GM's Plug-in Hybrid -- Coming Soon?
GM has named two companies to begin developing the battery technology for what is beginning to look like the first plug-in electric hybrid vehicle (PHEV) to appear on the market. Yesterday, Jan. 4, GM said it will have prototypes of the plug-in Saturn Vue completed later this year.
Earlier this year GM took some pretty hard shots from the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?" which showed how the automaker crushed its cutting-edge EV1 electric car...
Maybe by fast tracking the plug-in Vue it is making amends. For the past six years domestic manufacturers have watched the success that Toyota and Honda had introducing the first hybrid vehicles. If GM can bring a plug-in hybrid to market first it could really green-up its image.
Interestingly, carmakers are acting as if plug-in technology still needs a lot of testing to see if it can be brought to market. In fact, as author Sherry Boschert writes in Plug-in Hybrids; the Cars that Will Recharge America, these cars are already on the road and logging plenty of miles. One of the more entertaining chapters talks about Felix Kramer and other members of Calcars.org, converting a 2004 Toyota Prius to a plug-in hybrid in a member's driveway. Still, automakers have traditionally been resistant to change so GM's relatively fast development of a plug-in hybrid -- if it really does comes to market -- will be a most welcome indication of a step toward energy independence.
The companies chosen to develop the lithium ion batteries are Johnson Controls Inc. and Cobasys, which provides the nickel metal hydride battery technology for the current Vue hybrid (pictured above).
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- Philip Reed January 5, 2007, 2:13 PM
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Great if this is what's happening to the car industry!! Used cars are selling at a far more rapid pace, as a car with a few more thousand miles for a few thousand less dollars is a better idea than a brand new one. (You also don’t have to get full coverage.) Also taking off are sales of used hospital equipment, since hospitals have been having an epidemic of closures of late, and are looking to offload some equipment to offset bankruptcy. It may not be a good sign for manufacturers looking to boost their bottom line, but it is good for the economy.