GM Announces New Hybrid System

TOM KRISHER | March 4, 2008 09:23 AM EST | AP

Read More: Automakers, Electric Cars, Electric Motors, General Motors, Geneva International Motor Show, Gm, Hybrid Engine, Hybrids, Lithium-Ion Battery, Rick Wagoner, Breaking Business News
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DETROIT — General Motors Corp. says it expects to bring its first lithium-ion battery powered hybrid engine system to market in North America in 2010.

The world's largest automaker by sales was to announce the hybrid system Tuesday at the Geneva International Motor Show, saying the new battery will deliver three times the power of GM's current nickel-metal-hydride batteries.

Automakers and battery companies across the globe have been racing to develop lithium-ion technology, seen by many as the key to mass producing hybrid vehicles powered by conventional and electric motors. The batteries also are essential in producing the next generation of electric cars.

Daimler AG plans to introduce a gasoline-electric hybrid version of its Mercedes-Benz flagship S-Class luxury sedan that also uses a lithium-ion battery starting next year.

Lithium-ion technology already is widely used in consumer electronics, but now is being adapted to meet demanding automotive requirements. The batteries are lighter than other batteries, but cost and concerns about overheating have delayed their use.

Lithium-ion batteries common in laptops are smaller, yet more powerful than the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in gas-electric hybrids like Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius.

The GM and Daimler announcements in Geneva indicate increasing confidence about lithium-ion technology.

In addition, Toyota said in December it was preparing to start mass producing lithium-ion batteries for low-emission vehicles.

GM said the new hybrid system eventually will spread worldwide, and it expects sales volumes to exceed 100,000 vehicles per year. The system would build on GM's current hybrids, reducing engineering costs and the cost to consumers, the company said.

The battery system would be paired with a wide range of GM engines, including turbocharged gasoline, diesel and biofuel power plants. It would be used in multiple GM models across all brands, but the company would not say which models would get the new system.

The new system will produce a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in fuel economy over what a nonhybrid vehicle would get in 2010, GM spokesman Brian Corbett said.

The company said the hybrid system would debut in North America before the Chevrolet Volt, which is an electric car with a small conventional motor used to recharge the batteries. The company hopes to bring the Volt to market in 2010 as well.

GM said in a statement that the new hybrid system would save fuel by turning the engine off at idle and cutting off fuel during deceleration. It would offer brief electric-only power, the company said in a statement.


 
 

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- Stanley See Profile I'm a Fan of Stanley

Engineers are not the answer, education is the problem we fail to address but making innovations and world class products is our strength. Chinese innovation or great product? Please list one? Physics is not the playground of innovation and creativity, art class is. Please stop selling us short. We are great and in need of improvement. More than most can say.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:20 PM on 03/05/2008
- Dendroica See Profile I'm a Fan of Dendroica

Huh?

Engineering and physics are disciplines which by their nature require lots of innovation and creativity! How can you say that they aren't? Creativity is at the heart of engineering and design, and are essential for success.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:11 PM on 03/05/2008
- javaman See Profile I'm a Fan of javaman

You are all well aware of the fact that, no matter what the make of the car, it takes between 20 and 50 barrels of oil to manufacture a new car. Until they come out with a completely recycled car, I will only be buying used. Just because you feel all warm and fuzzy when you get a hybrid doesn't exempt you from from the fossil fuel cycle.

I'm currently looking for a small old Datsun. that's right a Datsun to convert to electric.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:12 AM on 03/05/2008
- Dendroica See Profile I'm a Fan of Dendroica

Here is the problem: those small old cars, they don't have the chassis capable of supporting the hundreds of pounds of batteries and drive train you'll need.

Then there's the brakes- they suck. You will end up with a vehicle that is very unstable, with a chassis that can't take the weight, with shocks under extreme punishment and brakes that are overtaxed. So when you stomp on the brakes, or need to do an emergency maneuver you will understeer dramatically, you'll go head-on into the obstacle you are trying to go away from, and when you slam on the brakes- nothing.

Then you'll plow into the object. But because you are so heavy, the center of the vehicle will keep going after the front hits. The insufficient crumple zone will fail to protect you from the object ahead, and you'll become instant strawberry jam.

And bear in mind, it'll take tens of bbl of oil to build your batteries. Those metals don't mine and smelt themselves, you know!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:09 PM on 03/05/2008
- nomoredead See Profile I'm a Fan of nomoredead

I want a little electric car to cruise around town. I'll save my truck for work. Yet they still advertise cars as ' 400 horsepower, 400 ft lbs of torque and 0 to 60 in 6 seconds'. Those days should be over.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:36 AM on 03/05/2008
- WilliePilgrim See Profile I'm a Fan of WilliePilgrim

When I signal a left turn will my windshield wipers still come on?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:18 PM on 03/04/2008
- willo See Profile I'm a Fan of willo

GM has a track record of researching technologies and then never releasing them. In a current Motor trend article the GM Tahoe [a 6000lbs SUV] got 13.4 mpg average for the test. They have fought every government mandate on cleaner air and fuel economy that I can remember. They fought like crazy against unleaded fuel. They have fought every fuel economy increase. And look where it has gotten them and us. These big gas guzzlers don't just hurt them, we have to breath the air they drive through. We are the ones who lost the jobs due to their bad management. We are the ones who see our money spent on resource wars so we can buy gas for these hogs. They have done a lot of damage.
I really hope they are successful with the new volt. It may be their last chance.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:26 PM on 03/04/2008
- mamacat See Profile I'm a Fan of mamacat

Its a little difficult to put any trust in GM. Still, one can only hope that this time they get it right.
On the issue of whether anything is really eco-friendly, or just less eco-damaging: a very good point. In the long run, if we do nothing to stabilise world population, will we be able to prevent ourselves from making the world uninhabitable? In the meantime, making products more eco-friendly may give us more time to work on other problems.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:15 PM on 03/04/2008
- ibsteve2u See Profile I'm a Fan of ibsteve2u

"In addition, Toyota said in December it was preparing to start mass producing lithium-ion batteries for low-emission vehicles."

Darn shame those Clintons "free-traded" all of our manufacturing away.

We once might have lead the "green-collar" job revolution; now, between solar cells manufactured in Malysia, batteries by Toyota, and on and on we'll be lucky if we get green crumbs.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:34 PM on 03/04/2008
- Dendroica See Profile I'm a Fan of Dendroica

Do you think that only Americans can innovate?

Have you read a physics journal in the last ten years (have you ever read one? Can you read?) more than half of the articles are written by Chinese physicists. This is an endemic problem that we've had for about a generation now; our schools and our society do not promote science and engineering. If I worked in banking instead of engineering I'd be able to easily double my salary, or perhaps match it in bonuses alone. Why do we value paper-pushers so much, instead of the pursuit of intellectual or technological advancement?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:25 AM on 03/05/2008
- mamacat See Profile I'm a Fan of mamacat

Was it the Clintons who passed legislation paying businesses to dismantle factories and move them overseas?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:17 PM on 03/04/2008
- GoLeftGoDeep See Profile I'm a Fan of GoLeftGoDeep

too little too late ... as Honda and Toyota show the world what real car companies can do

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:29 PM on 03/04/2008
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