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Hello everyone. I hope you’re still hungry for some new information about hybrids after all that food (I believe I’m still digesting my cornbread stuffing with smoked tofurkey and sage at the moment). So let’s talk some hybrid turkey and work off a few calories.
And away we go,
Scott Nathanson
UCS National Field Organizer &
HybridCenter.org Administrator
In this issue:
 DCN and UCS activists have made a strong showing on our two current clean car activities. More than 15,000 people have already submitted their comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supporting a strong final clean car rule. This is the key step toward ensuring the auto industry fully incorporates cost-effective conventional and advanced technologies into the products they sell, so the call for a strong rule from consumers must be loud and clear. The deadline for the public comment period is November 27, so get those comments in, and tell your friends to do it too!
You’ll also remember my call last month for Ford to help cement its reputation as an environmental leader by making a public break from the US Chamber of Commerce’s anti-science stance on climate change. Well, it seems many of you agreed with me, as nearly 30,000 letters have gone to Bill Ford so far. We have heard from Ford representatives that your messages have indeed been heard, so let’s keep those messages coming in! I’ll let you know if we hear more about Ford’s response.
This is great work toward a clean car future, so thanks very much for all you do.
With the Frankfurt and Tokyo Auto Shows behind us, and Los Angeles and Detroit coming in December and January, respectively, the news about hybrid development is coming in fast and furious. I’ve made a number of updates to our Hybrid Timeline. Here are some of the tidbits I found most intriguing:
The Germans are Coming
 Early reports are pretty impressive for the cost of the Mercedes S400 Hybrid, but disappointing on fuel economy. It’s a mild hybrid system that really downsizes the engine, pairing it with the 3.5 liter V6 engine instead of the conventional 5.5 liter V8. By saving money on the gasoline engine, this hybrid also comes in at a price tag $3,650 less than its conventional counterpart. But the fuel economy results are not that impressive, with only a 17 percent improvement in fuel economy, much less than expected from hybridization and such a significant reduction in engine size.
BMW is also bringing a mild hybrid sedan to market next year with its Active Hybrid 7. Unfortunately, it’s wed to its twin-turbo V8. BMW says it will get a 15 percent fuel economy boost over the 750i, which gets an EPA-estimated 17mpg. BMW just brought their first hybrid to market with the Active Hybrid X6 compact SUV. This one is all about the muscle. While BMW is comparing its 20 percent fuel economy bump to its V8 counterpart, it gets only a 1 mpg improvement over the V6 model, the X6 xDrive35i. Note the base price of the Active Hybrid X6 is $33,475 more than the X6 xDrive35i. This seems like the Honda Accord Hybrid story all over again, just at the luxury level.
Speaking of the Accord Hybrid…
It seems Honda has decided that it’s not going to cede the larger hybrid market to Toyota, Ford, and GM. Instead, Honda is now working to develop a hybrid powertrain for larger vehicles, with an eye toward rebooting the Accord Hybrid. Honda is utilizing two electric motors and a lithium-ion battery to output more power than the single motor setup in the Insight and Civic. This is expected to be Honda’s first full-hybrid drivetrain, as the more powerful battery will allow the vehicle to move in all-electric mode at low speeds. It will be very interesting to see if they do as good a job with the Gen. 2 Accord Hybrid as they did with the Gen. 2 Civic Hybrid.
 It sounds like Honda is looking to bring this new hybrid drivetrain to market as soon as 2011. As exciting as the prospect of a new, improved Accord Hybrid is, it seems Honda is seriously considering a minivan application, most likely the Odyssey, for this new full hybrid system. So in the long and tortured race toward providing an efficient and cost-effective 7+ passenger option, it seems that Honda might well be taking the lead. Toyota is unveiling its retooled Sienna minivan at the Los Angeles Auto Show in December, but there have been no announcements about a hybrid version.
Concepts, Concepts, Concepts
A number of interesting concept hybrids appeared at the auto shows, with some hints of eventual marketability. BMW actually decided to test out hybrid technology in a way that maximizes fuel economy, creating the Vision Efficient Dynamics sportscar. It’s exterior design achieves a drag coefficient of 0.22, better than the Prius' 0.25. The 1.5-liter three-cylinder diesel engine is combined with an electric motor on the rear axle and the two electric motors on the front axle. This power train gives the car 356 horsepower and 590 pound feet of torque, getting it to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds—all with an estimated 63 mpg.
 VW’s ultra slim L1 hybrid sports coupe debuted in Frankfurt, and actually manages 170 mpg with a 2-cylinder engine. Suzuki and Mitsubishi brought their hybrids, the Tourer sports coupe and PX-MiEV SUV, respectively. Little word about whether these drivetrains will hit the market, though there’s some suggestion that Mitsubishi might bring theirs into production by 2013.
Plug-in hybrid concept models were in abundance, topped by the market news that GM is going to bring the Cadillac Converj, the upscale version of the Chevy Volt—to market. No production date yet, but likely at least a year after the Volt’s introduction in fall 2010. The Mercedes S500 Plug-in Hybrid concept sedan can reportedly propel the car under electric power only for almost 20 miles, while the Suzuki Swift plug-in compact can run solely on the electric motor for about 12.5 miles.
All this and more, including the first “green limo” concept, can be found over at the Hybrid Timeline.
- Toyota’s “Prius brand” may start big in 2010: Toyota finally seems ready to roll out a production hybrid with a lithium-ion battery, and it sounds like it’s going to be a “big Prius.” Rumors are that it will either be a wagon or SUV with the Prius label, and will go on sale by the end of next year. The reports are Japan-based, so there are no indicators yet whether this vehicle would immediately be available in the United States. To learn more, visit the Hybrid News Center.
 Chrysler looking at Fiat’s small engines, but not for hybrids: While Chrysler’s team-up with Fiat will help the U.S. automakers incorporate smaller, more efficient engines in their existing lineup, it is reportedly having no impact on their schedule to produce hybrid and electric vehicles. Indeed, Chrysler has no plan to mass market a hybrid vehicle before 2015, and has disbanded the engineering team that was trying to bring three electric models to market. All this despite having touted those plans as a reason why the Obama administration should give it billions in bailout funds. Check out more on Chrysler at the Hybrid News Center.
- Hybrids provide hope in Philly: A team of high school students and mentors in West Philadelphia have made it to the next round of the Automotive X-Prize competition with their design. The goal of the X Prize is to build two cars that can get 100 miles to the gallon. The West Philly team is building a hybrid version of a Ford Focus and a Factory Five GTM kit car. The students building the automobiles are inner-city at-risk youth, and the team gives students a creative, after-school outlet while teaching them useful skills that can be employed in the future. For more on this very inspiring story, head to the Hybrid News Center.
As you might know, the UCS Clean Vehicles home office is in Berkeley, California. Patty Monahan, the deputy director of our program, is out there, and gets a number of chances to interact with and evaluate vehicle technologies that are coming down the pike One of the more interesting ones is not a hybrid, but an all-electric vehicle, and it would be the first from a major automaker in several years. Patty was at a rollout event for this new Nissan Leaf, and here’s what she had to say about it. Oh, and that’s Patty on the right in this cool picture at the event.
 Last Friday, I participated in the kick-off event for Nissan's new, all-electric vehicle, the Leaf. I was on a panel with Carlos Ghosn (CEO of Nissan), Mary Nichols (Chairman of the California Air Resources Board), and David Crane (CEO of NRG/Reliant). There were several hundred people at the event, which was held in Dodger Stadium in LA.
Nissan is doing a media blitz for the new Leaf, going to 22 cities in a tour across the United States. This is quite a contrast from the 1990s, when GM released its all electric EV1. At that time, GM and other car manufacturers were not aggressively marketing their electric vehicles, and in fact, seemed to be discouraging consumers from buying them.
Nissan is marketing the Leaf as the first all electric vehicle that families can actually afford. It has an all electric range of 100 miles, though you can expect degradation over time as the battery ages. It's a four-door, five-seater, with a hatchback, and has a sporty look similar to the Toyota Matrix. While the sales price is not public, Nissan is saying the price will be close to a standard midsize car (I'm guessing $28 to $30K). Interestingly, Carlos Ghosn said that the battery itself will be leased instead of sold with the vehicle. This could be good or bad for consumers, we'll have to see what the conditions of the lease turn out to be. But since this will be first generation lithium ion battery technology, it's possible that leasing could have advantages for the consumer.
Nissan is being bullish about the prospects for mass marketing the Leaf. Ghosn said that the Leaf will be released in 2010 to fleets, but by 2011 or 2012, your average consumer (yes, you or me!) should be able to buy it. So that means mass marketing of an all-electric vehicle by 2012. He has even suggested that fully electric models could account for 10 percent of all car sales by 2020. That seems overly optimistic, but still, it's great to see an automaker step up with an all electric vehicle that families may actually be able to afford.
I’m not surprised that Ghosn is bullish on EVs, as he has said that’s where he sees Nissan’s niche, rather than hybrids, which are dominated by Toyota. Seems they’re seeing their hybrid drivetrain as more of a premium item, as they’ll be introducing their first independent hybrid in the United States next year—the Infiniti M sedan. I also hope Patty got a Dodger Dog out of the trip—it’s a crime to go to Dodger Stadium and not get a grilled Dodger Dog.
Some excellent additions to our growing community of hybrid drivers! Please help us to expand this community even more by sending in a photo and telling your hybrid story. I'd also be, ahem, "thankful" if you'd ask your hybrid-owning friends to join us.
 Barry Benjamin of West Palm Beach, FL has put more than 129,000 miles on his Gen. 2 Prius. His average gas mileage ranges from 45 to 51 mpg, depending upon attitude, traffic, weather, and time constraints. He says he won’t buy a new car until there is one that gets 90 mpg!
 Mary Venable of Kingsport, TN is driving around in a brand new Gen. 3 Prius. So far she loves the car and keeps her 4Runner at home. Driving a lot in mountains, she’s averaging 46 mpg. She hopes to do better!
I’ll be talking to y’all again after the holidays, so here’s to hoping everyone has a safe, fun, and green holiday season.
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