Detroit Auto Show 2009: Green Rules (8)

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The article was posted on Juanary 16, 2009 and it decribes automakers pledging they will offer even more alternatives to gas-guzzling models, with many planning electric-only vehicles (EVs) within three years.

General Motors plans to start selling its hybrid Volt sedan in the U.S. next year. At the auto show this week, GM unveiled a concept luxury sedan that uses the same Volt technology, the Cadillac Converj.

Now GM wants to be a leader in hybrid and EV technology, and plans to open a battery research lab in Michigan. GM said it's hiring more engineers to work on battery technologies, is partnering with the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on its research efforts. It will also open up a Michigan plant to assemble battery packs based on lithium-ion batteries supplied by LG Chem Ltd. of Korea.

GM stuck its latest Hummer models into the back corner of its floor space at Detroit's Cobo Hall. With all the attention on fuel efficiency and green technologies, the Hummer's presence was probably embarrassing.

GM has said it will spend $758 million on Volt technology by 2012 and will battle the Toyota Prius within a few years.

The Prius has a big head start, though. At Monday's show press preview, Toyota debuted the 2010 model, which was redesigned for more fuel efficiency and aerodynamics, is about one inch longer and wider, and will offer 50 mpg with combined city/highway use. Toyota said it hopes to sell 400,000 of the vehicles this year, putting it in the production range of the Camry and Corolla.

Ford, which has offered the hybrid Escape SUV for several years, will start selling a hybrid Fusion sedan this spring. Between the two models, it expects to sell 55,000 hybrid vehicles.

The hybrid Fusion will get about 41 mpg on the highway and 36 mpg in the city, which compares to 34/22 for a nonhybrid Fusion, he said. The price difference between the two is about $3,000, but that doesn't include savings from green-technology tax breaks. The hybrid version will offer the same deluxe features as the Fusion SEL.

Making its debut at the Detroit auto show this year is Tesla, a 5-year-old Silicon Valley company founded by Elon Musk, who founded and sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion. Among Tesla's early investors were Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who each own a Tesla Roadster.

The Roadster is the only highway-capable, all-electric vehicle on the road. The only problem is the $109,000 price tag. But thanks to green-minded Hollywood stars, wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and Manhattan bankers, Tesla has sold 150 Roadsters and has 1,100 orders. Tesla plans to open retail stores in Chicago, Miami, and Seattle this year, said senior communications manager Rachel Konrad.

The Roadster doesn't use any gas and doesn't even have a tailpipe; it's powered on 6,831 lithium-ion batteries. Tesla is developing a $57,500, four-door EV sedan for availability in late 2011, and also is planning an under-$30,000 model, Konrad said.

Green efforts weren't entirely about hybrids and EVs. GM debuted the futuristic-looking Spark, which gets 40 mpg and is the company's first "mini" vehicle. It will sell first in Asia and Europe, with a U.S. debut planned in the 2010 or 2011.

China's BYD showed off a few hybrid models and one all-electric vehicle, the e6, which it plans to start selling in the United States in 2011.