General Motors said on Tuesday it will set up a $246 million facility to build electric motors to power future hybrids. The first GM-designed and built electric motors would appear in 2013 in rear-wheel-drive two-mode hybrid vehicles.
LimeLite CoachWorks of Santa Clara, Calif., recently added more than 13 feet to a Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, making it the world's first hybrid SUV stretch limo. It would also be the world's biggest hybrid, if it weren't for hybrid gas-electric buses and locomotives.
We had an opportunity to drive the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid over the last few days and conducted two separate real-world mileage loops to determine the fuel economy for the full-size SUV. The results were impressive.
Many of the eco-friendly innovations in our vehicles begin in the R&D departments of large auto suppliers. We spoke with Bill Kozyra, president and CEO, Continental Automotive Systems North America, about what he sees as the three largest trends in automotive technology: sustainability, safety and connectivity. Kozyra also says that the Chevy Volt is on track for production in 2009.
Dan Neil, the Pulitzer-Prize winning auto journalist of the Los Angeles Times, says the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid deserves praise. “For sheer execution, you can do nothing but throw rose petals at the thing.” But he also poses a long list of questions about GM’s 6.0-liter V8 hybrid, which he calls, “a fantastically fuel-efficient vehicle that's still a gas hog.”
via Los Angeles Times
December 26, 2007
