The trendiest vehicles on the road today are hybrids, cars and trucks powered by drive-trains that use both internal combustion engines and electric motors for propulsion.

The two current strategies are “full hybrids“, which can operate under internal combustion power only, electric power only, or a combination of the two, and “light hybrids“, which use an electric motor to aid the internal combustion engine when necessary.

Toyota has the best-known full hybrid system, used in its Prius, Camry and Highlander Hybrids, and the Lexus RX400h and GS 400h, and licensed to several other manufacturers.

Honda has gone for a simpler light hybrid system for its Insight, Civic and Accord Hybrid models, although it is moving toward full hybrids. Other manufacturers are working on their own systems.

Nissan announced a starting Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $25,070 for the 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid, which is on sale now at Nissan retailers in the eight states that have adopted California emissions regulations — California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. The Altima Hybrid has been certified by the Internal Revenue Service as meeting the requirements for the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit, thereby qualifying for a tax credit of $2,350.

Enhancements to the 2008 Altima Hybrid include standard splash guards and Diversity Antenna, along with an available factory-activated XM(R) Satellite Radio (XM(R) monthly subscription required, sold separately).

Altima Hybrid is offered in one model and with four available option packages — Convenience Package, Connection Package, Power Sliding Glass Moonroof and Technology Package.

The 2008 Altima Hybrid ’s EPA fuel economy is estimated at 35 mpg City and 33 mpg Highway. It is rated as an Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) and emits almost no evaporative emissions. Combined with Altima’s standard 20-gallon fuel tank, Altima Hybrid has a projected driving range of over 600 miles between fill-ups.

The Altima Hybrid features a high level of standard equipment, including 16-inch alloy wheels, Intelligent Key with Push Button Ignition, power windows/door locks, 6-speaker AM/FM/CD system with auxiliary audio input jack, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) and Traction Control System (TCS).

Altima Hybrid also features a standard dual-zone automatic temperature control that includes an Altima Hybrid-specific electrically powered air conditioning system that continues to provide cooling when the gasoline engine is stopped.

Every Altima Hybrid offers an extensive list of standard safety features, including the Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (AABS), front seat-mounted side- impact supplemental air bags for chest protection, roof-mounted curtain side- impact supplemental air bags for front and rear outboard occupant head protection and front seat Active Head Restraints.

For 2008, Altima is also available in 3.5-liter V6 and 2.5-liter inline 4- cylinder gasoline engine models in 4-door Sedan and 2-door Coupe body styles.
source;autochannel

Hybrids are trendy, and, as an automotive writer, I’ve had the opportunity to drive all of the current production gasoline-electric hybrid cars and a few prototypes. Knowing this, friends and acquaintances have asked me if they should buy a hybrid.

The first thing I do is ask them a question: how much city and traffic driving do you do? Because that’s where hybrids have the most advantage in fuel economy. When a hybrid is stopped at a light, or in traffic, where a regular car will get zero miles per gallon, it doesn’t use any fuel. And when running at slow, steady speeds and light engine loads, as in under 35 mph or so on level ground, a hybrid will run under electric power, using no gasoline.

Under acceleration and at highway speeds, the hybrid uses its gasoline engine, perhaps with an assist from the electric motor while accelerating. Because the gas engine is smaller than the one in a similarly-sized gas-only car, it may be running under a higher load, particularly under acceleration or while climbing a hill. Because of that, fuel savings might be less than expected.

The dirty little secret of the hybrid world is that EPA highway fuel economy ratings are more than a little optimistic. Because of the abstract way that the ratings have been calculated, internal-combustion engine fuel economy is also inflated, but not usually by as much. Changes in calculation methodology have been announced, which is good, because most of us do not drive at a steady 50 mph on level ground when on the highway.

Still, if you do a lot of city driving or commuting, a hybrid makes sense. If you want better fuel economy and do more highway driving, buy a diesel.

Yeah, you heard that right. Modern diesels are less like the ones we’d rather not remember from the 80s than modern gasoline engines resemble their counterparts from the 1950s. They are quiet, smooth, and smoke-free, thanks to new design and construction technology and new ultra-low sulfur fuel. Spark-ignition (gasoline) engines have been the focus of development for passenger car use, especially in the US, for the past century. Compression-ignition (diesel) engines are just beginning a period of development. Consider the diesel of today to be where the gasoline engine was in about 1970. New fuels and emissions technologies are about to make some major changes for cleanliness and efficiency – and the diesel is already more efficient than the spark-igniton engine.

The Lexus RX 400h I drove recently got 24 mpg overall in a week of mostly highway driving. Not bad for a two-ton vehicle. But I recently drove a 2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec turbodiesel under similar conditions, at mostly higher speeds, and got 34 mpg. Yes, the Benz is lighter, by about 500 pounds ( a 13 percent difference), but the diesel’s fuel economy was 40 percent better than the hybrid’s.

Diesel-electric hybrids? Likely in the future. Note, too, that diesels are amenable to alternative fuels. Biodiesel, produced from used cooking oil, is available today. No surprise that a diesel engine can run on cooking oil – the petroleum product known as diesel fuel was not available when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed his compression-ignition engine. Among the fuels he used before the development of a petroleum-based fuel was peanut oil.

By Carey Russ – autochannel

Toyota Motor Corp. all but danced on the grave of the Honda Accord hybrid Thursday, announcing the sale of its millionth hybrid and issuing a rosy forecast for its gas-sipping lineup in North America.

Honda Motor Co. said earlier this week it will no longer build its Accord hybrid. The midsize sedan missed the mark because it offered a mix of fuel economy and performance at a time when hybrid shoppers seem focused primarily on miles per gallon to inform their buying decisions.

Prius sales tripled from a year ago to 24,009 vehicles according last month’s numbers.Stiff sales declines suffered by the Accord stand in stark contrast to Toyota’s flagship Prius, which accounts for more than half of all hybrid sales in the U.S., according to Edmunds.com data compiled at the end of May.

Honda (HMC) , Toyota’s chief rival in the hybrid game, still offers the No. 2 best-selling hybrid on the market. Its Civic compact sedan has garnered 16.5% of the market since the technology first came to the U.S. in the form of the Honda Insight back in 1999.

Prius, with an EPA estimated 46 combined mpg, hit the U.S. in 2000, three years after it was launched in Japan. Since then, more than 400,000 have rolled off dealers’ lots.

Other Toyota hybrids include the Highlander, the Camry and the Lexus RX 400h and GS 450h. The Lexus brand will also launch the 2008 LS 600h luxury sedan later this summer.

Of the 1 million sold to date, Toyota (TM) said more than half have come from the United States — a market long known for its seemingly unquenchable thirst for big SUVs and trucks.

The head of Toyota Motor Sales: Jim Lentz, said in the company’s press release: “The cost benefit of hybrids is becoming more apparent with climbing gas prices.” Indeed, the cost premium for a hybrid engine now pays for itself in about nine months, Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong explained. Average gas prices reached an all-time high of $3.23 for a gallon of regular in late May.

Toyota also said it expects to sell 250,000 hybrids in the U.S. this year en route to its goal of selling 1 million hybrids a year by early in the next decade.

source: smartmoney

Honda, Japan’s No. 2 automaker,will drop its Accord hybrid model after the 2007 model year. But Honda will continue to make gas-and-electric models of its Civic sedan. The decision wasn’t a surprise, as Accord hybrid sales have been tepid since it arrived in 2004. Toyota’s Prius hybrid is the market leader, with 729,800 sold since December 1997. Toyota offers several other hybrid models, including a hybrid Camry and hybrid Lexus. Honda dropped another hybrid, the two-seat Insight, in 2005.

Honda Accord Hybrid’s U.S. sales totaled just 439 last month, while Toyota sold 24,000 Prius hybrids. None the less, Honda is promising a new U.S. hybrid competitor in 2009.The Accord hybrid, sold only in North America, sold just 25,000 since going on sale in 2004. It sold just 6,100 last year.Most analysts blame the model’s failure on Honda’s decision to pair electric components with a V-6 engine instead of with a higher-mileage four-cylinder gasoline motor.
Honda spokesman Yoshiyuki Kuroda said the decision underlines how hybrids tend to be more popular with smaller models because mileage improvements tend to be more pronounced.
“The cancellation of the Honda Accord hybrid points out the fact that hybrid manufacturers have largely been unable to expand the public’s perception of hybrids beyond high fuel economy”, said Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and its kbb.com Web site.

GM’s 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid are the first vehicles outfitted with an advanced two-mode hybrid powertrain developed through unprecedented cooperation by BMW, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors.

Hybrid variants of the Tahoe and Yukon deliver significantly improved fuel economy over their conventional counterparts — about 25 percent better, GM tells us. At the same time, these full-size SUVs can still haul seven or eight passengers plus cargo, and they can tow up to 6,000 pounds. Yet the only different thing you’ll notice about driving them is the number of fuel stations you can pass by without feeling the need to top off the gas tank.

A Tiny Science Geek Does the Work
Two-mode hybrids aren’t exactly new. GM has had the two-mode hybrid system working in transit buses since 2003. Today, about 700 of those buses are operating in 60 cities in North America and have just been introduced in Europe.

But the Tahoe and Yukon represent the technology’s first application to a personal-size vehicle. It comes from a unique collaboration among BMW, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors, which have established a special center in Troy, Michigan, where some of the brightest minds from these companies have been brought together.

The two-mode hybrid is a complex integration of electric motors, high-performance electronics, wiring, energy management and hybrid-system control units. As a result, GM had a devil of a time trying to help us understand why this two-mode hybrid technology is better than existing hybrids.

So here’s an elementary way to think about it: Imagine there’s a science geek under the hood of the Chevy Tahoe. The geek’s job is to keep the vehicle running at optimum fuel-efficiency. In fact, the geek thinks about this task 100 times every second.

Compared to the geeks that live under the hoods of other hybrids, the GM geek has a much bigger toolbox. And the science lies in manipulating all these tools without becoming hopelessly confused.

Inside the Geek’s Toolbox
The basic building block of the Tahoe Hybrid is a version of GM’s 6.0-liter Vortec V8. Then there’s a 300-volt battery that sits beneath the second-row seats. (Both the second- and third-row seats still fold and tumble like those in the conventional Tahoe.) Like a conventional hybrid, there are two electric motors, but they are very compact and are packaged within the transmission.

In fact, the real science of the two-mode hybrid lies in the transmission. It’s kind of like a continuously variable transmission (CVT), only there are very sophisticated controls to deliver speed while carefully balancing the amount of power that comes from both the gasoline V8 and the electric motors.

This is where the geek comes in. The geek figures out the situation and decides if it wants to use the electric motors or bypass them. GM engineers reckon that during city driving, the electric motors operate about 75 percent of the time, and the transmission bypasses them about 25 percent of the time. During highway driving, these percentages reverse, with the electric motors being engaged only about 25 percent of the time.

Two Modes Are Better Than One
For the Chevy Tahoe, each of its two modes has a specific duty in order to deliver the best fuel economy for the situation. During low-speed, light-duty driving, the system works like a conventional single-mode hybrid, stopping the V8 whenever it can and relying on one or both electric motors.

During highway cruising, the system uses one or both electric motors to provide a power boost when necessary. Meanwhile, the V8 engine incorporates a range of fuel-saving technologies, including variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation.

The magic really lies in the transmission, which shuts off the V8 engine when it can, and then tries to keep the engine running at a constant, fuel-saving rpm the rest of the time. And the transition between the two modes is completely seamless. That science geek under the hood really knows his stuff.

All That Typical Hybrid Stuff
Like other hybrids, the Tahoe and Yukon are equipped with regenerative brakes that capture energy normally wasted during braking and use it to recharge the battery. A new air-conditioning unit requires less power and thus uses less fuel. And Tahoe Hybrid rides on lightweight aluminum wheels with tires that have low rolling resistance.

A hybrid powertrain requires more airflow for cooling, so the front grille and front airdam have been suitably modified. Meanwhile the front fascia, running boards and rear spoiler have been reconfigured for a more slippery aerodynamic profile, while the chassis rake has been altered as well. As a result, the Tahoe Hybrid now has a 0.34 Cd, compared to the conventional version’s 0.39 Cd.

Since the new hybrid powertrain adds about 400 pounds to the Tahoe’s curb weight, there are a number of useful measures to reduce the vehicle’s weight. To begin with, the hood and rear liftgate are now aluminum. The front bucket seats are thinner, though they turn out to be just as comfortable and improve rear-seat legroom by a fraction.

Driving in the Science Mode
Our test-drive of the prototype Tahoe at GM’s proving grounds in Milford, Michigan, proved to be uneventful. And we mean that in a good way. It’s always best if a new technology is transparent and requires no adaptation, because drivers are always reluctant to change their behaviors.

The GM proving ground had been set up with orange cones and stop signs to simulate city stop-and-go traffic. Our Tahoe behaved much as other hybrids do. It predictably ran on electric power as we accelerated and then fell silent when we came to a stop. Occasionally, we edged past 20 mph and the gasoline engine joined in. The transitions between electric and gas power were quiet and smooth, almost imperceptible.

Later we drove the Tahoe Hybrid on the long, high-speed loop across the Milford asphalt, which simulates a two-lane country road with some curves, undulations and rough pavement. Except during acceleration and deceleration, the Tahoe Hybrid ran on the gas engine, mostly with V8 power. Toward the 50-mph mark on steady stretches, cylinder deactivation imperceptibly changed the V8 into a V4.

The Tahoe Hybrid also proved to have exceptional braking performance. The pedal felt firm, and the GM engineers claim the Hybrid comes to a halt in a shorter distance than the conventional Tahoe.

Coming to a Dealer Near You
The 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid goes on sale late this year, and it’ll be joined by a GMC Yukon Hybrid. Both will be available with both two- and four-wheel drive. GM hasn’t announced pricing, but we expect the price difference between a conventional Tahoe and the Tahoe Hybrid to be substantial, more like the price premium you pay for a Lexus RX 400h over its conventional counterpart.

Chrysler is next up for the two-mode hybrid and the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango should incorporate the technology in early 2008. BMW hasn’t yet made any announcement about its use of the technology. The hybrid is also planned for a future Mercedes-Benz model, and we expect the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups, plus the Cadillac Escalade to receive the two-mode hybrid technology.

Yet the real significance here is the system itself. The two-mode hybrid promises to deliver worthwhile fuel economy benefits across a wide range of driving situations. Just as important, it seems to be small enough and light enough to be easily packaged into vehicles of different sizes.

Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.

For more details; www.edmunds.com