GM to offer hybrid power option in the Vibe.

[d_m_kolb]

I found this info while search the net for Vibe info.quote:GM to offer hybrid power across modelsDETROIT — General Motors may be late to the hybrid gas-electric car party, but it is arriving in a big way. GM will offer hybrid electric engines on some of its highest-volume sedans, hatchbacks and sport wagons by 2004. And the company says it could be selling well over 100,000 hybrid cars and sport utilities by 2010, depending on consumer acceptance. The hybrid system GM will introduce at the North American International Auto Show here this week has been designed for an all-new vehicle platform known as Epsilon. The automaker plans to use Epsilon for passenger cars, small pickups, minivans, SUVs and vehicles that are amalgams of cars and SUVs.The hybrid system, ParadiGM, combines a six-cylinder or in-line four-cylinder engine with a pair of electric motors and a battery pack. The six-cylinder engine puts out 280 horsepower. And both provide an all-wheel-drive feature. Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development, says that an SUV powered by the new system will get 20% better fuel economy — about 35 miles per gallon on the highway — and produce about 20% lower fuel emissions.GM models that will offer ParadiGM as an option starting in 2004 include Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn S series and Pontiac Vibe — unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show Friday — among others. That will mean about 800,000 vehicles a year offering the option by mid-decade. GM expects to sell at least 7,000 hybrid-equipped Epsilon vehicles the first year.The vehicles will cost more than those powered by gas alone but about equal to supercharger and all-wheel-drive options. Companies have been cautious in their first-year plans for hybrids. Honda set a sales target of 4,000 Insights, its hybrid car in showrooms this year, only to boost that to 6,500 because of higher-than-expected demand. Toyota planned to sell 12,000 of its Prius hybrids in 2000.Because GM is the world's largest vehicle producer, the impact of its hybrid vehicles on fuel consumption could be enormous. But GM is fighting a public relations war over its plans. Toyota and Honda scored points with the public and environmentalists by introducing their cars this year. Toyota says Prius gets 52 mpg; Honda claims 68 mpg for Insight. GM has been battling for respect for its strategy of increasing the fuel efficiency of the greatest number of vehicles, rather than having one show-stopping hybrid. Last summer, GM said its full-size pickups would have a different hybrid engine than ParadiGM as an option by 2005, increasing the fuel efficiency of Chevy Silverados and GMC Sierras by 25% a without loss of power or performance."Rather than forcing everyone into a small, odd-looking vehicle, we think that we are doing the environment and our customers a much bigger service by offering as many choices as possible," Vice Chairman Harry Pearce says.Burns says converting a passenger car from 30 mpg to 50 mpg doesn't save as much fuel as converting a 20 mpg SUV to 30 mpg. The SUV improvement, he reasons, saves 167 gallons of gas over 10,000 miles, compared with just 133 gallons from the improvement to the car."The strategy has to be about improving the vehicles people want to buy, not creating some super-efficient small car that few people want," Burns says."It's a bold stroke, but my concern would be that demand would be limited if GM doesn't market the system right," says marketing consultant Dennis Keene. "GM historically does not market its vehicles well, and hybrids will take a lot of clever and educative marketing."Coming soon: GM's Pontiac Vibe will offer ParadiGM as an option starting in 2004.

[Vibe Rater]

quote:"Rather than forcing everyone into a small, odd-looking vehicle"LOL. A not so modest dig at Toyota and Honda I'd say. Small, odd looking vehicles for sure. A 25% reduction in oil use could have a dramatic effect on our oil imports from terrorist states in the middle east. What are they gonna do with all that sand!?

[Sub-Vibe-R]

quote:Just did the calculations again...Remember Canadian Prices, and Toyota figures for fuel economyTook a Base manual tranny 4-door Echo compared to a base PriusPrice: Echo 14,025$ Prius 29,990$Difference: 15,965$Highway Fuel Consumption: Echo 5.1l/100km Prius 4.5l/100kmDifference: 0.6 liter/100kmAt a price of 80 cents a kilometer (which is about 6-7 cents higher than the price these days in the Ottawa region), you would need to do 3,326,041.6 kilometers more on your Prius to cover the price differenceDraw your own conclusions!Hey Salsa!, you forgot taxes on the car......Taxes are inclused on gas price but not on car.

[Flip-Side]

quote:The vehicles will cost more than those powered by gas alone but about equal to supercharger and all-wheel-drive options. I take this statement to mean that the hybrid system will add another $3000 to the vehicle. That is actually really good! I sure hope GM doesn't chicken out of this and delay a year or 2. This system really sounds promising.

[baltimore17]

I keep cars for about ten years, so $3,000 comes out to $300/year (ignoring things like investment alternatives). I'd be happy to spend $300/year to thumb my nose at the oil companies. I went from a 13 MPG Trans Am to a 28 MPG Saturn ten years ago and just laugh at my friends with their 12 MPG Expeditions and Tahoes moaning about the price of gas.If the 2003 Vibe had offered a hybrid drivetrain for $3,000, I would have ordered it.

[ragingfish]

Interesting.This never happened!

[northvibe]

GM hates the vibe hahah yea i dont see it happening unless toyota does it.

[redlava]

I don't think GM has any cars with a hybrid option do they? I guess with being in the red for as long as they have been, trying to get new and expensive technology in their line up has taken a backseat.

[northvibe]

There is a saturn vue, silverado, sierra, tahoe, yukon and then back in the day GM made the EV cars....that they pulled away from consumers and destroyed

[mcgusto82]

GM doesn't give enough credit for it's EV 1 cars. They were the first to mass produce electric only vehicles. They pulled it off the shelves because it just wasn't a great performer. you could only get about 150 miles out of a full charge. but they did try.

[northvibe]

150 miles isnt good enough!? thats amazing for people just putting around town, plus work places had charge stations. GM, honda, toyota and ford all had them, but GM took them all from their owners after the lease and crushed them thats bs. everyone should watch who killed the electric car, good movie.

[mcgusto82]

The EV1 was critizied by everyone and their mothers. I'm not saying it was a bad car, just wasn't widely accepted. Also, the program was only in Cali. not sure what area. typically everyone doen't remember the EV1, but praises the Insight as the first Electric car of america. what i'm saying is that GM has made the move, for some reason, it pulled out.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by mcgusto82 »The EV1 was critizied by everyone and their mothers. I'm not saying it was a bad car, just wasn't widely accepted. Also, the program was only in Cali. not sure what area. typically everyone doen't remember the EV1, but praises the Insight as the first Electric car of america. what i'm saying is that GM has made the move, for some reason, it pulled out. The Insight is not an electric car.

[mcgusto82]

That's my whole point. It's the first mas produced HYBRID. Yet i've seen mags called it an electric car.

[Katscan]

I cant remeber where I saw it but Ive heard rumors that Hybrid vehicles are actually worse for the environment than a regular gasoline engine.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Katscan »I cant remeber where I saw it but Ive heard rumors that Hybrid vehicles are actually worse for the environment than a regular gasoline engine.not entirely what you are referring to, but one of toyota's plant where a component for the prius is assembled is an environmental disaster.Quote »The 'green-living' Toyota Prius has become the ultimate statement for those seeking to stress their commitment to the environment.However, the environment-saving credentials of the cars are seriously undermined by the disclosure that one of the car's essential components is produced at a factory that has created devastation likened to the arid environment of the moon.article: http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/...=1770

[TJinPgh]

Quote, originally posted by Katscan »I cant remeber where I saw it but Ive heard rumors that Hybrid vehicles are actually worse for the environment than a regular gasoline engine.I have no official data on this, but, over the long haul I suspect they're probably right, depending on how they go about recycling components.Sooner or later, the storage cells from the electrical portion of the engine are going to wear out. All batteries, even under the best of circumstances, do. Otherwise, we'd never have to buy a car battery again.The fact is that there is room for debate on the environmental impact of combustion engines (and it's not my intent to get into that debate here). But, there can be little doubt about the impact of landfills polluted with leaking power cells if they're not recycled properly.As for the cost of producing these cars, one has to realize that hybrids are still a relatively rare breed in terms of the types of vehicles produced (not the volume). The more vehicles that are produced with the technology, the cheaper the technology SHOULD become. We're basically discussing electronics, and all electronics get cheaper through mass production.It may also be noteworthy that GM has been discussing, in addition to it's partnership with Toyota, a working relationship with Nissan. This may be noteworthy, as Honda (arguably the leader in Hybrid tech at moment) has just reached an agreement to GIVE it's hybrid technology to Nissan.