TOKYO -- I had to go to Japan to do it, but I finally got my hands on a plug-in hybrid.
Not one of those hacked Priuses that after-market modifiers around L.A. will produce in exchange for several thousand dollars and a canceled warranty. This was the real thing, built by Toyota at its research labs in Japan, as part of its program to get a workable plug-in hybrid to market.
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It also won't speculate on a sell-by date. Perfecting the lithium ion batteries will happen, the company says. As to when, in the words of a spokesman, "there is high interest in getting this to market as soon as possible."
GM, which is battling Toyota for the title of world's largest automaker, has talked of a 40-mile all-electric range for its Chevy Volt, provided researchers can develop more powerful and safer lithium ion batteries. GM says it could be ready for market in three years -- an aggressive projection that invites derision from other automakers, including Toyota.
My advice to GM... Before you get a working battery, stop promising and:
"GM's goal," Burns explained, "is to design and validate a fuel cell propulsion system by 2010 that is competitive with current internal combustion systems on durability and performance, and that ultimately can be built at scale affordably.
Does this sound familiar?
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October: Released "2000-01 Sustainability Report" which highlights GM's efforts to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles with 300 experts working on two continents.
Change "2000-01" to "2007" and replace "fuel cell vehicles" with "GM Volt" and you have this years press release.
By GM standards, we'll be having this discussion in 2014 regarding why the Volt was never produced.
In fairness, the availability of hydrogen fueling stations has not progressed with actual hydrogen fuel cell technology, so you cannot compare hydrogen vehicle technology to even tomorrow's hybrid. GM does have some hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road in California, along with Honda, and work continues on the Sequel.
Anyone who pays the least bit of attention to GM's plans knows that the Volt WILL be delivered. The biggest difference between the Volt and the hydrogen cars is that there is no outside infrastructure needed, like those pesky hydrogen fueling stations.
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2001 Camaro SS
310 RWHP, 330 RWTQ stock @ 12,000 miles
28 mpg highway
Anyone who pays the least bit of attention to GM's plans knows that the Volt WILL be delivered. The biggest difference between the Volt and the hydrogen cars is that there is no outside infrastructure needed, like those pesky hydrogen fueling station
Yet the hype is exactly the same.
You gotta at least like the "shut the f@#k up" guy. Is it Penn or Teller?
Odd, I don't remember commercials promising the Sequel. When it was shown, Wagoner admitted mass-production of an affordable hydrogen car was still at least a decade away (from 2005).
Anyone who pays the least bit of attention to GM's plans knows that the Volt WILL be delivered. The biggest difference between the Volt and the hydrogen cars is that there is no outside infrastructure needed, like those pesky hydrogen fueling stations.
Yep. I think the automakers are going down a dead-end road with hydrogen at the moment. Pure battery power is much more promising in the short-term, and possibly the long-term as well.
I'd love to be able to plug my car into a solar array on my house or even into a portable array when I'm camping.
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Originally Posted by dakmor
My advice to Toyota fanboys: Stop acting like GM doesn't know what it's doing.
We aren't acting, and neither is GM. They really don't know what they're doing! They've yet to make any inroads into genuine "green" auto technology, despite many, many, many hysterical ad campaigns to the contrary.
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