[Peakoil] Fwd: Hybrid Cars Newsletter (042): 2008 Year in Review Issue

Tue Dec 23 21:51:17 UTC 2008

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Bradley Berman - HybridCars.com" <brad at hybridcars.com>
> Date: 24 December 2008 5:46:34 AM
> To: tony at tony-barry.emu.id.au
> Subject: Hybrid Cars Newsletter (042): 2008 Year in Review Issue
> Reply-To: <bounce-live-964845664-60615130 at ezinedirector.net>
>
> ~~~ Hybrid Cars Newsletter: Issue No. 0042 ~~~
> Moderator: Bradley Berman [brad at hybridcars.com]
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW ISSUE:
>
> Greetings, Hybrid Car Enthusiasts,
> We recently posted on our 2008 Year in Review for hybrid cars, and  
> thought you would enjoy checking it out.
>
> What kind of year has it been for the 2008 Hybrid? GM's product  
> chief called global warming a "crock of shit." An eight-cylinder  
> SUV Hybrid won "Green Car of the Year" award. Prius waiting lists  
> returned and then evaporated. Plug-in Hybrid Mania. The biggest  
> impacts on hybrids in 2008 were macro-economic: roller-coaster  
> swings in oil and gasoline prices—and turmoil in financial markets  
> that dramatically reduced credit and car sales, and left great  
> uncertainty about the future of Detroit automakers.
>
> Let’s take a look at the trends, top quotes, award winners, biggest  
> news stories, and new car introductions. This annual wrap-up is  
> available online with photos here:
> http://www.hybridcars.com/2008-hybrid-cars
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> 2008 Hybrid Car Trends
>
> 1. Roller-Coaster Supply and Demand for Hybrids
> In the spring of 2008, gas prices skyrocketed and hybrid demand  
> soared. Unfortunately, Toyota, Honda, Ford, and General Motors were  
> all locked into a pattern of limited availability. Waiting lists  
> returned and a big opportunity for the auto industry was missed.  
> Months later, after an economic meltdown and with gas prices below  
> $2 a gallon, waiting lists disappeared and hybrid sales dropped by  
> 50 percent.
>
> 2. Small Cars Get Big
> In May, the Honda Civic, a compact car available with a hybrid or  
> gasoline engine, displaced Ford’s F-series pickup truck as the  
> month’s best-selling vehicle. That marked the first time in 16  
> years that a passenger sedan—not a truck—was the top-selling  
> vehicle in the United States. Auto shows throughout the world put  
> small cars in the center stage.
>
> 3. Electric Car Fanfare
> General Motors, Chrysler, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru and others  
> unveiled prototypes of electric cars scheduled for mass production  
> in 2010 or 2011. Meanwhile, the highest profile electric car from  
> last year, the Tesla Roadster, barely managed to roll a few  
> production versions out of the factory and threatened to halt its  
> future plans if it didn't get government support along with the Big  
> Three.
>
> 4. Plug-in Hybrids Gain Support
> Al Gore, Andy Grove, John McCain, Barack Obama, the Google Guys,  
> and top execs from Detroit all pointed to the plug-in hybrid as the  
> game-changer for cars, energy, the environment, energy security and  
> the future of American auto workers. General Motors and Toyota  
> fought a war of words over their competing plug-in hybrid designs.
>
> 5. Hydrogen “Real-World” Testing Programs
> In June, Honda rolled its first FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle off  
> the line. In July, the company issued its first three-year leases  
> for the Clarity to Southern California at $600 per month. GM  
> continued its hydrogen fuel cell testing program, Project Driveway,  
> which began in 2007. Actual production of hydrogen vehicles seems  
> further away than ever.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Top 2008 Hybrid Car Quotes
> http://www.hybridcars.com/2008-hybrid-cars#quotes
>
> 1. "80 Percent Hybrids by 2020"
> Speaking at the New York Auto Show, GM product guru Bob Lutz said,  
> "Ultimately by 2020 we figure that 80 percent of vehicles will  
> require some sort of hybridization [because of new U.S. fuel-  
> economy standards]. We cannot get to 35 miles per gallon with  
> anything resembling the current product portfolio with anything  
> resembling current technology."
>
> 2. "Taxpayer Money for Flex-Fuel Hybrids"
> New York Times columnist Tom Friedman argued that green cars should  
> be central to any Detroit Bailout. He wrote: “Any car company that  
> gets taxpayer money must demonstrate a plan for transforming every  
> vehicle in its fleet to a hybrid-electric engine with flex-fuel  
> capability, so its entire fleet can also run on next generation  
> cellulosic ethanol.”
>
> 3. "Green Cars Shouldn't Be Mandated"
> The Wall Street Journal's editorial board disagreed with Friedman.  
> Its opinion: "Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi now want to bail out  
> Detroit once more, while mandating that the Big Three build green  
> cars. If consumers really wanted green cars, no mandate would be  
> necessary. Washington here is just marching Detroit deeper into an  
> unsustainable business model, requiring ever more interventions in  
> the future."
>
> 4. "The Chevy Volt Is The Future of America"
> In July, Republican presidential candidate US Sen. John McCain told  
> a crowd of 500 GM autoworkers "The eyes of the world are now on the  
> Chevy Volt. It's the future of America and the world." In  
> September, he came under fire from the United Auto Workers for  
> buying a Toyota Prius for his daughter.
>
> 5. "Prius Development Paid For by Japanese Government"
> On March 20, Jim Press, Chrysler’s president, told BusinessWeek,  
> “The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of  
> the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”  
> When Jim Press was the top executive for Toyota USA, he said that  
> the Japanese government never directly aided the company in the  
> development of the Toyota Prius.
>
> 6. "Cars That Run on Green Beans and Soy Milk"
> Peter De Lorenzo, of autoextremist.com, told a group of auto  
> marketers gathered in Las Vegas, “If you live in Sausalito, and you  
> want to drive a car that runs on green beans and soy milk, hey it’s  
> cool. And if you live in Detroit, and you have a 427 Stingray that  
> you have tucked away in your garage, and you just want to drive it  
> once every couple of weeks, that should be cool too. We have the  
> right to make complete fools of ourselves in this country.”
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> 2008 Hybrid Award Winners
>
> • Honda Civic GX
> For the fifth year in a row, the Honda Civic GX, which runs on  
> compressed natural gas, was named the “Greenest Vehicle” by The  
> American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
>
> • Toyota Prius
> Consumer Reports named the Toyota Prius the green car “Top Pick.”
>
> • Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid
> The 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid was named “Green Car of the Year”  
> at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late 2007.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Biggest 2008 Hybrid News Stories
> http://www.hybridcars.com/2008-hybrid-cars#news
>
> 1. CEOs Drive to Washington in Hybrids
> The CEOs of the Big Three automakers were blasted by US lawmakers  
> for bringing their tin cups to Washington in corporate jets. They  
> learned their lesson in the value of political symbolism, and made  
> their follow-up trip in hybrid cars—no doubt with tin cups safely  
> nestled in the cupholders.
>
> 2. The Reality of Higher CAFE Standards
> In December 2007, Congress approved an increase in Corporate  
> Average Fuel Efficiency to 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020,  
> leaving it to the Bush administration to decide how fast to  
> implement the increases. In April, the Department of Transportation  
> announced an aggressive timetable for fuel economy increases:  
> automakers will be required to raise average fuel efficiency to  
> 31.5 miles per gallon by 2015.
>
> 3. Toyota Sells 1,000,000 Hybrids
> On May 15, 2008, Toyota announced that it had sold its millionth  
> Prius worldwide.
>
> 4. Return of Honda Insight
> Honda revived the name of the first hybrid gas-electric car  
> introduced in the United States: the Honda Insight. The new  
> Insight, which goes on sale in the United States in April 2009, is  
> expected to sell in relatively high quantities. Honda is targeting  
> annual global sales of 200,000 units per year, with approximately  
> 100,000 in North America.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> 2008 Hybrid Introductions
>
> • Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid
> The Chevy Malibu had its national coming-out party at the Major  
> League Baseball All-Star Game in July 2007, but didn’t roll out to  
> dealerships until the beginning of 2008. The 2008 Malibu Hybrid,  
> which offers a 2-mpg improvement in fuel economy compared to the  
> conventional Malibu, managed about 300 sales per month. The 2009  
> Malibu Hybrid adds another 2-mpg bump.
>
> • Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid
> The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, along with its GMC counterpart, the  
> Yukon Hybrid, were the first vehicles to utilize the advanced two- 
> mode hybrid powertrain developed jointly by BMW, DaimlerChrysler,  
> and General Motors. The full-size SUV launched a new breed of  
> larger hybrids offering V8 performance, towing capacity, and off- 
> road capabilities—while reducing fuel consumption to the level of a  
> sedan.
>
> • Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid
> Chrysler followed the release of GM’s large SUV hybrids with the  
> release of their own: the 2009 Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen  
> Hybrids. These hulking SUVs pair up a hybrid gas-electric system— 
> the symbol of automotive virtue—with a powerful Hemi engine, which  
> is best known for winning car races. Facing severe financial  
> difficulties, Chrysler shut down the factory that made Aspens and  
> Durangos, thereby killing these two hybrids before the first  
> vehicles arrived to dealerships.
>
> • Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid and GMC Sierra Hybrid
> The GMC Sierra Hybrid, and the Silverado Hybrid, were the first  
> hybrid pickups launched in the United States in 2006. With  
> negligible fuel economy improvements of about 2 mpg, the gas- 
> electric trucks were quietly dropped by GM in 2006. It returned in  
> late 2008 with full hybrid versions of the two vehicles—this time  
> offering 40 percent higher city fuel economy compared with the gas  
> versions.
>
> • Cadillac Escalade Hybrid
> The Cadillac Escalade Hybrid became the first luxury SUV available  
> in Extra Large. All the amenities you could expect from a Cadillac;  
> all the capacity to carry eight passengers; and half the fuel  
> consumption. The full hybrid system from General Motors gives the  
> Escalade Hybrid a 50 percent improvement in city fuel economy  
> compared to the gas-powered Cadillac Escalade. Sales averaged about  
> 200 units per month.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> WRAP-UP
> Phew. It’s been a crazy year, and it doesn’t look like it will let  
> up in 2009. In fact, there’s every sign that the green car world  
> will get wilder and wackier. To prepare, check out our look at the  
> year ahead:
> http://www.hybridcars.com/2009-hybrid-cars
>
> Enjoy the holidays and have a happy and healthy new year,
> Bradley Berman
> brad at hybridcars.com
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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