When will we ever get a hybrid gas-electric minivan? That’s been the most frequent question over the years from hopeful (but frustrated) hybrid shoppers. After all, they say, Japan has had hybrid minivans for about a decade. The explanation that Japan’s minivans are much smaller than US models—and therefore better suited for gas-electric drivetrains—offers little solace. But help might be on the way, in the form of pint-sized three-row family haulers coming to America, maybe even with plug-in capability.
Nine of the top 10 vehicles in the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel economy rankings for the 2010 model year are hybrid gas-electric vehicles—putting to rest any question about the technology’s ability to wring more miles from a gallon of gas.
The first mainstream cars that plug into the electric grid are not expected for another year—but the battle to provide charging and battery services to those early adopters is already heating up. The tension between two companies—General Motors and Better Place—which might provide those services was palpable on Monday during a panel discussion in Palo Alto, Calif., entitled “Electric Cars: Transformational Change or Niche Trend?”
To get a better understanding of electric car adoption across the pond, the automotive group at global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan interviewed nearly 2,000 consumers in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy—mostly in London, Berlin, Paris and Milan. "Consumers see major barriers to adoption with factors such as infrastructure and range,” said Frost and Sullivan auto industry manager Catherine Butterworth. Adopters of electric cars are likely to be from France or the UK, aged 26-35 or older than 55, male, and have high disposable income.
The theme of the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show 2009 is “Fun Driving for Us, Eco Driving for Earth.” So, it’s no surprise that Japan’s biggest automakers will be rolling out their funkiest electric cars—vehicles that can lean, download files from home, and carry smaller electric unicycles. The show opens to the public on Oct. 24.
It looks like Mercedes has caught hybrid fever. In August, the company launched its Mercedes S400 mild hybrid—the first hybrid from a European automaker and the first hybrid vehicle to use a lithium ion battery. Even more impressive, Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler, is promising a hybrid version of each of Mercedes’s high-volume cars and a plug-in hybrid in 2012.
Soaring demand for Volkswagen’s clean diesel Jetta Sportwagen TDI has left VW dealerships unable to keep up with demand. Waiting lists for the $24,000 vehicle—with MPG ratings of 30 city / 42 highway—are as long as 45 days in some Southern California dealerships. “We’re almost selling them off the trucks,” said Tom Wegehaupt, Volkswagen PR specialist, in an interview with HybridCars.com. “As soon as they’re on dealer lots, they’re gone.”
The hybrid market disproportionally benefited from the Cash For Clunkers program in July and August, and therefore disproportionally fell in September. The overall vehicle market dropped by about 41 percent, and hybrids plunged by about 48 percent.
If ever there was an automotive brand that embodied the spirit of hybrid cars—urban, progressive, outdoorsy, family-oriented—it would be Subaru. But the company continues to trot out cool hybrid concepts, like the new gull-wing Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept, and procrastinate on delivering a real hybrid to US showrooms.
There was a long parade of plug-in cars at last month’s Frankfurt Auto Show. This month, it’s Japan’s turn to unveil a new crop of plug-in hybrids at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public on Oct. 24. Mitsubishi and Suzuki are the first two companies to announce plans to unveil plug-in hybrids.
