Carmakers on green drive

Eco-friendly innovations unveiled at Michigan show
Straits Times 15 Jan 08;

DETROIT - GREEN is the theme of this year's North American International Auto Show.

US and foreign carmakers are pushing environmentally friendly driving to the top of their agendas as they unveil a range of green innovations designed to woo customers at the show, which is in its 100th year.

'We need to develop alternative sources of propulsion,' General Motors (GM) chief Rick Wagoner said during previews of the show.

With oil prices soaring, boosting use of alternative fuels is a 'business necessity and an obligation for society' in a world that consumes 1,000 barrels of oil a second, said Mr Wagoner, who heads the biggest US carmaker.

The Big Three US carmakers - GM, Ford and Chrysler - touted their commitment to green 'concept cars' as American consumers worry about the price of oil.

GM presented the Cadillac Provoq, a battery-powered four-wheel drive, and is to launch a test fleet of the 100 Chevrolet Equinox equipped with battery technology within weeks. It also plans to introduce eight new hybrid models - running on both fuel and electricity - in the US by the end of the year.

Last year, it had announced plans to sell a plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, some time around 2010.

Asian carmakers, which control more than 40 per cent of the US market, would not be outdone, with Toyota reminding everybody that it had introduced a hybrid model - Prius - a long time ago.

Raising the ante with GM and other carmakers, Toyota has announced plans to market a plug-in hybrid by 2010. The company will also introduce additional dedicated petrol-electric hybrids for the Toyota and Lexus brands a year from now.

Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe said on Sunday that his company will develop a fleet of plug-in hybrids that run on lithium-ion batteries instead of the nickel-metal hydride ones that power the Prius and other Toyota models.

Plug-in hybrids can be recharged externally from an ordinary power outlet. Some environmental groups have pushed for plug-in hybrids as a way to save on petrol, thus curbing emissions. In conventional hybrids, the battery is recharged from power generated by the wheels.

The Volt also is set to run on lithium-ion batteries, which are more expensive than the batteries currently used by Toyota, but which can power the vehicle for a longer time.

Mr Wagoner, meanwhile, stressed the importance of alternative 'biofuels' in weaning drivers off oil. He announced a partnership with renewable energy company Coskata to produce plant-based ethanol fuel.

'We are very excited about what this breakthrough will mean to the viability of biofuels and, more importantly, to our ability to reduce dependence on petroleum,' he said.

The carmaker unveiled a prototype of its sturdy Humvee - typically associated with high fuel consumption - that runs on E85, a blended fuel containing mainly ethanol.

Meanwhile, Ford president Bill Ford announced 'a global commitment' to become a 'leader in sustainability'.

Ford has introduced a new ecologically friendly brand called Ecoboost that will be expanded in 2010 to even big pick-up trucks. Ford wants to sell 500,000 vehicles under this label in the next five years.

The US car market must now face constraints imposed by soaring petrol prices and new government regulations that tighten fuel consumption standards.

The 'green' fashion has reached even builders of luxury cars, with Ferrari presenting for the first time the F430 Spider, a car that works on biofuel. It is just a prototype.

But 'we have the technology and we are ready' if the market situation evolves, said Mr Adam Rowley, vice-president of Ferrari North America.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS

Toyota plug-in hybrid ready by 2010

Business Times 15 Jan 08;

It can be recharged from an ordinary power outlet, unlike current electric cars

(DETROIT) The Toyota Motor Corp will build its first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle by 2010.

The move, announced on Sunday, puts Toyota in direct competition with General Motors (GM), which has announced plans to sell its own plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, sometime around 2010.

Katsuaki Watanabe, the president of Toyota, announced the company's plans at the Detroit car show as part of a series of environmental steps.

Mr Watanabe said that Toyota, best known for its Prius hybrid car, would develop a fleet of plug-in hybrids that run on lithium-ion batteries, instead of the nickel-metal hydride batteries that power the Prius and other Toyota models.

Plug-in hybrids differ from the current hybrid vehicles in that they can be recharged externally, from an ordinary power outlet. In a conventional hybrid, the battery is recharged from power generated by its wheels.

Mr Watanabe said that the lithium-ion fleet would be made available first to Toyota's commercial customers around the world like government agencies and corporations, including some in the United States. He did not say when they would be available to consumers.

GM's Volt is also set to run on lithium-ion batteries, which are more expensive than the batteries currently used by Toyota, but which can potentially power the vehicle for a longer time.

Additionally, Toyota said that it planned to develop a new hybrid-electric car specifically for its Lexus division that is not based on an existing model, as well as another new hybrid for the Toyota brand. It said that it would unveil both at the Detroit show next year.

Mr Watanabe also said that Toyota planned to offer diesel engines for its Tundra pickup truck and the Sequoia sport utility vehicle 'in the near future'.

Some environmental groups have pushed for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as a way to save on petrol, thus curbing emissions. The easiest way for car companies to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions is to improve vehicle fuel economy.

But some say that plug-ins may not be the ultimate answer to cutting pollution, if the electricity used to charge them comes from coal-fired power plants.

Nonetheless, GM, Toyota and Ford Motor, the world's three biggest car companies, are all developing plug-in hybrid vehicles. -- NYT

Honda's clean diesel cars will be profitable immediately: CEO
Business Times 15 Jan 08;

(DETROIT) Honda Motor's yet-to-be released clean diesel cars will be profitable immediately, unlike expensive gasoline-electric hybrid cars that still yield little or no profit after a decade on the market.

'Our diesel cars are going to have an appropriate level of profit from the start,' chief executive Takeo Fukui told reporters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

He said Honda's clean diesel cars, to be launched in the United States next year, will not require a urea tank as most European systems do.

The use of aluminium in the cylinder block instead of steel would also allow it to manufacture the engines using its existing gasoline engine facilities, keeping initial investments down, Mr Fukui added.

Honda's new diesel drive train generates and stores ammonia within a two-layer catalytic converter to turn nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen. The new system will clear the same emissions regulations as gasoline in the US, Mr Fukui said.

Japan's second-biggest automaker was set to announce later yesterday afternoon the launch of its first ultra-clean diesel car in the US in 2009, as planned. Honda's premium Acura brand will be the first to get the four-cylinder diesel engine, Mr Fukui said. Models fuelled by V6 diesel engines will follow after 2010, he added.

Diesel cars now make up more than half of Europe's new cars but have a poor image among consumers in the US, as well as Japan, as being both loud and dirty.

But Mr Fukui said he expected Honda's sale of four-cylinder diesel cars to reach about 150,000 vehicles globally by around 2010 with the planned roll-out in the US and Japan.

Honda now sells more than 100,000 diesel cars a year, all in Europe. Honda is also due to begin selling low-cost hybrid cars in 2009. Half of the planned 200,000 units of the hybrid-only family car are bound for North America.

A new hybrid sports car is set to follow, while the mass-volume Civic series will also get the cheap and improved hybrid system with the next remodelling. -- Reuters

Shift to greener cars accelerates
Business Times 17 Jan 08;

WHAT better time could there be for carmakers to signal a mood shift than the centenary of the Detroit auto show. Still, gas guzzlers still dominate the show, since car companies can't ignore current market realities.

Nevertheless, for the future, they are also hyping green technologies as well as fuel economy with conventional engines. Every major carmaker showcased cutting-edge technology with imaginative concept cars, betting that consumers are ready for change. While there is no sign of a magic-bullet technology, there are several innovative alternatives on offer.

Every major manufacturer is offering 'hybrids', a field led by the Japanese. Petrol hybrids, where batteries are charged intermittently, have already won many converts, but the next stop is electric cars that can be charged externally. Giants like General Motors (GM), Ford, Toyota Corp and Chrysler have shown plug-in cars which can be charged from a regular power outlet.

They offer more mileage, using a different type of battery. Some will use a petrol engine occasionally to boost the batteries but the others like the Chevrolet Chevy will be purely electric.

Toyota, which has sold a million conventional hybrid cars, has announced a lane change, going for plug-in hybrids and setting itself against GM in a race to get the cars to market by 2010. Europeans are leading the drive with clean diesel.

The ultimate goal is of course fuel-cell cars, of which Honda, GM and Chrysler all have concept vehicles. Yet another way to reduce emission and reduce fuel usage is to think small, a change that may be revolutionised by the US$2,500 Tata Nano. With electric vehicles, the leaders also face competition from venture capitalists, who are financing start-ups.

Fisker Automotive, for instance, aims to leave the giants behind, hoping to produce an US$80,000 luxury plug-in next year, with an option to use a solar panel to run the air-conditioning and other accessories.

It is heartening that carmakers are contemplating the fast lane for green vehicles. Their compulsions are great: US carmakers are bleeding. Oil prices which tested US$100 a barrel are pinching consumers and hurting car demand. And US politicians are getting restive, as evidenced by the energy bill signed into law by US President George W Bush recently.

The law, which caught the industry unawares, requires a 40 per cent boost in fuel mileage by 2020 and envisages a large share role for ethanol, including the cellulosic variety.

Further, increasing concern about global warming is creating new consumer preferences, particularly among the young. While the carmakers know they have to play ball, they are not yet sure what will replace petroleum: ethanol, electricity or hydrogen. Perhaps more consumer pressure - and incentives from governments - would help car companies make a smoother and faster transition.