More Fuel Efficint Hybrid Cars to be Available

With the onset of high gas prices, the interest in fuel efficient hybrids should increase.  All of the listed cars are not so fuel efficient but the 2007 Honda Fit and the 2008 Toyota Prius are definetly worth your attention.  The Hybrid Car Newsletter, May 6, has a lot of news about hybrids that are going to be introduced In the next 18 months.

Both Honda and Hyundi will be introducing subcompact models in 2007. 

Honda will release a hybrid version of the Honda Fit subcompact. Honda introduced the conventional Fit subcompact hatchback to the U.S. market in April 2006. According to a HybridCar.com article an industry insider has confirmed that Honda will release a hybrid version of the Honda Fit subcompact. More excitement was stirred when Edmunds's Inside Line suggested that the Honda Fit Hybrid could mean an 80-mpg car selling for under $12,000. The Nihon Keizai Shumbum report said that Honda is targeting fuel economy for the Fit hybrid in the 60-mpg range. As a subcompact, the Fit is cute and small—but has over 90 cubic feet of passenger volume (only slightly less than the midsize Accord) and 21.3 cubic feet of cargo capacity, nearly as much room behind the rear seats as a Honda Element. The 60/40-split folding rear seats even allow the Fit to do some minor hauling.

The hybrid version. according to the HybridCars.com interview, will utilize a 1.0-liter engine.HybridCars.com quoted this from an anonymous source:

"If you take the measurement from the wheel hub to the wheel hub of the Fit and the Insight, they are the same to the millimeter. The Fit is going to get the Insight engine. It's already a proven powertrain. It will probably get fuel economy in the low to mid-50s."

In a referenced article, Hyundi is going to be a serious contender in this market by introducing a 1.4 liter Accent with a 1.4 liter, 90 hp continuously variable valve-timing engine and a 16 hp electric motor; increasing the milage 40% from the current 32 mpg. A similar Kia Rio model will also be introduced.  They are developing their own design (control system) for their hybrids.  "Hybrids are the next-generation growth engine. We plan to shift our R&D focus from fuel cells to hybrids," said Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo.

The Hyundai Accent is likely to face off against a Honda Fit hybrid subcompact. Both cars will sell in the $15,000 range, but the Honda Fit—based on the current buzz—will approach 60 mpg, while the Accent is slated for about 45 mpg.

Last month, Nissan released preliminary details about the 2007 Altima Hybrid, based on the redesigned 2007 Altima due to go on sale in the U.S. early in 2007.

According to this report, General Motors apparently put a gag on a breakthrough announcement scheduled for last month's Stockholm Auto Show: that the Saab Biofuel Hybrid Concept vehicle has plug-in capacity.

As reported earlier in The Energy Blog an unidentified Toyota engineer told the U.K.-based site AutoExpress that the company is aiming to have the next generation Prius on the road in 2008—and that it will could deliver as much as 113 miles to the gallon.

The 2007 Toyota Camry is now available and the Lexus GS is expected to be available this month.

Technorati tags: vehicles, hybrid vehicles, energy, technology

Comments

[JN2]

113mpg (UK) = 94mpg (USA). UK gallons are bigger and better :)
Calculator here (see bottom line).

[patooker]

Has anyone ever seen an estimate of what kind of MPG would be available in a diesel hybrid? I can't think of anything that would mean a diesel hybrid would have less kinetic energy to recover than a gasoline hybrid. Can you not shut off a diesel engine as easily as a gasoline one? The math shows that if you go from a fleet average of 20 MPG to 100 MPG you cut gasoline use by 80%, which (if implemented all at once) would cut US oil use by 7.5 MMBD. The 250 MPG hybrid from AFS would 92% reduction. Now overnight this isn't going to happen, and I'm looking forward to the results for the next Prius . . . but I'm wondering if the guys at VW did a hybrid, would they hit 100 MPG on the first shot?

[unsure]

I'm not sure that a diesel hybrid would be more efficient than a gas hybrid.

I've heard that diesel engines are (like electric motors) more efficient than gasoline engines at slow, start-and-stop driving; but that highway driving might favor gasoline engines. If you take make a diesel hybrid, therefore, you're running an electric motor rather than diesel engine at the speeds where you get diesel efficiency, and then running diesel instead of gasoline at high speeds where you would get the gasoline efficiency.

But I'm not sure if this is correct. What do you all think?

[Bde2200]

As the owner of two diesel VWs, I can speak to that. I consistently get 40-50 mpg. 42-44 around town and 50 on the highway. And the Jetta is not a light car. The gas version only gets about 25 to 30 mpg. Diesel engines are much more efficient than gas engines in all conditions and applications, especially on the highway. And, since all the electricity to run a hybrid comes from the engine, directly or indirectly, the efficiency of the diesel should pay off. If a gas hybrid can get 50mpg , the diesel should get 70mpg. The downside is that using a diesel engine will further add to the cost of the vehicle, as diesel engines cost more initially. But, they cost no more to maintain and last longer.

[Bde2200]

Actually, after posting that I remember a study I read about a year ago, by the DOT on combinations of gasoline and diesel engines with a hydraulic hybrid. On their experimental hybrid, instead of little generators at each wheel, they had pumps which stored up high pressure hydraulic fluid in a tank. The energy stored in the form of high pressure fluid was then used to help power the vehicle during acceleration. I have not heard of anyone going further with that technology, but it did work, according to the study. I will link it if I can find it.

Anyway, the best mileage was with the combination diesel/hybrid vehicles. Gas hybrid and diesel only were about the same and gas only was the worst.

[Roswell]

I'm curious if Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-Koo made the statement about moving towards hybrids instead of fuel cells before or after he was arrested for embezzlement.

http://www.examiner.com/a-92472~Hyundai_Chairman_Chung_Mong_Koo_Arrested.html

[Bde2200]

Scroll down here for more info:

http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/sept04/departments/news_notes/news_note.html

http://www.newtechspy.com/articles/hydraulichybrid.html

Actually, there appears to be a lot of activity on hydraulic hybrids

http://www.iags.org/n033104t3.htm

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051218/AUTO01/512180348/1148

[unsure]

The reason that I thought that gas-electric hybrid would be more efficient than diesel-electric hybrids were these two articles:

1) Mostly this one:
http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=807

2) Somewhat this one:
http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&archive=1&storyid=907&first=7760&end=7759

[Bde2200]

I am suspicious of the numbers he cites. The diesel engine is always more efficient than a comparable gasoline engine. That is true whether they are mated to a hybrid system or not. Note that the CO2 emissions for the diesel engine are lower. It can't have lower CO2 emissions if it is burning more fuel. Less CO2 means less fuel burned. Something there doesn't add up.

[patooker]

Found this in the Technology Review archive . . . diesel hybrids in France.

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=oil&id=16572

Answers my own original question I guess.

[patooker]

Oops, follow the link in my user ID, not the link I pasted.