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Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: energyplay who wrote (58634)	1/10/2005 3:34:32 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 74559

GM betting on hydrogen cars, The future of the global automotive industry will be driven by hydrogen, not gasoline The future of the global Clare Dear, Wheels Editor 2005-01-10 02:51:03 canoe.ca DETROIT -- The future of the global automotive industry will be driven by hydrogen, not gasoline -- at least as senior management at General Motors sees it. While hybrids, which combine gasoline engines with electric motors, were the buzz last year at the North American International Auto Show, it's hydrogen that will be the fuel of the future, GM powertrain group vice-president Tom Stephens said yesterday as the 17th edition of the Detroit show geared up with the first of three days of media previews. The show opens to the public Saturday and continues till Jan. 23. As further evidence the industry is moving toward environmentally friendlier power systems, Ford's new Escape Hybrid was named 2005 North American Truck of the Year here yesterday. The Chrysler 300C, with its multiple displacement system that reduces fuel consumption by shutting down cylinders when power demands permit, was named North American Car of the Year. "Hybrids are the bridge to our long-term goal of hydrogen cell systems," Stephens said as he unveiled the latest step in the company's fuel-cell program -- the Sequel. GM launched its hydrogen-powered program in 2002 with the Autonomy, a skateboard-like chassis powered by fuel cells that could accept a range of body styles. That was followed by the HyWire, a drivable concept that took the technology into the real world. The Sequel is the next step -- another skateboard chassis that can be the platform for a range of models, but which also now delivers the functionality the motoring public demands. With an SUV body mounted, Stephens said the Sequel promises a 500-kilometre range and acceleration to 100 km/h in about nine seconds -- certainly functional numbers in today's world. To demonstrate its plans to make the transition from fossil-fuelled vehicles to pure hydrogen, GM also took the wraps off a couple of hybrid products -- vehicles it says are mid-term strategies en route to its goal of having a high-volume, hydrogen-powered product on the market by 2010. Its first new hybrid is a sporty compact coupe, the Opel Astra concept. At the other end of the domestic vehicle scale is the new GMC Graphyte, a full-size, four-wheel-drive SUV that was designed by GM engineers in Coventry, England. Stephens said these vehicles demonstrate the versatility of his company's new two-mode hybrid system, which has also been applied in a public transit bus. While GM was talking about what will be, Lexus vice-president Denny Clement was telling the media about the hybrid product his company has ready for sale now. A year ago, Lexus unveiled its RX400H, an SUV with hybrid gasoline/electric power. It's based on the brand's sales leader, the RX330 luxury SUV, and Clement said it will be in showrooms in a few months. More than 11,000 consumers have already placed orders for the vehicle. And there's more coming from Lexus, whose parent company, Toyota, has already sold more than 300,000 hybrid vehicles world wide -- more than all other automakers combined. Lexus is now planning to introduce a hot, sporty model with hybrid power -- the Lexus GS 450H -- at the New York auto show in March.