2008 Detroit Auto Show: New Plug-in Hybrids From Japan, China
Date posted: 01-14-2008
STORY TOOLS
Print thisPrint this Save thisSave this Digg this storyDigg this!
Email thisEmail this Most PopularMost popular del.icio.usdel.icio.us
DETROIT — General Motors could face some stiff competition in the race to put plug-in hybrid vehicles on the street from two challengers: Japan's Toyota Motor and China's BYD Auto.
Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe, in outlining the automaker's sweeping plan to upgrade its alt-fuel product portfolio, said Toyota will launch its first plug-in hybrid by 2010, with a lithium-ion battery pack replacing today's nickel metal hydride batteries.
Toyota also said it will unveil new hybrid-only models for the Lexus and Toyota brands at next year's Detroit show. In addition, a clean-diesel V8 will be introduced in the full-size Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV in model-year 2010. Watanabe said Toyota plans to be selling at least a million hybrids a year before 2012.
Tucked away in the lower level of Cobo Center, tiny BYD Auto is already displaying a plug-in hybrid, the F6DM (for dual-mode). The midsize sedan, which was unveiled in November at the Guangzhou auto show in China, is powered by a new low-cost battery developed by BYD.
BYD's parent company is one of the world's largest makers of cell-phone batteries.
The F6DM reportedly can be driven about 60 miles in electric mode and nearly 270 miles by using the gasoline engine as a generator to charge the battery pack. Top speed is 100 mph. BYD said the batteries can be recharged to 70 percent of capacity in just 10 minutes.
The company plans to begin building and selling a version of the F6DM in China in late 2008. It has no plans to market the plug-in hybrids in North America until after 2010.
What this means to you: BYD could beat both GM and Toyota to market — the China market, that is — with a plug-in hybrid. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
--
FROM 123.118.23.*