on development of a national carbon emissions and fuel efficiency program.
A cynic might think this doesn't bode well for the ultimate result of the rulemaking process that President Obama will outline at a press conference in Washington Tuesday morning: That the auto industry figures it has enough clout left to wring the life out of any effort to significantly improve fuel economy.
But we think it simply shows that an industry on life support and dependent on government largess here and overseas has finally read the writing on the wall and realizes that this is as good as it is ever going to get and that if it doesn't play ball it will have no say in the rules it eventually will have to live by.
Automakers also have been caught in a trap of their own making. They've been fighting California, the national leader in establishing greenhouse gas controls on motor vehicles, insisting that individual states shouldn't be able to set carbon emissions rules and that a national standard is needed.
Now the Obama administration has stepped to the table and said, as the president is wont to: "Okay, let's develop a national rule."
To oppose that would be political suicide.
In that vein, the two lobbying groups representing almost every car maker that does business in the U.S. have jumped on board and are voicing support for the so-called National Program for Autos.
(Note: Updated 5 p.m. 5/7/09 to include link to Hydrogen and Fuel Cell groups' joint statement.)
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In a huge blow to backers of fuel-cell electric vehicles, the nation's top energy official said today he sees little promise of the technology becoming a significant player in the nation's transportation system within the next two decades.
---------- Honda's FCX Clarity, now being tested in Southern California, uses a hydrogen fuel cell to provide electric power. ----------
As a result, Energy Secretary Stephen Chu is proposing that more than $100 million be cut from the Energy Department hydrogen program in the 2010 budget the administration is submitting to Congress.
The proposed budget slashes hydrogen fuel cell spending by 59 percent to just $68 million and focuses on programs for stationary power generation rather than for transportation.
"We asked ourselves, 'Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will covert to a hydrogen car economy?' The answer, we felt, was 'no,'" Chu said in a briefing today.
The National Hydrogen Association and the U.S. Fuel Cell Coalition quickly issued a joint statement criticizing the program cuts.
German Car Maker Also Rolling Out Battery-Electric Smart Cars This Year
Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of fuel-cell vehicle development and now says that it plans to begin producing a small number of its B-Class cars (left)
outfitted with the hydrogen-to-electricity systems.
The B-Class fuel-cell electric vehicles would begin rolling out in Europe by the end of the year, apparently for testing in the real world, the automaker told reporters during a program held in Germany this week to show off a student-built experimental fuel cell car, the F-Cell Roadster (more about that at InsideLine).
The Smarts (right)
are to be used in an EV test program in Berlin next year.
While Mercedes doesn't sell the B-Class in the U.S., the company has said it is considering bringing the small hatchback over here. At the recent Washington D.C. auto show it showed a B-Class flex-fuel vehicle that could use either gasoline or compressed natural gas.
We'll probably be hearing more about fuel cells, battery-electric cars and natural gas vehicles in coming months as all three are alternative fuels being pushed for use in California - a sizeable player in the U.S. new car market - under a just-approved low carbon fuels standard that aims to help cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the carbon content of fuels used for transportation.
Student-built F-Cell Roadster on the road in Germany.
As the once-favored hydrogen highway becomes a mere side road on the route to oil independence with the Obama administration's push for rechargeable hybrid powertrains as the new favored alternative to the conventional gasoline engine, hydrogen pioneer Honda Motor Co. says it, too, will begin to pursue the way of the plug.
In an interview with Bloomberg news last week, Honda Motor Co. President Takeo Fukui said his company still sees hydrogen as the best long-term replacement for gasoline in the effort to slash automotive emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases tied to global arming.
Fukui, who is stepping down in June as part of Honda's regular executive shuffle, has in the past has been outspoken in his disdain for plug-in technology, calling it an unnecessary intermediate step form gasoline to pure electric power.
Honda has developed a hydrogen fuel-cell sedan, the FCX Clarity, that it leases to select customers in a Los Angeles-area test program, and isn't planning to abandon the effort.
But, Fukui said in a Bloomberg news wire article published this morning, the automaker also will accommodate the perceived preference of the U.S. government for plug-in hybrid-electric cars and trucks.
Unlike a conventional gas-electric hybrid that charges its batteries from on-board power sources such as regenerative braking, a plug-in hybrid gets its initial charge from the commercial grid, by "plugging in" to a wall socket or a special rapid-charging station
Plug-ins use larger battery pack than a conventional hybrids. They store enough power to permit the vehicle to be driven for an extended amount of time on all-electric drive before the grid charge is depleted and the gas engine kicks in.
Although others, including General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Volkswagen are developing fuel-cell vehicles, Honda has been the only major automaker championing hydrogen above other technologies and so far has stayed out of the rapidly developing race to bring plug-ins to market.
While federal support of hydrogen development has all-but evaporated in the U.S., the government is providing billions of dollars for battery development programs and for federal tax credits of up to $7,500 for purchasers of plug-ins.
Mercedes-Benz has officially introduced the S400 Hybrid (right),which is being billed as "the first series-production Mercedes-Benz passenger car with hybrid drive and the world's first car with a lithium-ion battery."
If that's too much verbiage, Mercedes also describes its upscale hybrid that will appear in dealer showrooms in August as "the most economic luxury car with a gasoline engine."
Here are some of the pertinent numbers released earlier today by Mercedes, which is part of Daimler AG. A few have been tweaked since Thomas Weber, head of R&D for Mercedes, talked to Green Car Advisor about the S400 during the 2008 New York International Auto Show.
The S400 Hybrid's estimated combined fuel consumption is 29 mpg, which Mercedes describes as "a 30 percent increase over the S550." (Mercedes' earlier estimate was 29.7 mpg.)
The S400 Hybrid has a 3.5 liter, V6 gasoline engine that develops 275 horsepower. An electric motor generates an additional 20 hp. (Mercedes' earlier estimate had been 299 hp.) The gas engine and electric motor have a combined maximum torque of 284 lb-ft.
Mercedes promises that the S400 will go from zero to 62 miles per hour in 7.3 seconds and reach an electronically limited top speed of 155 miles per hour.
Daimler AG
says that its Mercedes-Benz Hybrid LLC subsidiary will build a research and developmentnear Ann Arbor, Mich. that will focus on conventional and alternative propulsion systems.
Government officials in Michigan said that the project will include a $9.9 million investment and create 223 direct jobs and an estimated 231 indirect jobs.
The Michigan Economic Growth Authority earlier this week won Daimler's decision to locate the center in Michigan by approving a $7.5 million,10-year tax credit for the 65,000-square-foot R&D facility Government agencies in Ann Arbor are expected to consider abatement of local taxes on the R&D center as part of the incentive package.
Officials in Michigan said that Daimler opted for Michigan over a competing bid from Greenville, S.C.
What led Daimler to choose Ann Arbor?
"It was the Detroit workforce," a Daimler spokesman told The Detroit News, a reference to the thousands of skilled but jobless auto industry workers in the area.
Daimler has until June 15 to select a specific site for the facility and has said an Ann Arbor locale depends of local tax breaks.
As our sister blog Edmunds AutoObserver reports, the German automaker already is working in the Detroit area, in cooperation with General Motors and BMW, on the two-mode hybrid technology already used in GM's full-size SUVs and pickups and slatled to be offered in upscoming BMW and Mercedes-Benz SUVs.
The new center likely would be dedicated to hybrid systems for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and, possibly, for its large commercial trucks as well.
Hopes for widespread introduction of clean, fuel-efficient diesel cars and light trucks in the U.S. over the next few year are diminishing as quickly as most of our 401ks.
---------- Diesels such as Ford's 65 mpg Fiesta ECOnetic aren't seen as marketable in the U.S. ----------
The latest casualty seems to be the once-promised Nissan Maxima diesel sedan, Senior Editor Billl Visnic reports in our sister blog, Edmunds' AutoObserver
.
The 3-liter V6 turbodiesel originally slated to launch here later this year is most likely on hold and well could be canceled, Visnic says, victim of the economic meltdown that has made spending on pricey technologies such as clean diesel a difficult decision for both automakers and consumers.
General Motors Corp. last week said it has shelved plans for a new diesel V8 for its pickups and SUVs, Ford Motor Co. has been grim about the outlook for diesel cars here, Toyota has canceled a diesel engine development program and Honda Motor Co. last year said it was ditching plans to launch a diesel Acura model in the U.S.
As Visnic points out, only the Europeans - heavily invested in diesel technology because of fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions policies over there - are still big backers of diesels for the U.S
Volkswagen already sells the new diesel Jetta here; Audi launches the diesel-powered Q7 late this spring, followed by the diesel A3 in the fall as a 2010 model; Mercedes-Benz has three diesel-powered U.S. models, the ML-, GL- and R-Class, and BMW currently offers a diesel-engine 3-Series sedan and a diesel-powered X5 crossover here.
Mercedes-Benz says it's thinking of selling in the United States a B-class four-door hatchback fueled by compressed natural gas, very similar to the European 2009 B-class model shown here.
Mercedes, part of Daimler AG, plans to display a CNG - or rather NGT, for natural gas technology - B-class model this week at the Washington Auto Show.
Natural gas, once was considered a promising alternative fuel, has fallen out of favor in the light-duty segment even though it tends to be cheaper than gasoline and releases 20 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Regardless, Honda still sells the Civic GX, which runs on CNG.
Mercedes offers a B-class CNG vehicle can run on both natural gas and premium grade gasoline while delivering an identical maximum output of 116 horsepower. Five CNG gas tanks provide a natural gas range of 186 miles. With the gasoline tank, the vehicle has a total range between refueling of 620 miles.
The driver selects which fuel to use with the touch of a button in the steering wheel. An electronic control unit carries out the switch instantaneously without any jolts. Fuel economy tends to run about 32 miles per gallon combined.
The vehicle's four-cylinder engine has been modified by Mercedes-Benz to include additional gas injectors on the underside of the intake manifold. A close-coupled pressure governor with an electromagnetic shut-off valve regulates the supply of natural gas and keeps the pressure within the system constant.
We hope Mercedes will provide additional details during the auto show, which runs February 4 through 8.
GM Gets Three Models on 'Greenest' List and Tops 'Meanest' Ranking With Hummer H2
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
In an anticlimactic repeat, Honda's natural-gas burning Civic GX topped the annual "greenest vehicles" of the year listing being published this morning by the non-profit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
It is the 12th year the Washington-based environmental and economic lobbying group has published its Green Book Online, which ranks passenger cars and light trucks for overall environmental impact.
Although the list for the 2009 model year contained no big surprises, it was marked by the reappearance of General Motors Corp., with trio of small cars among the dozen "greenest" vehicles in the market - the Chevrolet Cobalt compact and its Pontiac G5 twin placed eighth overall and the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact finished10th.
The GM cars, which were rated highly for their fuel economy, knocked Ford's Focus off the "greenest" list after its appearance there last year as the only domestic car in the top twelve.
The Ford didn't get a lower score - but the average scores in the top 12 were higher this year than last.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Generally, the 2009 list was marked by continued improvements in the fuel economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of scores of vehicles rather than by stellar performances from just one or two models.
Manufacturers are fine-tuning their engines and transmissions, improving materials, and adding emission control technologies, said ACEEE transportation program director Therese Langer.
Audi will offer a hybrid version of its Q5 premium SUV in the U.S. starting in late 2010, Wolfgang Hatz, head of powertrain development for the Volkswagen group, told Automotive News (subscription required).
If the car is a success in America, Audi said it may launch it in Europe.
In an interview at the Detroit Auto Show last month, Hatz said Audi must offer a hybrid model to compete with rival vehicles that already offer the technology, such as the Lexus RX 400h. The BMW X6 will be offered as a hybrid late this year, and Mercedes-Benz plans to roll out a hybrid in each of its major models starting with the S400 hybrid this year.
That said, Hatz thinks the greatest potential lies in diesel.
"If you look at what you have to spend to get the advantage of the hybrid and what you have to spend on other technologies like diesel, the diesel is much more cost-effective," Hatz told Automotive News. "We have to do hybrids in order to show people that we are able to do them."
Hatz said the cost to develop a hybrid powertrain is three to four times greater than that for a standard drivetrain, compared with less than 50 percent greater for a diesel drivetrain. Considering the low volumes of hybrid vehicles, it makes for a "negative business case" to offer the drivetrain in one model only, Hatz said.
"At the moment, we have to spend quite a lot on the basic technology, which then we can perhaps spread later on more models," he added.
Audi had planned to offer its first hybrid in the larger Q7 premium SUV, but the dollar's weak value against the euro made the business case unworkable. Hatz said the Q5 was a natural alternative.
Already on sale in Europe, the gasoline version of the Q5 (pictured) goes on sale in U.S. in March. It will compete with the BMW X3 and Mercedes GLK.
The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class will be launched this spring, consume up to 23 percent less fuel than current E-class models, and cost between $50,000 and $85,000, the German automaker announced today.
The model program for the new E-Class will consist of 10 variants equipped with four-, six- or eight-cylinder engines. Two additional low-emissions, fuel-efficient four-cylinder-engine models with new gasoline and diesel injection systems will be introduced in the fall of 2009.
Three of the new E-Class models will also be available with an improved 4MATIC all-wheel drive system that exhibits even fuel economy than current E-Class models.
Mercedes-Benz has supplemented the E-Class with features to further improve safety and comfort in the new model series. They include a fatigue recognition system, adaptive shock absorbers, a driver kneebag, an active engine hood, daytime running lights, a Bluetooth cell phone interface, and a large color display on the instrument panel.
The V6 and V8 models will be complemented by a 3.0-liter BlueTEC diesel engine capable of attaining 44 miles per gallon. They will boast as standard equipment a direct steering system and a seven-speed automatic transmission with a steering wheel selector lever.
The E 500 eight-cylinder model will be additionally equipped with pneumatic suspension and an electronically controlled damping system.
(Note: Article updated after initial posting to include Lexus hybrid)
The upcoming North American International Auto Show in snowy Detroit - media preview days begin Sunday and the show opens to the public on Jan. 17 - is likely to be a pretty glum affair, what with the auto industry imploding and the prospect of many people really being interested in buying a new car right now ranking right up there with being interested in having wisdom teeth pulled sans anesthesia.
But carmakers are trying, and what most are trying hardest with is fuel efficiency and alternatives to the thirsty, greenhouse-gas spewing cars and trucks of the past.
Oh, there will be speedsters and factory-built hot rods on display at the show - Ford Motor Co., for example, will unveil the 540-horsepower 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang and Audi will be showing a 525-horsepower, V10-version of its exotic R8 sports car.
But most attention will be focused on advanced technology cars such as the 2010 Prius hybrid (right)
and the battery-electric city car concept that Toyota will show, Honda's Prius-fighting 2009 Insight hybrid and concepts such as the all-electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel -cell electric trio, collectively called Concept Zero, that Mercedes-Benz will unveil.
Beyond the cars, the show's media preview will spotlight industry executives who will be delivering news about their companies' green futures.
Most notably, Toyota is expected to outline its hybrid and electric-vehicle strategies for the next few years and Ford is expected to discuss its plans for a stable of future EVs, starting with a commercial truck it plans to launch in 2010.
Green Car Advsior, along with Edmunds Auto Observer, Edmunds Inside Line and Edmunds.com, will be covering the show 's media days and bringing you timely reports, but we thought we'd also offer a preview today of the major green vehicles that will be displayed and discussed.
Green Preview
So, by manufacturer, here they are:
Audi
Volkswagen's upscale stablemate is expected to announce plans for its upcoming U.S. diesel lineup. So far, the company has said it will launch a 3-liter diesel version of its Q7 SUV (right)
later this year and has broached the possibility of a diesel A4. We'll know more after Audi's Sunday afternoon press conference.
BMW The pride of Bavaria will discuss the X5 and 3-Series diesels it plans to bring to the U.S., perhaps supplying us with some performance and fuel economy numbers as well as a marketing time-line.
Chevrolet
Nothing big here, unless the General decides to announce the upcoming Volt plug-in hybrid's pricing and/or the battery suppliers.
The Chevy vehicle that gets officially introduced at the show is the redesigned 2010 Equinox crossover (right), which will come with a new six-speed automatic and a fuel-efficient, direct-injection four-banger expected to deliver 182 horsepower (almost as much as the '08 model's base V6) and highway fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon.
Chrysler The company has three brands that it has tied together for car show purposes with a trio of concept electric vehicles.
Those to be displayed in Detroit are further refined versions of the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EVs originally unveiled last September and first shown publicly at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November.
By brand, they are the Chrysler EV, an extended-range electric version of the town and Country minivan; the Jeep EV, a gas-electric Wrangler; and the Dodge EV, a Lotus-based, bumblebee-striped battery-electric sports car that would look great in the garage next to an electric Tesla Roadster.
Chrysler has said that it will bring one of the cars to market in 2010, but hasn't said which or in what kind of numbers. Maybe that's what we'll hear at the show.
Fisker
The nascent plug-in-hybrid company headed by, and named for, noted auto designer Henrik Fisker (BMW, Aston Martin, Fisker Coachbuild), will show the production version of it first proposed vehicle, the Fisker Karma sports sedan (right)
that it unveiled to great interest at last year's Detroit show. Fisker also will unveil a new version - a convertible, we suspect - caled the Karma S.
Like the Chevy Volt, the Karma uses an on-board internal combustion engine to generate power to keep its electric motors turning the wheels.
Ford We expect a discussion of the company's electric vehicle strategy, perhaps with a teaser glimpse or two of potential future offerings and a look at the commercial truck the company has said it will launch in 2010.
Honda
The news here will be the unveiling of the production version 2009 Insight hybrid (right)
, a sub $20,000, five-seater Honda hopes will finally, finally, pump its hybrid sales up into Prius territory.
We're expected to hear a lot of technical detail and, perhaps, even a firmer price for the car, which looks in pictures a bit like the Prius it's designed to battle.
Lexus Toyota's luxury unit will reveal its first stand-alone hybrid model, a small car that is based off the upcoming 2010 Prius.
Although it is not unusual - its pretty common, even - for photos of new models to leak out before their official unveiling, the best we've been able to come up with for the new Lexus hybrid is this rendering (left) published in a Japanese auto magazine a few months ago.
Mercedes-Benz The covers will come off a trio of EV concepts from Daimler's luxe brand. All use the same swoopy, sport wagon-ish body (below right) - a design that also shows where Mercedes is heading with the compact B-Class replacement due in 2010 and, perhaps, headed for the U.S.
The so-called Concept Zero family consists of the E-Cell, a battery-electric with a range of about 60 miles; the E-Cell Plus, a plug-in hybrid that uses a 3-cylinder gas engine-generator to extend the range of its batteries when the initial charge is depleted (think Chevy Volt), and the F-Cell, which uses a hydrogen fuel-cell to produce electricity on-board by combining hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel-cell stack. Range is about 125 miles. Mercedes says the E-Cell Plus can go almost 400 miles on an overnight battery charge and a tank of gas.
Toyota The company whose name has become synonymous with 'hybrid" is introducing the redesigned 2010 Prius at the show, but photos of the car leaked out weeks ago and you've got to believe that anyone who's interested has already seen it. What will be news, of course, are the specifications and performance numbers.
The other biggie on the product front from Toyota will be the unveiling of a concept electric vehicle, probably called the FT-EV if the company's previous auto show naming practices prevail (that would stand for "future technology-electric vehicle").
The car, believed to be built on a current Toyota subcompact chassis, is the company's effort to give us a look at what a Toyota-built battery-electric EV for short-range urban driving might look like if the company does, as it has said it would, put an EV into its retail fleet in 2012.
Not The End
And, of course - Detroit being Detroit - there likely will be a surprise or two. So consider this list a starter, not a definitive catalog.
China's BYD, for instance, will be there with the plug-in-hybrid (left)
it launched in its home market a few weeks ago, beating the big boys like GM and Toyota to the punch by a matter of, oh, a year or two. Who knows what the company - whose name is an acronym for Build Your Dreams and whose future is being backed by investment whiz Warren Buffett - will do next? We might find out as the Detroit show rolls along.
We'll be back when media days begin on Sunday to keep you up-to-date.
It would appear that Daimler not only views electrification of the automobile as the key to sustainable mobility, but it also views the shift from gasoline- and diesel-powered cars and trucks to electric vehicles as an opportunity for the Stuttgart automaker to compete head on with major automotive parts suppliers.
In an interview today with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Chief Executive Thomas Weber (pictured) said Daimler -- parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart -- intends to compete directly with German automotive parts supplier Robert Bosch and other companies in selling high-performance lithium-ion batteries to third parties.
Weber's comments follow the joint announcement last month by Daimler and German chemical, energy and real estate company Evonik Industries that the two companies had partnered to develop lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and hybrids, with the first publicized target for the new batteries being the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid due out this year.
Daimler and Evonik made that announcement less than a week after Mercedes-Benz disclosed plans to unveil a trio of BlueZero electric-drive concept vehicles at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, which starts next Monday, and Daimler's announcement to expand its test program of electric-drive Smart Fortwos from London and Berlin to the Italian cities of Rome, Milan and Pisa.
According to industry forecasts, the market size for high-performance lithium-ion batteries will exceed $13 billion within the next decade. Clearly, Daimler and Evonik Industries want a chunk of that market, as do Toyota, Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan, all of which have recently partnered with battery-makers.
European carmakers must cut emissions of global-warming gases from new vehicles by 18 percent within the next six years, the European Parliament agreed Wednesday after a long battle between environmentalists and automakers that ultimately resulted in greatly watered-down legislation.
In accordance with the 27-nation pact, carbon-dioxide emissions from new cars will be cut to 130 grams per kilometer in a phased approach starting in 2012 and with full compliance by 2015.
Under the phase-in, 65 percent of Europe's new-car fleet must meet the target in 2012; 75 percent in 2013, 80 percent in 2014 and 100 percent beginning in 2015.
To meet the 130 grams per kilometer average, the EU will give carmakers individual targets based on the weight of their cars. The targets range from 122 grams per kilometer for Fiat and 137 grams per kilometer for BMW and Daimler.
Car companies that miss their targets will face fines that were slashed nearly in half under intense lobbying by the automakers.
The European Commission, which originates EU laws, had envisaged the full cuts to carbon dioxide by 2012 and a CO2 target of 120 grams per kilometer on average. But Germany fought hard for BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which will now be able to produce their biggest, luxury gas-guzzlers until 2014, protecting jobs and export earnings.
German automotive giant Daimler announced today that it will expand its "e-mobility" electric-drive test program to three Italian cities.
Daimler, which earlier this year launched a major electric vehicle test program in London and recently announced plans to expand it to Berlin (pictured) next year, reached an agreement with Italy's largest electric company to test electric-drive Smart Fortwos in Rome, Milan and Pisa.
The agreement calls for a total of 100 Fortwo EDs (electric drives) and 400 charging stations to be deployed in the three cities in 2010. Smart will be responsible for supplying and maintaining the electric vehicles and Enel, the power company, will be on the hook for the development, implementation and operation of the charging stations as well as the central control system.
Why, you ask, were Rome, Milan and Pisa selected over, say, your favorite Italian cites of Palermo, Venice and Naples? Good question. Daimler, which in addition to Smart is also parent to Mercedes-Benz, says the cities were selected because they represent the diverse lifestyles and living arrangements that characterize Italy today.
The electricity used to supply the EVs will be certified by Renewable Energy Certificate System, an international system involving 25 European countries that was established to finance the development of renewable energy resources, such as water, the sun, wind and geothermal resources. Already, 1.3 million customers have already signed up for this type of plan, provided by Enel on the free market.
Mercedes-Benz will unveil a small family of BlueZero electric-drive concept vehicles at next month's 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and the official images of one of them have already been leaked on several German Web sites.
The least complicated of the three concepts is the BlueZero E-Cell, a pure-electric plug-in model featuring a 100-kilowatt motor with 236 pound-feet of torque and a lithium-ion battery pack. The range is said to be just over 60 miles on a two-hour charge.
An extended-range companion is the BlueZero E-Cell Plus, a gas-electric hybrid that adds a turbocharged three-cylinder engine from the Smart stable as an onboard generator to boost range to nearly 375 miles.
The third model is the BlueZero F-Cell, which uses a hydrogen fuel cell to deliver 136 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, with zero emissions.
Slightly more information can be found about these vehicles at our sister site, Edmunds' Inside Line.
The World Car of the Year organization has announced the initial slate of candidates for 2009 World Green Car of the Year.
Launched three years ago, the title has been awarded in the past to the BMW 118d (2008), the Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (2007) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (2006).
The 2009 candidates must be new and on sale by December 31.
The list includes the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI (pictured), BMW 335d BluePerformance, Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon hybrids, Citroen C1, Fiat Palio Weekend Electric, Fiat Siena Tetrafuel model, Honda FCX Clarity. Go to Edmunds.com's Inside Line to view more candidates.
The organization includes working automotive journalists from around the globe, including regular Inside Line contributors Matt Davis, Hormazd Sorabjee, Peter Nunn and Peter Lyon.
The top 10 finalists will be announced in January, with the winner revealed in April at the 2009 New York Auto Show.
No big surprise here, but a German news magazine is reporting that Mercedes-Benz plans to begin building battery-electric versions of its A- and B-Class subcompacts in 2012,
---------- A-Class could be new EV from Mercedes. ----------
The Mercedes-Benz electric cars are to follow the Smart EV, which Mercedes owner Daimler already is testing in England and Germany.
Mercedes doesn't sell the A- or B-Class internal combustion models in the the U.S. but is contemplating bringing them over, so we might be in line for an electric version as well.
The magazine, WirtschaftsWoche, cited Mercedes' internal planning documents as sourcing or its A- and B-Class report, according to a morning industry analysis briefing from economics and business consulting firm Global Insight.
Actually, Daimler already has said it plans to test Mercedes-brand EVs. The magazine report provides the models and the timeline for entering the retail market.
The magazine also is reporting that Daimler has pushed back the retail launch date for the Smart EV to early 2012 from 2010, a delay that could signal problems with lithium-ion battery development or concern over the availability of an electric vehicle charging infrastructure, according to the Global Insight analysis.
Perhaps the crew at Mercedes should talk to the people at Better Place, which appears to be moving ahead full steam on its plans to install EV charging stations anywhere it can find a willing partner.
(We took our info from the Global Insight briefing, but you can click here for a computer-translated version of the magazine article, or, if you read German, for the original.)
EV charger manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, which recently announced that it has orders for 40 of its networked charging stations to be installed along major traffic corridors in California, says it now has established distributorships that cover 28 states with plans to expand into all 50.
Coulomb, headquartered in Northern California, is displaying its wirelessly linked charging stations at the Electric Drive Transportation Assn.'s annual conference in Washington, D.C. this week.
The company's "Smartlet" stations supply current at a variety of voltages for battery-electric and pug-in hybrid vehicles. Station users' would use prepaid accounts that would be debited via a wireless transaction when they access one of the charging stations - unless the station owner has opted, as several have, to deliver the power at no charge.
Coulomb said it will market the stations exclusively through its regional distributors, who now cover the major states in all regions except Texas and the Midwest.
Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb's chief executive, has said that he wants to position the company to have a commercial recharging infrastructure in place when vehicles with rechargeable batteries beginning appearing in the marketplace.
In addition to independents such as Tesla Motors, Miles Electric Vehicles, GEM and Zap that already market electric vehicles, several major and independent automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, BMW, Fisker Automotive and Aptera Motors have announced plans for plug-in hybrids or battery-electric cars that will begin to hit the market -- some for testing, others for retail sales or leasing -- by late next year.
With sales of its big SUVs stalled and a collapsing economy threatening to decimate its bread-and-butter luxury car audience, Mercedes-Benz is thinking the once-unthinkable: selling its subcompact A-Class (right) and compact B-Class (below) cars to Americans.
Steven Cannon, marketing vice president for Mercedes-Benz USA, told German weekly Auto Motor und Sport that his company is "looking at options to export" the next-generation A- and B-Class models to the U.S., according to a report this morning by auto industry analysts at IHS Global Insight consulting. Mercedes' smallest cars are next scheduled for updating in 2011.
In the past, Mercedes has been reluctant to drop below the C-Class in the U.S. for fear less expensive, less luxurious models would damage its upper-crust image.
In Washington's infinite wisdom, the tax incentives that have bolstered U.S. sales of the most fuel-efficient hybrids are gone or soon will be at a time when experts agree the vehicles could play an important role in reducing America's addiction to foreign oil and in stopping global warming.
---------- Honda's 42-mpg 2008 Civic Hybrid; its tax break ends next month. ----------
Tax incentives tied to Toyota's 2005-2008 model-year Prius, which gets a phenomenal EPA-rated 48 miles per gallon in the city, 45 mpg on the highway and 46 combined, expired in October 2007.
That same month saw the tax credit for the 2007-2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid vanish, despite the fact that model gets an EPA-rated 34 mpg combined.
And soon we'll witness another mystery: In the final minutes of next month, as people around the world usher out the old year and celebrate the new, the U.S. tax incentive for the 2006-2008 Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg combined!) will dissolve at the stroke of midnight.
But the strangeness won't end there.
Beginning next spring, Honda will offer a hybrid achieving a claimed 60 mpg. What tax break will Uncle Sam provide buyers of this gas-sipper, the 2010 Honda Insight? None whatsoever.
None, as in the 2,200 fewer taxpayer dollars than he's offering buyers of the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid right now, despite the fact that big ol' honkin' SUV achieves only 21 mpg combined.
The rules were crystal: chow mescaline and Twinkies, crank Hendrix or Led Zep, and design alt-fuel race cars for model year 2025 that defy normal imaginations.
At least that's our understanding of the rules given the nine Southern California automotive design studios competing in the fifth annual L.A. Auto Show's Design Challenge.
This year's entries will be judged by Tom Matano of San Francisco's Academy of Art University, Imre Molner of Detroit's College for Creative Studies, Stewart Reed of Pasadena's Art Center College of Design, and Daniel Simon, founder of Cosmic Motors.
The winning design will be announced at the auto show on Nov. 20. And now for your dreaming pleasure:
The question of just how automakers bringing diesels with urea-based anti-NOx exhaust systems into the U.S. would guarantee that the emissions-cleaning chemical would not be allowed to run dry was a sticking point for months in negotiations between federal regulators and carmakers.
---------- New 2009 Mercedes-Benz diesel SUVs use urea system to knock down NOx emissions. ----------
Well, now we know: The vehicles won't start if the urea tank is allowed to run too low.
We would love to make a joke here, but the industry trade journal Automotive News (subscription only)
beat us to it Monday, with one of the best double-entendre
headlines we've seen (or read) in years: "Urea must flow or new diesels won't go."
You know, of course, that the urea we're talking about isn't the kind produced by too many beers at a ball game, but a type of chemical ammonia that's synthesized from natural gas (and we'll spare you any attempt at a bodily functions joke here).
It is carried in large tanks on board the trio of Mercedes-Benz diesel SUVs -- the GL320, ML320 and R320 (above, right)
that hit dealer showrooms at the beginning of the month and is periodically injected into a special "selective catalyst reduction" or SCR exhaust catalyst, where it combines with the emissions of toxic NOx, or nitrogen oxide, breaking it down into harmless water vapor and inert nitrogen.
Motor Trendreported today
that there are "whispers out of General Motors" suggesting that GM might offer the Cadillac CTS with a fuel-efficient4.5-liter Duramax V-8 turbodiesel engine.
While the emissions-sensitive engine was initially expected to serve in SUVs and light-duty pickups, GM engineers have long pointed out that the dual overhead cam, four-valve diesel V-8 will fit in the same space as a small-block gasoline V-8.
GM says the 4.5-liter Duramax is capable of delivering more than 310 horsepower and 520 pound-feet of torque. It also claims the engine meets the tough 2010 emissions standards, making it legal in all 50 states.
Motor Trend points out that while the CTS is due to get a 2.9-liter V-6 diesel in Europe, the 4.5-liter diesel V-8 could easily fill the obvious gap between the 304-hp direct-injection V-6 of the regular CTS and the 556-hp supercharged V-8 of the CTS-v in the U.S.
That's especially true, the magazine notes, now that the Ultra V-8 engine program has been canned. In the CTS, the Duramax V-8 could easily deliver comparable performance to the Ultra, with 20-25 percent better mileage.
A diesel CTS for the U.S. would be a risk, but the downside for GM is in fact minimal. The engine already exists, as does the transmission capable of handling the torque, so there's little incremental investment required and therefore fewer sales needed to make the business case. The Duramax play also makes sense in light of the proposed corporate average fuel economy regulations mandating 35 mpg average by 2020.
American consumers are rightly wary of diesels, but moves by Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi to bring 50-state-legal diesel cars to the U.S. will help transform the oil-burner's image here over the next few years. And, as Motor Trend notes, it certainly won't hurt Cadillac's image to be seen offering the same sort of technology as Europe's blue-chip luxury brands.
AMG, the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz that transforms mainstream models into wickedlyfast machines, is planning hybrid versions to improve the fuel economy of the vehicles they modify.
That according to AMG chief Volker Mornhinweg in a recent interview with the British magazine CAR.
To retain its tire-smoking credentials, AMG will use advanced low-weight materials so that a less powerful -- and less thirsty -- engine can provide the same blazing acceleration as a heavier AMG-tuned Mercedes fitted with a bigger engine, Mornhinweg said.
"Power is not a problem for us, so we'll be focusing heavily on materials technology to lower weight and boost the power-to-weight ratios of our cars," he said. "And because they'll be lighter, they'll be more agile and engaging to drive."
The AMG boss said that by the end of the decade the company will unveil a mild-hybrid gas-electric model with start-stop technology, energy recuperation and on-demand functionality that will best the current 6.2-liter V8's fuel economy and emissions figures by around 30 percent without sacrificing performance.
"Although hybrids normally mean more weight, we'll use our knowledge of lightweight material to offset this increase," Mornhinweg said. "And don't forget, AMG is all about torque, and electric engines develop their torque at standstill."
In case you've been in a deep, dank cave with no wireless connection for the past few hours, the news du jour
is that the House has approved the Wall Street rescue measure that includes the original $700-billion in bail-out bucks plus wads of cash for renewable energy, biofuels and energy-efficiency programs.
The $17 billion energy package also includes a plug-in hybrids tax credit plan
with an estimated price tag of $1 billion. It won't expire until the auto industry has, collectively, sold 250,000 plug-in cars and trucks that run at least part of the time on all-electric drive from energy stored in rechargeable, on-board batteries.
While none of the major automakers has yet to offer a plug-in, just about all (Honda Motor Co. is a notable exception) are working on them, with General Motor Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt perhaps the best known of the bunch.
Reporters walking the floor of the Paris Auto Show this week, however, are seeing a lot more as European car makers seem to have embraced the idea
of electric cars and gas- and diesel-electric hybrids with a fervor usually associated with revival meeting preachers.
German automotive giant Daimler says it has seen the future, and it is green and uses batteries.
The company, which last month launched a major electric car and charging station program in Berlin and has been testing electric Smart cars in London for almost a year, unveiled the newest generation of Smart EVs (or EDs - for electric drive) Thursday at the Paris Motor Show.
The tiny Smart, in production since 1998, is an attempt to help make individual transportation environmentally sound and sustainable and the quiet and emission-free ED versions, the company says, could be the answer.
Speeches at major auto shows are usually grandiose and full of promises, and Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche's was no exception as he talked of the future he sees for his company and the auto industry:
As people continue moving out of the suburbs and into cities to be closer to work and to cut their fuel bills, "the future will see an ever-increasing proportion of traffic on the roads in urban centers," Zetsche said.
"Zero-emission electric cars could shape the image of environmentally aware cities because zero local emission motoring is no longer science fiction - and also when seen as a whole emissions will be further reduced as the proportion of 'green' electricity increases. The future of mobility is green. We invented the car - and we will do it again!"
Portland, Or. - Usually when a carmaker invites a bunch of journalists to a seminar, they get wined and dined and stuffed with all sorts of fun facts about how well the company's doing and what great new products it is working on.
Toyota turned things upside down this week with a day-long session it called the Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar.
We were wined and dined, but only after listening to a parade of top scientists and researchers tell us, in unsparing detail, how the planet is running out of oil and water; how the biofuels we look to as potential replacements for oil aren't worth the power and water it takes to make 'em, and how we now are consuming 40 percent more resources each year than the planet can sustain.
It was not, as you can tell, a particularly spirit-lifting session.
Bill Reinert, Toyota's North American advanced technology vehicles manager, took to the podium after the morning's sessions, held out his left wrist and, with a downward slashing motion of his right hand told us that after hearing all that had just been said he wanted us to know that the proper way to slit it was vertically, not horizontally.
Highlights - or low lights - included:
From Scripps Institute (San Diego) hydrologist Tim Barnett the cheery news that there's a 50 percent probability that the American West, where much of the next few decades' population growth will be centered, is likely to run out of water in the next 20-40 years.
We told you earlier that Mercedes-Benz would launch its first passenger car hybrid, the S400 BlueHybrid, in the U.S. late next year.
Now the German luxury-vehicle maker has nailed down the date: September, 2009.
Mercedes spokesman Rob Moran gave Edmunds Inside Linethe word
earlier today.
Now all we have to do is get the company to cough up the price, which Moran said won't be released until closer to the on-sale date.
Mercedes fans overseas will be able to buy the new hybrid sooner than U.S. customers: it goes on sale in Europe in June of '09 and in China in August.
The car
is a spin-off of the S350, and combines that model's 3.5-liter V6 with an electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack. The system's combined 299 horsepower and 284 pound-feet of torque is delivered to the wheels via a 7-speed automatic transmisson.
Combined city-highway fuel economy is an estimated 29.7 mpg.
No word yet on tax credits for the hybrid S400 sedan, but the feds earlier approved credits of up to $1,800 for purchasers of Mercedes' ML320, GL320 and RL320 hybrid SUVs.
Some blogs are reporting today that the U.S. government is now offering tax incentives for five diesel models, three from Mercedes-Benz and two from Volkswagen.
We brought you that information weeks ago, when it had just come out of the oven, so to speak.
But in case you missed it, here it is again, in a wrap-up of all the fuel-efficient vehicles that are now eligible for U.S. tax credits.
Just click on the charts below for easily readable charts of what's available.
BMW's North American President Jim O'Donnell, in a videotaped interview
with Business Week
, has confirmed rumors that the Bavarian automaker is developing a new 4-cylinder motor, one that's diesel-powered, turbocharged and will outperform the current 6-cylinder N52 engine (right)
,
which debuted in 2004inside the BMW E63 630Ci.
In the interview, O'Donnell (below) said:
"We are working on a new, 4-cylinder engine that will deliver stronger performance in terms of acceleration than the current 6-cylinder, that will deliver lower emissions and will give you better fuel economy; so it's a win, win, win situation. So this will be a high-tech 4-cylinder engine, obviously turbocharged. We can't really confirm or deny when it is going to come into the U.S. -- if it's going to come into the U.S. -- until after the [presidential] election and the government makes it clear what is going to be the platform that manufacturers have got to work to."
We're not sure what to make of that last sentence, because if what he's saying about the engine is true, it shouldn't have trouble meeting America's fuel-economy standards.
Or is he saying BMW will have this hot new engine, but won't export it to the U.S. unless John McCain is elected president? Or unless Barack Obama wins the contest? Why would that be? The videotape ends with "got to work to"; if he explained himself moments later, whatever he said got left on the cutting-room floor, so to speak.
Or perhaps we've got it all wrong. Perhaps his comments were primarily intended to take some of the attention away from Mercedes' announcement earlier this week that it will launch a new generation of super-efficient diesel engines later this year, starting with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder "BlueEfficiency" powerplant.
Mercedes' turbocharged engine has a 7.0-second acceleration time from zero to 62 miles per hour, a top sped of 155 mph and yet gets a claimed 45 miles per gallon on the European test cycle; it'll be substantially less under the EPA test in the U.S. Still, that engine has people talking, certainly more than O'Donnell likes.
So, is this a case of German luxury rivals now competing for downsized-engine primacy? Could be, given that smaller engines are going to be the norm not only in Europe but in the U.S. and Canada as well as governments on both sides of the Atlantic require better fuel efficiency and fewer greenhouse-gas emissions from domestic and foreign automakers alike.
Pressed to lower its cars' carbon dioxide emissions and to give consumers more fuel-efficient vehicles, luxury car maker Daimler says it anticipates that gas- or diesel-electric hybrids could account for one in fiive of its Mercedes-Benz unit's cars and SUVs by 2015.
Beginning with an S-Class hybrid(right) next year, Daimler plans to roll out at least one hybrid vehicle a year, Susanne Klauser, a spokeswoman for the German carmaker told Bloomberg News today.
German auto companies, heavily invested in advanced diesel technology, have been slow to jump on the hybrid bandwagon and still argue that putting two powertrains in one car is a costly and inefficient way to go green.
But there's no arguing with success and Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche all have watched Toyota Motor Co.'s Prius shoot to the top of the best-seller lists in recent years, as consumers have become convinced that hybrids are one of the best ways to cut fuel consumption.
Daimler hasn't abandoned other green technologies, however, and recently showed Green Car Advisor a spate of projects including an advanced fuel-cell electric car and an improved clean-emissions gasoline engine that delivers diesel-like torque and fuel economy.
More good news on the diesel front: Mercedes-Benz says it will launch a new generation of super-efficient diesel engines later this year, starting with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder "BlueEfficiency" powerplant.
The new diesel engine will debut in a limited production C-Class sedan to be called the "C 250 CDI BlueEfficiency Prime Edition."
(And while the engine may be efficient, the nameplate sure isn't. Imagine how much energy is consumed stamping out badges with all that verbage on 'em!)
The turbocharged engine, which uses high-pressure, common-rail direct injection, churns out 204 horsepower (150 kilowatts) and, as is a diesel's tendency, tons and tons of torque - 369 pound-feet, or 500 Newton-meters.
That's enough for a 7.0-second acceleration time from zero to 62 mph (100 kilometers per hour) and a top sped of 155 mph (250 kph), according to Mercedes.
Overall fuel economy is estimated at 5.2 liters per 100 kilometers or about 45 miles per gallon on the European test cycle, which typically gives vehicles higher mileage than they'd achieve under the EPA test in the U.S.
And the reason we're providing the stats in metric measure is that the car will be aimed first at European markets and only 5,000 will be produced.
There's no word yet on whether the new engine will ever show up in the U.S., but Mercedes drops a hint by saying that while not yet meeting tough U.S. diesel emissions standards, the 250 CDI "has the potential to comply."
Mercedes said in a release today that it believes the engine is powerful and responsive enough to be "a sensible alternative to the higher-displacement six-cylinder engines in future."
Volkswagen has big plans for the 2009 Jetta TDI, but sales of the new clean diesel model that debuted in the U.S. last month may be outstrippingthe company's best estimates.
"It certainly met and probably exceeded our expectations," Mark Barnes, chief operating officer of Volkswagen of America Inc., said in an interview with Bloomberg News. He wouldn't say, however, what those expections were.
Diesel Jetta sales in the U.s. last month totaled 2,417 - and the Jetta TDI didn't go on sale til Aug. 18. Total Jetta sales for the month rose to 11,217, with the diesel model accounting for 21.5 percent.
That could rise to 35 percent with a full month of sales in September, Barnes said.
VW has said it intends total U.S. sales of all of its models to top the1-million mark by 2018 and that diesel models will play a big part in the increase, which would more than triple last year's combined sales of the automaker's Volkswagen, Audi and Bentley models.
Last week we reported
that Daimler Group and German utility RWE launched a joint project that calls for RWE to develop, install and operate 500 charging stations in Berlin and Daimler to provide more than 100 electric cars from Mercedes-Benz and Smart that will use the stations.
The idea is to study the performance of the cars in daily, real-world driving, and to study the efficacy of the charging infrastructure provided by RWE. Ideally, the charging stations should work with all electric vehicles.
Today, the German newspaper Handelsblattreported that RWE intends to allow Mitsubishi Motors access to the network of recharging stations when Daimler's one-year exclusive agreement with the utility expires.
Mitsubishi has a suitable vehicle for the Berlin project in the form of the i-MiEV (Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle), which will be named I-EV in the German market.
All of the vehicles provided by Daimler and Mitsubishi will be powered by lithium-ion batteries. The project represents the first large-scale rollout of lithium-ion battery-powered electric passenger cars in Europe.
One hundred Smart electric vehicles are currently being field tested in Britain, but all of them are fitted with the heavier, bulkier and less capable nickel-metal hydride batteries.
As previously reported, Daimler has said it plans to produce 10,000 electric-powered Smart cars by 2012.
Daimler Group and German utility RWE today launched E-Mobility Berlin, the world's largest joint project for electric cars.
The initiative covers all components required for the efficient use of battery-powered electric vehicles, from innovative drive technology through to customer-friendly infrastructure.
Daimler will provide more than 100 electric cars from Mercedes-Benz and Smart as well as a vehicle service.
RWE will handle the development, installation and operation of a charging infrastructure that will include 500 charging stations, the supply of electricity and central control of the system.
The payment system takes the form of an exchange of data between an in-car communication system and computerized charging station.
The newest generation of Smart ED (electric drive) and electric-battery driven vehicles from Mercedes-Benz will come in use with the project.
In early June we reported that General Motors won't sell as many hybrid cars as it had hoped this year due to 9,000 defective batteries supplied by Cobasys.
Now the Michigan-based battery maker is being blamed for holding up the release of electric Smart ForTwos fitted with advanced lithium-ion battery packs.
Smart had hoped to bring to market ForTwos packing lithium-ion batteries by the end of 2009.
But Klaus Badenhausen, the automaker's chief engineer, told Edmunds.com's Inside Line today that problems it is having with Cobasys have stymied Smart's lithium-ion battery plans.
As we've reported, Cobasys' parent companies are in a dispute over who should assume costs incurred by their troublesome child.
Indeed, GM wasn't the only automaker to be burned by Cobasys. Early last month, Mercedes-Benz sued Cobasys and its parent companies, claiming the battery maker wasn't delivering the battery packs it agreed to build for Mercedes' ML450 Hybrid.
As a result the German automaker might have to delay the launch of its planned hybrid SUV.
Daimler Group hasn't yet announced whether it will offer electric Smart ForTwos in the U.S., but that doesn't stop the German automaker from shoveling photos of the cute little plug-ins into the email boxes of autowriters across America.
Here are three that arrived today. We post them because we're certain some of our readers are already yearning for their own Smart ED -- for electric drive, as they are called in Europe -- even one in neon green.
Daimler currently has a first-generation fleet of 100 all-electric Smart cars being tested in England, and this little bugger is likely part of the herd. Also under study are public chargers, including the one pictured here.
As we reported recently, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has announced that Mercedes-Benz will begin selling an all-electric version of its Smart car in Europe in 2010.
The Financial Times Germany reported
today that Daimler has picked U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Motors to provide batteries for a 150-car test fleet of battery-powered Smart cars.
The Smart EVs, which will be made in England and sent to Berlin and other cities for testing, will contain lithium-ion batteries capable of propelling the cars 90 miles between charges.
The article also reports that Daimler has teamed with RWE, a major German utility, to install 500 charging stations throughout the German capital. Daimler will eventually expand the test fleet to 1,000 cars, the newspaper said.
Daimler did not immediately return calls seeking confirmation. Tesla's Darryl Siry declined to comment on the story at this time, but Tesla is no stranger to electric Smart cars.
We reported back in March
that the company had a battery-powered Smart at its facility and speculated then that Tesla might have been angling for a conversion deal with the San Fransicsco-area Smart dealer.
Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche told another German newspaper recently that Mercedes-Benz will release an all-electric version of its Smart car in 2010.
Zetsche declined to discuss vehicle price, in part because Daimler has not decided yet whether or not to manufacture the electric motors itself.
Daimler currently has a first-generation fleet of 100 all-electric Smart cars being tested in London.
Looking to boost the fuel efficiency of its commercial trucks (left),
auto giant Daimler's truck division hasopened a hybrid research center in Japan, where it owns a big chunk of truck maker Mitsubishi Fuso.
The new Daimler Global Hybrid Center will be located on Mitsubishi Fuso's campus in Kawasaki, the company said.
Mitsubishi has developed diesel-electric hybrid systems for city buses and light commercial trucks and Daimler wants to harness that expertise to its own Teutonic engineering prowess, according to industry analysts at economic consultant Global Insight
The aim is to come up with systems that can be applied to the range of commercial vehicles it manufacturers in its Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Mitsubishi Fuso subsidiaries.
And if some of that technology happens to trickle down into the company's Mercedes-Benz and Smart passenger car divisions, well, so much the better.
Mercedes-Benz, with its 2009 BlueTec SUVs
, and Volkswagen with its 2009 Jetta TD
I are the big players in the U.S. diesel market these days. But it looks like BMW is close behind.
We got the keys to a Euro-spec BWM 745d over the weekend and gave it a whirl as part of a program, sponsored by diesel systems developer Bosch
, to show off the differences that advances in diesel technology have brought to oil-burners in recent years.
Diesels, long thought of by U.S. motorists as smelly, noisy and dirty - because they were smelly, noisy and dirty - have undergone a metamorphosis overseas as Europe's carmakers turned to them to help cope with governmental concerns over CO2 emissions and consumer concerns over fuel prices that are now running in the neighborhood of $8 a gallon.
They now are clean and quiet and pretty near odorless thanks to stringent emissions filtering systems and the low sulfur content of modern diesel fuel.
They also deliver quite a wallop in the fuel economy department - usually offering 30 to 35 percent better mileage than gasoline versions of the same vehicles.
The 745d, for instance, delivered a pretty consistent 24 miles per gallon in combined highway and city driving while we had it- 33 percent more than the comparably performing, gasoline-fueled 4.8-liter 750i sedan that's EPA rated at 18 miles per gallon in mixed use.
As the nine cars crossed the Hydrogen Road Tour
"finish line" Saturday in the shadow of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, promoters of the 13-day, 31-city event piped in Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" - theme song of "Rocky III" -as many in the audience of about 150 people waved mini checkered flags.
----------
Daimler's A-Class mercedes-Benz fuel cell car on display at Road Tour finale.
----------
The image they hoped to convey, of course, was the hydrogen, like actor Sylvester Stallone's fictional fighter, Rocky, is a winner.
It remains to be seen, though, whether the hydrogen fuel-cell technology promoted by the tour has a chance of knocking gas-electric hybrids out of contention as the dominant alternative to fossil fuel-powered engines.
Fully fueled, such cars, which produce electricity through an electro-chemical process in the fuel cell stack and limit tailpipe emissions to mere drops of water, have traveling ranges that vary from 100 miles for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz F-Cell to about 270 miles for Honda's FCX Clarity.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers today distributed a press release, saying that it had trademarked "EcoDriving" and launched a Website with fuel-saving tips for motorists.
This is the same Alliance that has vigilantly opposed legislation that would compel automakers to meet government-mandated fuel-economy standards.
The Website the Alliance launched -- ecodrivingusa.com -- contains what you'd expect: Nothing on how the industry can clean up its act and provide more fuel efficiency, just tips on how motorists can drive more fuel efficiently, a means to calculate your vehicle's carbon footprint, and of course instructions on how to "promote the EcoDriving program."
As for the Alliance's claim that they possess the trademark to "EcoDriving"?
The term "EcoDriving" is not unique to the Alliance or its services or products -- a litmus test that trademark terms must pass -- and the term has been in the public domain for awhile.
It can, for example, be found on ecomodders.com, ecodrive.org and other Websites that promote fuel-responsible driving and, unlike the Alliance and its new Website, aren't funded by BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen.
In case you've been wondering, major automakers and the lame-duck Bush Administration have reaffirmed their joint commitment to hydrogen fuel and to getting fuel-cell electric and other hydrogen-using vehicles into the retail market by 2018.
The happy group renewed its vows during a hydrogen technology showcase Thursday in Washington.
----------
A pair of Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric Vehicles are shown in rendering of a hydrogen fuel station being installed near los Angeles International Airport.
----------
"With continued investment, hydrogen holds the potential to help fundamentally change the way we power our vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Bud Albright, an Energy Department undersecretary, said in remarks delivered during the public showcase.
The Energy Department, Transportation Department, nine automakers with prototype hydrogen-using vehicles and a number of fuel companies and other hydrogen advocates are in the midst of a cross-country tour to promote hydrogen as the logical successor to oil for fueling cars and trucks.
The manufacturers in "Hydrogen Road Tour '08" are BMW, Daimler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai-Kia, Nissan Motor Co., Toyota Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.
In June we reported
that officials at Mercedes-Benz USA were hoping that their upcoming diesel-powered '09 models -- the ML 320 BlueTEC, GL 320 BlueTEC and R 320 BlueTEC -- will enable buyers to claim the same federal tax credit as is currently available to individuals who buy certain hybrid-electric vehicles.
The German automaker got its wish this week, when the Internal Revenue Service agreed with Mercedes' assertion that the new 50-state-legal, diesel-engine Benzes should be in the same category as hybrids that qualify for the federal Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit, because the diesels are every bit as "clean" as hybrids.
The decision comes two weeks after the EPA granted a $1,300 tax credit to the first 60,000 buyers of the 2009 Jetta TDI sedan and SportWagen, which like the BlueTEC vehicles, are diesel powered.
The three BlueTEC models are expected to go on sale beginning this October. The amount of the tax credit will vary with model, from $900 for the ML to $1,800 for the GL, due to the process the Internal Revenue Service uses to determine how much fuel will be saved by the vehicle.
In March we brought you news that Green Car Advisor
had spied a pair of electric-powered Smart Fortwos
in California and that Smart USA President David Schembri hoped to begin testing a small fleet of Smart EVs here in America sometime next year.
Today we can report that Daimler Group, which owns Smart, is aiming to produce 10,000 electric vehicles by 2012.
"By 2010 we will be very close to series production and aim to start with limited numbers in the hundreds," Thomas Weber, Daimler's director for research and development, said in Stuttgart Saturday. "Our aim is to cover costs by 2010. By 2012 we would be producing around 10,000 units."
Weber said "the next phase in electric car production is equipping the Smart microcars with lithium-ion batteries, with Smart two-seaters and the Mercedes A series coming onto the market the following year."
Daimler research shows that for most European customers 80 percent of their mobility requirement was under 31 miles a day. Weber said Smart electric cars can go 60 miles between charges.
The most promising market is seen as Europe, where environmental concerns are widespread. Weber said Daimler was planning further tests on top of those currently running since last year in London.
"Berlin is very interested, and Paris and Rome would also be possible," he said, but he made no mention of Smart or Mercedes EVs coming to the U.S., and calls placed to Daimler regarding the subject were not promptly returned.
Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. has sued Cobasys LLC and its parent companies, claiming the battery maker isn't delivering the battery packs it agreed to build for Mercedes' ML450 Hybrid (right) and as a result the German automaker might have to delay the launch of its planned hybrid SUV.
In a lawsuit filed last week in a U.S. District Court, Mercedes-Benz said it had scheduled the production launch of its new hybrid vehicle for June 2009, and that it had a contract with Cobasys in which that company agreed to supply 100 percent of the batteries for the ML450 and would do so "in due time."
The automaker also alleges that based on the contract, its engineers began working closely with Cobasys personnel to refine the specifications for the battery pack and Mercedes-Benz and its affiliates paid Cobasys approximately $6 million in connection with the development of the battery pack.
But according to the lawsuit, Cobasys notified Mercedes-Benz many months later that its owners -- Chevron Technology Venture LLC. and Ovionic Battery Company Inc. -- "had reached an impasse as to how to fund Cobasys."
As a result, Cobasys said it would not sign a purchase order Mercedes-Benz had presented for the battery packs months after Cobasys representatives signed the initial contract with the automaker.
The suit also says that Mercedes-Benz "understands that a buyer for Cobasys has now been located, and that a sale of Cobasys is now imminent."
Cobasys builds batteries for General Motors' mild hybrid sedans and, in June, GM officials said the American automaker was nearing a deal to buy Cobasys. However, no agreement has been announced.
America's auto-emissions regulators have nothing on the youth brigade of the Swiss Green Party.
The youth have obtained the 100,000 signatures needed to put a measure before Switzerland's voters that would ban passenger vehicles that have a curb weight of more than 4,820 pounds, emit more than 250 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, or have front ends deemed dangerous to pedestrians.
The measure would also ban diesel cars lacking particle filters. Non-compliant cars registered before the measure goes into law would be fitted with a governor limiting them to 62 miles per hour.
The measure, which is viewed as moderate by its proponents, would remove all but the most fuel efficient models from Swiss roads. The forbidden list contains 785 models. In Porsche's lineup, for instance, all but the Boxster and Cayman fitted with 2.7-liter engines would be barred.
Lots of Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs and Audis would be history, as would every Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. Not all automakers would suffer. Lotus's entire lineup, for example, would be compliant.
The vote has not been scheduled and could be a couple of years away. Also, more than 90 percent of initiatives presented to Swiss voters since 1848 have been rejected. But "moderates" can hope.
Auto dealers and consumer advocates told federal rulemakers today that a proposed 25 percent mandatory increase in fleetwide fuel economy standards is out of touch with importance buyers now give fuel-efficiency.
Mark Cooper, research director for the Consumer Federation of America, said rulemakers wrongly assumed U.S. drivers would continue to covet large trucks and SUVs, even though car buyers began moving to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in 2004.
"The auto industry acts as if plummeting SUV and pickup truck sales are a new phenomena," he told the National Transportation Safety Board at a Washington public hearing. "The fact is, gas-guzzling-vehicle sales have been falling off a cliff for over three years. And yet the administration's proposed fuel economy standards presumes no fall and no cliff."
As a result, Cooper said, the proposed fleetwide fuel economy standard of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015 would fail to meet consumer demands. According to a study performed by his organization, 59 percent of those surveyed want their next vehicle to get more than 35 mpg. Meanwhile, only 1 percent of new models offer that degree of fuel economy.
Adam Lee, president of Lee Auto Malls, which has a dozen Maine dealerships, said he has seen firsthand the shifting buying trends that have resulted in across-the-board losses for major carmakers.
Lee said he has laid off salespeople while waiting for automakers to produce the type of cars Americans want. "We just don't have the cars to sell," he said. "And I'm not just talking hybrids.... Consumers are waiting for good, old-fashioned small cars."
In Dusseldorf, possibly in an abandoned warehouse just after midnight, Matt Davis, a correspondent for Edmunds.com's Inside Line
, talked to sources with inside knowledge of Mercedes-Benz's product plans.
Said one, possibly in a whisper, the German automaker will be shipping to the U.S. C- and GLK-Class vehicles fitted with an all-new turbocharged 2.2-liter CDI inline four-cylinder engine with high-pressure direct injection.
For this supreme little powerhouse to make it over to all 50 states, Mercedes-Benz will need to re-engineer the engine to accept BlueTec technology.
"You can imagine," Davis was told, "the 2.2-liter in the GLK already averages 34 miles per gallon U.S. With BlueTec that will improve to just under 40."
Visit Inside Linefor more secrets from Dusseldorf.
Honeywell International
has been selected by Ford Motor Co. to develop turbochargers for the first of its EcoBoost engines
, which will initially appear in next year's 2010 Lincoln MKS.
The new turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 engine will perform like a large V-8, but will deliver the fuel economy of a V-6, Honeywell announced today.
To help bring the new engine to market, Honeywell says it leveraged the latest advances in turbine design and materials to optimise the performance and ensure the reliability of its gasoline turbo technology.
The twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 will deliver upwards of 340-plus pound-feet of torque across a wide engine range - 2,000-5,000 rpm - versus 270 to 310 pound-feet of torque for a conventional naturally aspirated 4.6-liter V-8 over the same speed range.
Honeywell expects the global turbocharger segment to grow from 30 percent of the overall automotive market to more than 38 percent by 2013 as automakers look to boost engines to help increase fuel-efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions without sacrificing performance.
Honeywell provides turbochargers to many automakers, including BMW, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen.
The future of diesel passenger vehicles in the U.S. market is coming under question by some in the auto industry as diesel fuel continues to run about 20 percent higher than gasoline, nearly erasing the diesel vehicle's fuel efficiency advantage.
But European automakers with a strong diesel product line - including Volkswagen
, Mercedes-Benz
and BMW
- all say they will stick with their plans to launch a number of 50-state legal diesels in the U.S. in coming months and years.
The doubters are no slouches, though.
We've written about Nissan Motor Co.'s diesel concerns
(which exist even though the company intends to being a diesel car to the U.S.) and on Monday the Wall Street Journal
quoted a board member from tier-one auto industry supplier Continental saying he's become more skeptical about the economics of diesel in the U.S.
Fuel-Sipper Savings
Our own number crunching,
however, shows that even at a 20 percent fuel price disadvantage, diesels can still save money at the pump because they can deliver 30 percent or better fuel economy over gasoline-fueled versions of the same models.
The new diesels also are qualifying for federal green car tax credits that help offfset the diesel premium carmakers charge to cover the higher cost of diesel engines and emissions equipment.
Right, BMW 7 Hydrogen on Nürburgring racetrack. The car or one like it will be available for test drives.
The Detroit area is famous for the Woodward Dream Cruise, a summertime showcase of thousands of hotrods, muscle cars and other exotics.
Now in an effort to improve Motown's gas-guzzling image, a new group has organized what they call Nextcruise, which will actually give the public an opportunity to drive what many see as the next generation of vehicles - hybrids, fuel cell, clean-diesel, plug-in electric and other green machines.
The low-emissions, fuel-efficient vehicles will be available for free 15-minute drives on a first-come, first-served basis in Pleasant Ridge, just outside Detroit, in mid-August.
The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at Memorial Park, 23925 Woodward Avenue, Pleasant Ridge 48069-1199.
Nine automakers have agreed to provide green vehicles and green-car-technology demonstrations for event to date. They are: General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Soy foam in the seats the Ford F-150 pickups and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. Locally farmed hemp
, "ethically produced" woolen fabric and floor mats made of sisal in the Lotus Eco Elise.
Some automakers are increasingly going to great lengths to make the interiors of some of their models if not environmentally friendly, at least a bit wholesome.
But others, well...
Early today the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Michigan, posted its second-annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and children's car seats at www.HealthyCar.org.
More than two hundred 2008- and 2009-model-year vehicles and more than 60 children's car seats were tested for unhealthy chemicals that seep in gaseous form from the steering wheel, dashboard, armrests, seats and carpet.
The "new-car smell," as the gases are commonly called, mingle with the air occupants breathe and have been linked to allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer.
The Ecology Center reported that Mazda, General Motors and Nissan improved since last year's findings, with GM showing the greatest gains of the domestic automakers, with an average vehicle ranking improvement of 27 percent.
The list of the 10 best and 10 worst vehicles as picked by the Center appears in the chart above.
Average child-car-seat scores improved 28 percent overall. The list of 10 best and worst car seats for 2008 as picked by the Center appears at left. Click on the chart for a better look.
Below are the three worst 2008-model-year vehicles by interior pollution, according to the Center (click on each to enlarge). From left to right: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Suzuki Reno and Volkswagen New Beetle.
Below are are the three best vehicles by interior pollution, according to the Center (click on each to enlarge). From left to right: Acura RXD, Chevrolet Cobalt and Smart Passion Cabriolet.
A transition to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is entirely doable but requires nearly $200 billion in funding and further technological breakthroughs, National Research Council experts said today in a report requested by Congress.
While stressing the "best-case scenario" nature of their report, the experts concluded that hydrogen could be the key driver of a shift away from fossil fuels and emissions tied to global warming, with other clean technologies and biofuels helping in that transition.
"The benefits of hydrogen would be less in the early years but have a dominant effect" in the longer run, panel chairman Mike Ramage, a retired ExxonMobil executive, said in a conference call with reporters. "Hydrogen is a pathway to a sustainable energy future."
The best-case scenario assumes the automotive industry invests $145 billion and the federal government spends $50 billion over the next 15 years to drive down the costs of hydrogen production and vehicles that run on hydrogen.
"The number is big, but in perspective" it is doable, Ramage said, noting that the federal ethanol subsidy is at a pace to cost $160 billion over that same period. "We need durable, substantial and sustainable government help to make this happen, just as there is for ethanol."
That's our sensational headline for 2008, but there's more than a smidgen of truth in it.
Last year Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Ecology Center released the first-ever consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and child car seats -- and what they reported was sickening.
The odor you inhale when you slide into a new car? It might very well be bromine, chlorine, lead, other harmful chemicals or a witches' brew of them. They've been linked to birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, premature births and, no doubt, cancer.
If you think the government protects you against such things, think again. Some of the vehicles on the road today are veritable toxic dumps on wheels. And many drivers are exposed to these chemicals through inhalation and contact with dust every day.
In case you missed last year's report, Ecology Center found the most toxic vehicles were the Nissan Versa, Chevy Aveo, Scion xB 5dr and the Kia Rio. The least toxic vehicles were the Chevy Cobalt, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Honda Odyssey and the Volvo V50.
Next Tuesday -- July 22 -- Ecology Center will release its second annual consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars and child car seats, and if you're thinking of buying a new car anytime soon, you'll want to check it out. The guide will be posted at www.healthycar.org a little after midnight on the 22nd.
Mercedes-Benz will introduce turbocharged engines across its entire lineup in the next two-and-a-half years.
"All our vehicles will have turbocharged engines in series production by the end of 2010 at the latest," Thomas Weber, Daimler board member responsible for research and development, told Automotive News Europe at a press event in Dusseldorf, Germany, today.
Forthcoming legislation in Europe and the U.S. is forcing automakers to reduce auto emissions.
Demand for turbochargers is growing, because they offer a proven and relatively inexpensive way to reduce fuel consumption. With the addition of a turbocharger, Daimler will be able to install smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient engines without sacrificing performance.
Under current proposals, the European Commission will ask the German automaker to cut its average fleet emissions from 178 grams per kilometer to 138 g/km by 2012. The commission will fine automakers that fail to meet the targets.
Improving the efficiency of its existing engines is the first part of Daimler's strategy to reduce carbon-dioxide emission levels across its fleet. Weber said the medium-term step would be to introduce more hybrid technology. The S class -- Mercedes' flagship sedan -- will be offered as a full hybrid vehicle starting in 2009.
Weber also said that zero-emission driving is the German automaker's long-term goal. To get there, the automaker plans to use technology such as fuel cells and electric-powered vehicles. A full-electric version of the Fortwo from Mercedes sister brand Smart goes into production in 2010.
Choosing a fuel-efficient automobile was a whole lot simpler 30 years ago, the last time the U.S. was in the throes of a gasoline price crisis. It was often as simple as buying a small vehicle with a manual transmission.
Today, with gas prices soaring to new record highs almost weekly, finding fuel economy means navigating an almost bewildering selection of vehicles. Even enormous SUVs can qualify if they come equipped with gasoline-electric hybrid drive systems.
Behind this tremendous hike in choices -- to a fairly significant extent, experts say -- has been a concomitant increase in the variety of transmissions.
Whereas in the 1970s there were only four- and five-speed manual transmissions and three- and four-speed automatic transmissions, now there are six-speed manual, six-, seven- and eight-speed automatic, six- and seven-speed "dual-clutch" automatic-manual, and continuously variable transmissions.
The result: more efficient engine operation and higher fuel economy in every car, whether it's a high-performance Porsche Carrera or a modest Volkswagen Jetta.
But there are important differences among these sophisticated transmissions, including in how much they contribute to better fuel efficiency. Knowing those differences may help you the next time you're in the market for a new car.
In an uncharacteristic display of German engineering, Daimler AG announced today that its Smart Fortwo fuel-efficient microcar celebrated its 10th birthday not today or even this week, but rather during the middle of last week.
We could understand it if the German automaker had announced it would be celebrating the diminutive two-seater's birthday a day or even a week early -- because the pint-size car that makes the Mini Cooper seem big has always been ahead of its time.
Developed in the early 1990s at the Mercedes-Benz design studio in Irvine, California, the first Fortwos to roll off the assembly line in Hambach, France, on July 2, 1998, sported colorful body panels made of recycled plastic and a steel frame coated with a powder paint that was significantly less harmful on the environment than conventional painting processes.
Instead of engine placement in the front or rear, the Fortwo carries its engine directly beneath its passengers, preserving storage space while also giving additional height to the seats.
Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche put it nicely today when, in the official celebratory statement, he said that the Smart Fortwo "is a clever solution and fun to drive. Had we not invented it 10 years ago, we would have to do so now."
A lobbying group for 10 major automakers including Detroit's Big Three, Toyota and Daimler urged federal regulators today to dramatically water down its proposal to hike fuel efficiency standards or run the risk of costing 82,000 autoworkers their jobs and the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars.
In a thousand-page document filed today by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the automakers condemned the April 22 proposal by the U.S. Transportation Department that would boost fuel economy requirements to a fleetwide average of 31.6 miles per gallon by the 2015 model year.
That average includes 35.7 mpg for passenger cars and 28.6 mpg for light trucks. The nation's new passenger cars currently are required to meet a fleet average of 27.5 mpg, while the light-truck fleet - generally encompassing port utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans - must hit a target average of 22.5 mpg.
"This goes beyond what is technologically feasible and economically practical," the automakers said. "It would require manufacturers to expend resources at a pace that is excessive given the fact that the auto industry is already under economic stress."
Above, a gas-powered A-Class Mercedes. Daimler says an electric version of the small family car is planned.
By Scott Doggett, Contributor
Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch an electric version of the A-class small family car in 2010, according to press reports.
The four-door hatchback will have lithium-ion batteries and be produced at an initial rate of between 500 and 1,000 cars year, the German weekly Automobilwoche reported Monday. Production should climb quickly, however.
In an interview with German business daily, WirtschaftsWoche, Thomas Weber, a Mercedes-Benz board member responsible for research and vehicle development, let it be known that the company is building what was originally meant to be the fuel cell-powered A-Class model as an all-electric model.
In the Automobilwoche report, an unidentified senior manager at Mercedes-Benz said that the A-class is an ideal candidate because its "sandwich" construction means the basic layout of the vehicle does not have to be changed much. The car was developed to accommodate a fuel cell and therefore has a double floor that can fit the cell, the manager said. This space can instead be used for the lithium-ion batteries.
In a separate article, Automobilwoche reported that U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Motors is expected to supply the lithium-ion batteries. The magazine didn't reveal the sources for its story and Tesla spokeswoman Colette Niazmand wouldn't comment on the subject when Green Car Advisor inquired today.
Despite the fact diesel is pricier than gasoline in the U.S. these days, Mercedes-Benz USA is confident its new Bluetec 50-state clean diesels will account for at least 15 percent of its SUV and cross-over sales.
Three new Bluetec vehicles go on sale in October with a new V-6 diesel: the 2009 320 ML crossover, GL SUV and R-class crossover (above).
The major reason for the diesels is fuel economy: A diesel is 20-33 percent more fuel efficient than a comparable gasoline model, a Mercedes executive said today, and the payback period is about two years faster than that of a hybrid gas-electric SUV.
Mercedes will charge a sticker premium of about $1,000 for its new diesels – comparable to what it charges on current diesel SUVs that can't be sold in eight states, Stephen Cannon, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA, said at a press event in Vermont.
'09 Mercedes-Benz ML 320 BlueTEC may get same tax perk as a hybrid.
By Bill Visnic, Senior Editor
Officials at Mercedes-Benz USA are crossing their fingers that their upcoming diesel-powered ’09 models – the ML 320 BlueTEC, GL 320 BlueTEC and R 320 BlueTEC – will enable buyers to claim the same federal tax credit as is currently available to individuals who buy certain hybrid-electric vehicles.
The Environmental Protection Agency is considering Mercedes’ assertion that the new 50-state-legal, diesel-engine Benzes should be in the same category as hybrids that qualify for the federal Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit. Mercedes officials seem confident the diesels will, in the eyes of the EPA, be seen as equally “clean” as hybrids.
“We are waiting for final approval (from the EPA),” said Stephen Cannon, MBUSA vice president, marketing.
A Hefty Premium?
For now, Mercedes is mum on the final price of the diesel-powered SUVs and the R-Class wagon-type-thing, which go on sale in October.
S-Class already is slated for a hybrid powertrain. Is all-electric version next?
Mercedes Benz hopes to enter the electric car race with a luxury Mercedes EV as soon as 2010, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in a newspaper interview in Germany.
In a report circulated today by Thompson Financial and Reuters news service, Zetsche is quoted as telling the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Daimler plans "an electric Smart for 2010 and for the same year a Mercedes model as well."
HUELVA, Spain -- I've been sitting in Mercedes-Benz' exotic F-700 – facing backward in the research car's multi-position rear seat and watching the engine-power display on a 20-inch flat-screen monitor as driver Peter Lehmen slowly takes us around the track at Circuito Monteblanco.
We’re at this track, 30 miles east of Seville, for an event Mercedes calls "the Road to the Future."
In fact, it's a demonstration of a number of technologies the German luxury-car maker has been showing off around the globe for many months. The neatest stuff, of course, is years away from being production-ready.
A display with the same name at last September's Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany featured 19 clean and green Mercedes-Benz vehicles including the F-700 research car.
My interests are several, starting with the DiesOtto engine that powers the F-700 – a gasoline engine that works much like a diesel, providing low emissions, substantial fuel economy and power in a pretty small package.
Mercedes has promised to fill us in on advances made since the prototype engine was unveiled at the Frankfurt show.
The automaker also has gathered experts to talk about the whole range of its green car efforts, including clean diesels, fuel cell vehicles, battery-electric cars and the company's breakthrough development that will let it be the first to put a lithium-ion battery pack into a production hybrid car when the S-400 BlueHybrid is introduced next year.
Turbo, Torque, Thrift
But let's get to the DiesOtto, Mercedes' name for an engine that uses the technology everyone else calls homogeneous charge combustion ignition, or HCCI. Other big players working hard on an HCCI engines are General Motors Corp., Volkswagen and Honda Motor Co.
Mercedes has opted to pair the relatively small 1.8-liter, four-cylinder with a small electric motor for extra assist, making the F-700 a hybrid. A dual-stage turbocharger that works at both low and high engine speeds helps keep things exciting.
Mary Ann Wright with pet, family, engineers and their children in an autumn 2007 promotional photo for Johnson Controls-Saft.
By Dale Buss, Contributor
The Chevrolet Volt is attracting all the hype in the auto industry’s sprint toward the imminent era of plug-in hybrids. But Mary Ann Wright has a car in this race, too – the Saturn Vue plug-in – and she’s not about to concede first place.
“I can understand why Volt gets lots of press,” says Wright, chief executive officer of the Johnson Controls-Saft hybrid-technology venture, which is supplying lithium-ion battery systems to General Motors for the new Vue. “But I wouldn’t interpret that as saying who’s ahead or who’s behind.”
Wright doesn’t throw down this gauntlet lightly or without some authority. She has built a team of hybrid pioneers largely by poaching them from the Escape Hybrid team she headed at Ford until she left the company in 2005.
Glendale, Wis.-based Johnson Controls is one of the auto industry’s most successful and aggressive suppliers worldwide. And its French partner, Saft, already makes lithium-ion batteries for a range of military and industrial uses.
In fact, Johnson Controls-Saft at this point may be in the best position globally of any developer of next-generation hybrids based on lithium-ion technology, which is rapidly displacing nickel-metal hydride systems.
The venture expects to be first to market anywhere with a lithium-ion battery for a hybrid when its system debuts in a new Mercedes-Benz hybrid S-class in 2009. The GM Volt and Toyota Prius competing lithium-ion models are slated for 2010.
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The 335-horsepower, dual-motor Mercedes-Benz ML 450 Hybrid has landed on our shores, but the German luxury vehicle maker says we can't buy 'em. 
