Textio

Is the Prius already old technology?

Over the years I’ve heard many say they won’t buy another car until it comes with a plug. Well, for most Americans, they’ll be waiting a long time for a new car, especially if they want a pure electric vehicle.

In a new article today, Ron Cogan asks, “Will buyers pay $15,000 to $25,000 more for a vehicle that runs solely on batteries compared to a similar gasoline or clean diesel model?”

Of course not, which is why conventional vehicles and hybrid cars, including plug-in hybrids, will be the dominant automotive technologies for the short-to-midterm, or even longer.

And analysis by Bosch Automotive Group suggests the same. “The electric car will come, but in small numbers at first. It will occupy a niche and will not make a noticeable mark on the roads until after 2020.” Ultimately, “dominance of the internal-combustion engine will remain unchallenged over the next twenty years.”

Is the government’s focus on plugging in too much too soon? Shouldn’t the focus be on getting batteries, especially next gen batteries, into as many cars as soon as possible, rather than just those with plugs? Can America really afford to give the cheap hybrid vehicle market away to the Asians the same way we gave away small cars just a few decades ago? Even worse, might this focus on the plug be counter-productive to developing an American battery manufacturing industry?

Lithium powered in 2010?

By the second half of 2010 GM should begin rolling out a few new hybrids with its upgraded BAS mild hybrid system. And the lithium-ion batteries for these new hybrids will be powered by Hitachi.

Today, Hitachi announced that it is planning to significantly increase production of its lithium ion batteries in advance of an expected significant increase in demand. So far, GM alone has already ordered enough cells for 100,000 hybrid vehicles.

Another reason to dislike GM?

Not that long ago, but before the gas price boom of 2008, GM’s Bob Lutz stated that GM could have used a fraction of one year’s marketing budget to produce a Toyota Prius competitor. Instead, GM invested that money into ads promoting its latest round of gas guzzlers as Toyota went onto sell more than 1,000,000 Prius hybrids and counting.

Today, GM’s largest shareholder is the government, via the US taxpayer, and the government has vowed to put $50 billion more into the new GM beyond the many billions it put into GM to save the automaker from bankruptcy. Hopefully, this time, GM is smarter about the way it spends money.

But, if the new GM is like the new GMAC, also known as Ally Bank, I think it might be time for liquidation.

The new Ally Bank commercials portray Ally Bank as this fair, new bank, unlike all the other banks that screwed over customers and then needed massive bailout money. Unfortunately, however, Ally Bank is GMAC, the same financial unit of GM that received some $20 billion from the US government to keep the doors open.

This is the kind of of company – the kind of ethics – that the government is going to invest, ultimately, almost $100 billion into?

But, it’s not quite as good as it sounds

Sales of Ford hybrid cars were up 91 percent in June compared to last June, largely thanks to the new Fusion hybrid. Then again, last year at this time, supplies of the Escape hybrid were so low that I’m not quite sure this number is as impressive as it sounds.

Overall in June, Ford sold 3,649 hybrid vehicles. For comparison, Toyota sold 16,744 hybrids.

Without doubt, this is a nice improvement for Ford’s hybrid sales. Nonetheless, until Ford takes on the Prius, Ford will remain a minor hybrid player compared to Toyota.

Dead on arrival?

Boy, read MotorTrend or AutoWeek this morning and one might think the world has crashed on the king of hybrid cars and it’s Toyota Prius.

An optional, upgraded head lamp has been faulty and potential class action lawsuits are in the works. Yet, from what I’ve been able to determine, this is a problem affecting only hundreds of Prius owners. Perhaps many others aren’t complaining, and this problem is affecting a couple thousand owners. Nonetheless, we’re talking a tiny faction of Toyota Prius owners.

Certainly, if this is a shoddy product, Toyota should recall and fix this problem. Regardless, is this something that could really hurt Prius sales, or is this just something that MotorTrend and AutoWeek are hoping will hurt Prius sales?