xcel
01-09-2009, 03:38 AM
With the automobile industry in depression and fuel prices at 4-year lows, automakers are readying new HEVs, PHEVs and BEVs. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=178949)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_Ford_Fusion_Hybrid1.jpgWayne Gerdes – CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) – Jan. 9, 2009
2009 Ford Fusion Hybrid – 39 mpgUS combined and 5 more mpg than its rival, the TCH.
In the middle of winter, Detroit is going green... for a change.
This year’s first major US Autoshow, the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, will be an event of lowered expectations and somber realities. The recent shock of $4.00 gasoline and the current fast developing harsh recession is keeping the consumer at bay which led the industry to suffer its worst summer and fall sales decline in decades. With all three US Automakers struggling for their very survival and foreign manufacturers battening down the hatches given even lower sales projections ahead, the normal pomp and circumstance of this years show will definitely be missing.
This does not however mean the automakers have given up as the soon to be released production models and concepts with their vastly improved and updated technology will show. This new technology is not only being included to protect and entertain but is also being applied to lower our consumption of a resource with a somewhat limited future availability.
Fuel Economy, the new mantra
With the price for a gallon of gasoline receding to less than $1.80 nationwide, the automobile manufacturers are in a conundrum. That is they are promoting their all-new but in some cases more expensive higher fuel economy vehicles in the hope it will spark the desire of the public to visit one of their dealerships and say “I’ll take it.”
Whether said consumer actually decides to “take it” or not, this years offerings are some of the best the US buying public has had the chance to purchase regardless of current fuel costs, economic realities or future fuel economy mandates.
Electric drives of all types
Cadillac will be showing a two-door coupe concept using the Volt platform for its underpinnings. Little else has been provided.
China’s BYD Auto will show its compact and mid-sized plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). These vehicles will be for mainland Chinese only consumption to begin with but will eventually see our shores in some form after they have gained experience in the technology needed to pass the US stringent crash and emissions tests and DOT certification.
Chrysler will again showcase its Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) technology under its Envi unit which brought us last years Fuel Cel Vehicle (FCV) based EcoVoyager, BEV based Dodge ZEO and PHEV based Jeep Renegade concepts.
Ford will be showing their already critically acclaimed but not yet released 2010 Fusion Hybrid that is currently not only capable of competing against Toyota’s ubiquitous Camry Hybrid but dominates it in just about every comparison attribute one would care to consider.
Honda will show for the first time their all-new, 5-door hatchback Insight-II. With expected fuel economy of 40 plus mpg and priced between $18,000 and $20,000, it should make its own headlines once released.
Toyota will be launching their all-new, larger, more powerful and even more fuel efficient 2010 Prius-III. Along with the all-new Prius, Lexus will receive a version of the same although under a much more luxurious guise with the moniker 250h. A cryptic release late last year indicates Toyota will also debut a BEV concept although the platform and name are still a mystery.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_Ford_Fusion_Hybrid1.jpgWayne Gerdes – CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) – Jan. 9, 2009
2009 Ford Fusion Hybrid – 39 mpgUS combined and 5 more mpg than its rival, the TCH.
In the middle of winter, Detroit is going green... for a change.
This year’s first major US Autoshow, the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, will be an event of lowered expectations and somber realities. The recent shock of $4.00 gasoline and the current fast developing harsh recession is keeping the consumer at bay which led the industry to suffer its worst summer and fall sales decline in decades. With all three US Automakers struggling for their very survival and foreign manufacturers battening down the hatches given even lower sales projections ahead, the normal pomp and circumstance of this years show will definitely be missing.
This does not however mean the automakers have given up as the soon to be released production models and concepts with their vastly improved and updated technology will show. This new technology is not only being included to protect and entertain but is also being applied to lower our consumption of a resource with a somewhat limited future availability.
Fuel Economy, the new mantra
With the price for a gallon of gasoline receding to less than $1.80 nationwide, the automobile manufacturers are in a conundrum. That is they are promoting their all-new but in some cases more expensive higher fuel economy vehicles in the hope it will spark the desire of the public to visit one of their dealerships and say “I’ll take it.”
Whether said consumer actually decides to “take it” or not, this years offerings are some of the best the US buying public has had the chance to purchase regardless of current fuel costs, economic realities or future fuel economy mandates.
Electric drives of all types
Cadillac will be showing a two-door coupe concept using the Volt platform for its underpinnings. Little else has been provided.
China’s BYD Auto will show its compact and mid-sized plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). These vehicles will be for mainland Chinese only consumption to begin with but will eventually see our shores in some form after they have gained experience in the technology needed to pass the US stringent crash and emissions tests and DOT certification.
Chrysler will again showcase its Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) technology under its Envi unit which brought us last years Fuel Cel Vehicle (FCV) based EcoVoyager, BEV based Dodge ZEO and PHEV based Jeep Renegade concepts.
Ford will be showing their already critically acclaimed but not yet released 2010 Fusion Hybrid that is currently not only capable of competing against Toyota’s ubiquitous Camry Hybrid but dominates it in just about every comparison attribute one would care to consider.
Honda will show for the first time their all-new, 5-door hatchback Insight-II. With expected fuel economy of 40 plus mpg and priced between $18,000 and $20,000, it should make its own headlines once released.
Toyota will be launching their all-new, larger, more powerful and even more fuel efficient 2010 Prius-III. Along with the all-new Prius, Lexus will receive a version of the same although under a much more luxurious guise with the moniker 250h. A cryptic release late last year indicates Toyota will also debut a BEV concept although the platform and name are still a mystery.