GM shows off the ethanol-fueled Hummer HX

[depakid]

While Toyota aims to roll out plug-in hybrids in 2010.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe, in comments at the North American International Auto Show, said the firm expected to have several hundred of the rechargeable vehicles operating in the fleets of large companies or government agencies in less than two years. In addition, the maker of the Prius hybrid has begun preparing to build a lithium battery factory to power plug-in or electric-only vehicles, he said.

"We welcome competition because that is how new technology is developed for consumers," Watanabe said, according to Reuters. "But we don't want to lose."

Detroit-based GM has been increasingly vague about the debut of the Volt, which initially had a 2009 release date. The company now puts the debut at late 2010, but last week GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner called the Volt's battery technology a "stretch."

GM introduced the Volt concept car at last year's auto show here amid bold promises that it would change the industry.

On Sunday, at the start of this year's show, the automaker took center stage to unveil two concept cars. Neither came with lithium-ion batteries, however.

Instead, GM showcased the alternative-fuel versions of the Hummer HX and the Saab 9-4X. The old- fashioned alternative is one with which GM has long experience. In fact, GM already produces more ethanol-capable vehicles than any other automaker.

When Wagoner introduced the fantasy Hummer and Saab, he vowed that the company would create ethanol versions of all GM vehicles. And he announced that GM had made an investment in Coskata, an Illinois-based start-up whose claim to fame is that it can make ethanol on the cheap, for less than $2 a gallon at the pump.

Why the switch in focus from big-buzz batteries to ho-hum ethanol?

It's the Volt glitch, something even GM has begun to acknowledge exists.

More: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm15jan15,0,2580971.story?coll=la-home-center

[Bonobo]

1. That thing is, is...Fugly!

[robinlynne]

2. or might it be that the Bush family (Jeb, specifically) has invested heavily in ethanol, and

last month Bush passed an energy bill full of tax incentives for ethanol?

[tridim]

3. All your corn are belong to us.

Screw GM, the Hummer is just wrong no matter what kind of fuel it guzzles.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Okay, so let's review...

Toyota says they may have 100's of plug-in hybrids on the road by 2010.

GM says they may not be selling the Volt until late 2010...

Yup! Toyota's way ahead.

Toyota Looks To Protect Green Turf Against GM

Posted by: David Kiley on January 13

In case anyone thought Toyota was taking General Motors’ frequent proclamations that it will be first to market with a plug-n hybrid vehicle lightly, the automaker’s CEO, Katsuaki Watanabe, laid down a series of announcements Sunday night at the North American International Auto Show, clean diesels and plug-ins, hybrids and clean diesels that should go a long way toward maintaining its advantage over General Motors, Ford and Chrysler in “green” image polishing.

Watanabe, whose company has been downplaying the significance of plug-ins (which are cars that can riun a distance on electric power alone and then either be recharged by a running gas engine that kicks in or by plugging the car into an household outlet) said Toyota will have an lithium-ion battery powered plug in test fleets by 2010, the same time-frame that GM has said it will deliver its first Chevy Volt plug-in cars to customers.

...

General Motors has tried to seize a PR advantage since last year’s NAIAS in Detroit when it showed the Volt plug-in concept. The promise of the Volt is that it will get around 40 miles on an electric charge. Toyota, Honda and Ford have all said that the lithium-ion battery technology will not be ready by GM’s 2010 time-frame. Few believe GM can deliver the car with a capable battery that will be small enough and cheap enough to meet Lutz’s goal of a car that will cost below $30,000. Indeed, Lutz himself recently told BusinesWeek that delivering a car that will cost $30,000 or under without losing money on each one “may not happen.”

Besides adding two more hybrids, Toyota is out to best Detroit in one area thata it has traditionally led: pickup trucks. Ford and GM have also talked about putting clean diesel engines in their half-ton “light duty” pickups, which will increase fuel economy of the trucks by around 30%. If Toyota delivers in 2009, it will be ahead of all three Detroit carmakers.

...

[sharp_stick]

5. That is one ugly POS

I never thought they could outdo that fucking useless H2 but they succeeded. I guess any company that can actually green light something like the Aztec shouldn't be underestimated but this... My God that is really nasty.

[losthills]

6. It's tragic, really....

[rurallib]

7. five miles to the bushel

[malakai2]

8. No thanks

I'd rather have an Edsel.

[tinrobot]

9. Volt glitch.

I don't like the sound of that.

[Radical Activist]

10. groan

Yet another way to harm the environment in the name of environmentalism.
I'm not buying the battery cop-out from GM either. Smells like bullshit. I can't believe these people are running commercials bragging about their commitment to alternative fuel cars.

[phantom power]

11. I'm thinking of the frog and scorpion

GM just can't escape its nature. Even while it sinks.

[hatrack]

12. Jesus. Like somebody ran a toaster through the trash compacter, then attached wheels

And let's not even get started on ethanol, the Green Wonder Fuel.

:eyes:

[Nihil]

13. I think I know where the designer used to work ...

...




Coincidence? I think not!

Yes, you too can drive your very own Action Man jeep ...
:rofl: :patriot: