LAT/Bloomberg: GM Said to Be Developing 'Plug-In' Hybrid Car

[DeepModem Mom]

GM Said to Be Developing 'Plug-In' Hybrid Car
From Bloomberg News
June 24, 2006

General Motors Corp., losing sales to fuel-efficient cars from Toyota Motor Corp., is developing a hybrid-electric vehicle with a battery that recharges at any outlet, said GM officials familiar with the plan.

The so-called plug-in hybrid would travel more than 60 miles on a gallon of gasoline, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the research is secret. GM, which had the first modern electric car in 1996, lags behind Toyota in hybrids, which combine electric motors and gasoline engines.

A 28% rise in U.S. gasoline prices this year helped boost sales of Toyota's gasoline-electric models 37%, giving the Japanese automaker almost three-fourths of U.S. retail hybrid sales. GM doesn't make competing vehicles now. Automakers are trying to raise fuel efficiency as U.S. lawmakers consider tougher requirements for cars and trucks.

"There is rising regulatory demand and consumer demand for improved fuel economy and lower emissions," said John Casesa, an auto analyst at New York-based Casesa Shapiro Group. "There's a lot of pressure to show you're responsive."

The plug-in designs GM is testing may be ready in time for the Detroit auto show in January, the people said. Any commercial production is at least a year away, they said. The people declined to say how much the company was investing....

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm24jun24,0,7954943.story?coll=la-home-highway1

[Autumn Colors]

1. How about diesel-electric-solar (!) hybrid?

Look at this diesel-electric hybrid that ALSO taps into solar power to recharge the battery. Ford exhibited this prototype at a car show. Now someone just needs to convince them to MAKE them.

This car could run on biodiesel OR even used cooking oil! Now, if one had a HOME that ran on solar-wind-geothermal power and the car were recharged THAT way, it could be a 100% green car.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10788292/

[still_one]

2. Toyota's gasoline-electric hybrids you don't have to plug in

I wonder why GM is doing it that way?

I sure hope that you could run on the gas engine if you don't have access to an electric socket

[greenman3610]

6. plug in hybrids potentially are much more efficient

since most drivers only go about 30 miles on an
average day, a Plug in can potentially go
hundreds of miles without using any
gas at all. Only needs gas engine for
highway speeds or trips of 30 miles or more.

[LifeDuringWartime]

19. toyota plugins

the european edition of the prius has a plug-in option. also, people have modified theirs to charge from outlets

[truthisfreedom]

3. ahh, it's seeeee-cret. even though modifications for Prius autos have been

around for years, mods that allow plug-in for overnight charging.

here's an article from last year:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/3945/

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Thanks for that link! nt

[Webster Green]

4. Yeah, a concept car to trot out for the auto shows...

...and they'll keep on pushing their fucking Hummers and giant SUVs.

Haven't they gone bankrupt yet?

[hatrack]

5. But, but . . . where's my hydrogen fuel-cell car? You PROMISED!!!

:eyes:

[OKIsItJustMe]

16. Would you be satisfied with a hydrogen hybrid for a while?

http://www.focaljet.com/allsite/content/h2rv.html
http://www.hydrogenforecast.com/ArticleDetails.php?articleID=241

[hatrack]

21. And these would be available as mass market cars . . . when?

My guess is when I have a long white beard, which is about the time GM will actually produce a plug-in hybrid destined for any application other than pedestals at auto shows and press conferences.

[rman]

26. Electric cars would be available now if the car industry hadn't killed it

Who killed the electric car?
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/index.html

[rman]

25. Fuel is more expensive to transport/distribute than electricity

Also it is less efficient to first use electricity to convert water into hydrogen, than it is to use electricity directly.

[leesa]

7. Why would someone want a plug-in hybrid??

You can get 60mpg on a non-plug-in hybrid?!? Wizards, these guys!

[JCMach1]

8. Jeesh... the regeneration technology in hybrids is FAR

from perfect... The ability to plug-in, stronger and more powerful batteries make 60mpg+ a very real possibility for GM... my guess would be the 70-85 range depending on weight and size of the vehicle.

[OKIsItJustMe]

15. Hybrid Technology

Of course greater storage capacity means more battery weight (and space.) Larger batteries will also make the cars more expensive, and those batteries will be more expensive to replace after 5 years or so when they don't hold a charge as well as they once did.

Where do I sign up?

[leesa]

22. But these already exist with non-plug in hybrids and they are not a

hassle. My old Prius gets 47MPG and the new ones are far better...GM is just hoping for 60MPG with a pain-in-the-ass technology requiring plugging it in? Doesn't make sense.

[Psephos]

11. Maybe because for average city travel, you'd burn zero gasoline

The idea is that for day-to-day driving around town, you might be able to run 100% on batteries.

Peace.

[dbackjon]

12. Yup

This would cover about 90% of my driving.

Plug in at home, and bypass the gas station.

[rman]

13. Mains electricity is cheaper then generating it in a hybrid car

(basically because mains is mass-produced)

With a plug-in hybrid you'll drive mostly on electricity and use the combustion engine for emergencies. Essentially it is an electric car with a traditional engine as a backup.

That's why hybrid owners are converting their car to plug-in, conversion kits are commercially available.

see "Who Killed the Electric Car?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgmJl579Pz0&search=%22who%20killed%20the%20electric%20car%22

[OKIsItJustMe]

17. Better yet, park under one of these while you're at work

http://www.valleywater.org/News_and_Events/_HQ_campus_energy_project/index.shtm

[leesa]

23. Right. We all have one of those at work.

[OKIsItJustMe]

18. Watch the whole show here

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/index.html

[formercia]

10. Just don't forget to unplug it

before you drive off. :evilgrin:

[daleo]

14. And it will be ready by the year 2050. n/t

[AlGore-08.com]

20. But how are folks who have street parking going to use it?

Out here in Socal, lots of less expensive apartments only offer street parking. How/where could you plug in your car if you only have street parking?

[HuffleClaw]

24. a token effort at best

they've been beaten down every time they've so much as hinted at a non-gasoline car meant for meaningful production.

[SKKY]

27. This is a wussy incremental advancement in technology...

...what we really need is something revolutionary and paradigm shifting. I'm not impressed. Now, a hybrid motor
that uses diesel (a fuel that's way, way in abundance) would be interesting. The United States could easily go
Brazilian and be 100% energy self-sufficient in 10 years. We produce enough of the type of oil needed to for
diesel gas, and mix that with bio-diesel, could really do some things. Better for the environment, would boost
the lagging farming industry, and it would help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil to almost nil (sorry for
using the word "nil". I've been watching a lot of soccer lately.). It seems logical to me, and I'm refuse to
believe I'm the only one who's thought of this, so it makes me wonder what the technical obstacles are. If they
are in fact "technical" and not "political".

[Psephos]

29. One major technical obstacle

is that diesels are extremely high-compression (they use the heat of compression, rather than a spark, to ignite the fuel).

Where a gasoline engine requires about 10:1 compression, a diesel requires 22:1 or more. To start a diesel requires a robust starter motor and a powerful jolt of electricity. This makes diesels less suited to hybrid applications, especially in mixed-use environments (urban driving) where the engine is started and stopped frequently.

Peace.

[trogdor]

28. More vaporware from GM?

I'll believe it when I see one on the road, with a non-rich non-hippie driving it.