Latest Updates: Hybrid RSS

• US Department Of Energy Grants $30 Million to Hybrid Cars
  Srikant Rajan 04:19:11 am on June 13, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Department Of Energy, electric vehicles, ford, GE, General Electric, general motors, gm, Hybrid, lithium ion

  US Department Of Energy has announced $30 million in funding for development of electric vehicles.This amount would be split in three ways by GM ,Ford,and General Electric(GE).Under his agreement for research GM plans to focus on lithium -ion batteries and battery recharging technology for Electric Cars.Ford will focus on identifying bottlenecks in commercialization of plug in hybrid electric vehicles and GE would work towards dual battery energy storage system and its integration with the EV.Of the three Ford,seems to be making some headway in Plug-in hybrid vehicles with its recent Escape model.

  DOE also plans to a second round of research applications under its PHEV Technology Acceleration and Deployment Activity plan, in July 2008. Considering Toyotas recent decision to build up its battery capacity, this latest effort by the DOE signifies that US is still struggling to get the right  electric vehicle plan. Additionally since conclusive  results are  expected by 2014-2016,makes on wonder is this effort is worthwhile.

   

• Ford Unveils Its Escape Flexi-Fuel Plug in Hybrid
  Srikant Rajan 08:47:32 am on June 12, 2008 | 4 | # |
  Tags: biofuel, Electric Power Research Institute, ethanol, flexi-fuel, ford motors, Hybrid, Southern California Edison

  Ford Motors has delivered its flexi-fuel plug in hybrid SUV to US Department of Energy for further testing. This vehicle is one in series of 20 Plug-in hybrids that Ford plans to develop in collaboration with Southern California Edison and the Electric Power Research Institute. This collaboration aims to develop and create new business models to advance plug in hybrid variants closer to mass production. Previously an Escape Plug-in variant was delivered to Southern California Edison that is already in road testing stage. This new flexi-fuel variant can run on both gasoline and E85 ethanol variant. When run on ethanol it can deliver 88miles/gallon in urban driving ad nearly 50miles/gallon on highway. Ford estimates hat this vehicle can reduce CO2 emissions by nearly 60% as compared to a conventional gasoline powered vehicle. Utilizing cellulosic ethanol demonstrated potential for 90% emission reduction if cellulosic ethanol is used.

  Mark Fields, President of the Americas, Ford Motor Company believes that Ford can effectively employ is expertise in hybrid and flexi-fuel technology in a plug–in variant. Fields adds “We recognize commercialization of plug-ins, powered by gasoline or biofuels, may represent part of a long-term energy solution, but significant challenges remain to bringing this technology to market”. Seems that Ford plans to identify and remedy such challenges through its escape plug-in variant.

   

• Volkswagen Also Goes The Hybrid Route
  Srikant Rajan 05:06:40 pm on May 29, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: batteries, Hybrid, lithium ion, metal hydride, sanyo, volkswagen

  Till the year 2006 German car maker Volkswagen (VW) had been consistent in its decision of not entering the hybrid car segment.Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen, went as far as to say “We are not interested in making cars which don’t make money.”However increasing demand for green products seems to have forced VW a rethink on its strategy. (VW) is partnering with Japanese based Sanyo Electric, to manufacture lithium ion batteries.These  batteries are widely used in a variety of electronic goods such as laptops and also present a attractive alternative to metal hydride batteries,particularly for hybrid cars on account of their high energy density as compared to hydride batteries.Under this partnership,Sanyo aims to produce 15000 -20000 batteries by 2009 and also planned to invest nearly $769 million to expand production capacity by the year 2015.

   

• General Electric or Green Energy ?
  Srikant Rajan 07:35:13 am on May 4, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Chevy Volt, General Electric, Hybrid

  General Electric seems to be all set to cash into the green energy sector. In a recent event at San Francisco, Rick Wagoner (CEO) emphasized GE’s commitment towards remedying global warming concerns and discussed GE’s strategy in the coming years. In addition to acquiring cleantech behemoths such as Enron, Astropower, GE is also pursuing research and development of Electric Vehicles (EV’s). Wagoner emphasized GM’s belief of electric vehicles being the "best long-term solution" for addressing society’s energy and environmental concerns. At the top of GE’s product offering in the EV segment is the plug in hybrid – Chevy Volt. Recent tests on the Volt prototype at GE had been very encouraging. Spurred by the recent success GE seems confident that the Volt would be rolled out in the US by the year 2010. Wagoner said that despite GM’s delay in entering the hybrid vehicle segment it would be in the forefront in the coming decade .However it remains to be seen whether it would be able to challenge Toyotas dominance in the hybrid EV segment.

   
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