GM hybrids the final nail in their coffin
When the warranty on the battery expires, so will all trade-in value of the=
used car. That is about eight years from the time you roll it out of the
showroom. There will be no used car market for this species of car even
after only five years. Second hand owners don't have thousands of dollars
to replace a worn out battery and they will go bad. These batteries go bad=
little by little, from day one. Only after they have deteriorated to
practically nothing will they be replaced under warranty, but probably not
before the the warranty expires, in most cases. Even then the replacement
might be prorated to the second owner or more likely, the car will be sold
with a failing battery to its second owner who will be stuck. No amount of=
gas saved will pay for these replacement batteries. Do not be a fool and
buy a hybrid car. It is a fraudulent scheme to ruin the second hand market=
and clear it out for continued new sales. The traditional users of second
hand cars, students, housewives, and poor people will be the losers. Do
not buy a hybrid car, period.
=20
Quote:
Robert Lutz, G.M.'s vice-chairman of product development" "It would befoolish at a time like this not to be focusing heavily on all kinds ofhybrids."=20General Motors and HybridsGeneral Motors has been bludgeoned into supporting hybrid technology. Thecompany has suffered blows=97not from environmentalists or pro-hybridtechno-geeks=97but from the marketplace. Almost every article discussingG.M.=92s poor financial performance makes mention of their misstepsregarding hybrid cars. For example, CBS News referred to G.M. as "roadkill on the hybrid highway.=94 Much to their credit, G.M. has taken theirlumps, admitted their miscalculations, and finally jumped on the hybridbandwagon.=20The transition from hybrid naysayer to hybrid cheerleader has taken acouple of years. In 2003, Robert Lutz, G.M.'s vice-chairman of productdevelopment, said, "It just doesn't make environmental or economic senseto try to put an expensive dual-power train system into less expensivecars which already get good mileage." He argued that the focus should beplaced only upon the biggest vehicles, such as buses, full-size pickups,and large SUVs.By the end of 2004, a year in which the Toyota Prius racked up award after=
award, General Motors announced a partnership with DaimlerChrysler to make=
"advanced hybrid propulsion systems." At the 2005 Detroit Auto Show inJanuary, Lutz reluctantly admitted that the nation's top automaker made amistake in underplaying hybrids. He said that even if there isn't animmediate business case to be made for alternative fuel vehicles andhybrids, it's not something automakers can afford to ignore. "From astrict business proposition, this is not where we would make aninvestment," said Lutz. "It's not clear that you'll ever be able torecapture the cost of a hybrid in the pricing. But what we forgot in theequation was the emotional aspect of it."In early 2005, as gas prices and hybrid sales continued to grow, Lutz wasstill holding firm to his belief that hybrids didn=92t make businesssense=97and still taking his licks for it. In March, he said, =93rich peop=
|
le
Quote:
don=92t care=94 about rising prices at the pump. A month later, he stepped=
down as G.M.=92s North American chairman as part of a shakeup thataccompanied the announcement of first quarter losses of $850 million. Heretained his position as the company=92s product guru.By summertime 2005, the Lutz hybrid conversion was nearly complete. Hesaid, =93It would be foolish at a time like this not to be focusing heavil=
|
y
Quote:
|
on all kinds of hybrids: mild hybrids, intermediate hybrids, full-massivehybrids.=94 The mention of =93all kind of hybrids=94 refers to G.M.=92s po=
|
rtfolio
Quote:
|
approach to hybrid technology. G.M. is the only car company passionatelypursuing ultra-mild hybrid systems, such as Belt Alternator Starters(BAS), which are less costly but which produce very modest gains in fueleconomy. The 2007 Saturn VUE hybrid will be the first vehicle to use the B=
|
AS.=20
Quote:
G.M. is also pursuing a full hybrid system, which they claim will be amajor breakthrough in hybrid technology. Bradley Berman, editor ofHybridCars.com, wrote about the full hybrid system, dubbed =93two-modehybrid=94 by G.M., in the New York Times: The design, according to G.M., is part of a strategy to develop hybridsthat improve fuel economy at highway speeds as well as in the city, usingtwo separate modes of operation. The electric motors deliver their powerthrough variable-ratio gear sets, which allows them to be smaller andlighter while drawing less electricity. Smaller batteries and powercontrols than those required by single-mode systems can also be used.G.M. says that the ability to package the electric motors directly withinthe transmission housing also offers a competitive advantage, making iteasier to adapt hybrid technology to the wide range of vehicle sizes,engine types and drive systems in its global model portfolio.Rather than develop hybrid systems first for small vehicles and then scale=
it up for trucks - as other carmakers have done - G.M. borrowed thetwo-mode design from a system pioneered by its Allison division that iscurrently used in 350 city buses. G.M.'s position is that incrementaleconomy gains on popular large vehicles - full-size pickups arebest-sellers in the United States - will have a greater effect than bigimprovements on smaller, less popular cars.=20Now that G.M. is apparently a believer in hybrids, their job will be tomake a believer out of the American public. A change in rhetoric won=92t g=
|
et
Quote:
that job done. The company will need to deliver superior hybrid vehicles,with impressive gains in fuel efficiency and performance, and deliver them=
before their competitors completely dominate the hybrid market. G.M. willhave an opportunity to show their stuff; their production productionschedule includes the release of the Saturn VUE Greenline in 2006,followed by the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Saturn Aura Greenline, and thetwo-mode Tahoe and Yukon=97all in 2007.Will G.M. drop the hybrid ball again? Maybe, considering they have theireyes on fuel cells. In March 2005, General Motors research and development=
boss Larry Burns boldly stated, =93In 2010, we will have in place afuel-cell system that's production validated and ready to go head-to-headwith internal combustion engines.=94=20Lee Iacocca, called back into service as a television spokesman forChrysler in 2005=97G.M.=92s technology partner for the two-modehybrids=97warned, =93I don't see anything on the horizon short term that c=
|
an
Quote:
|
improve fuel economy faster than a hybrid.=94 He added, =93If it delivers =
|
on
Quote:
|
half the promise, do it. Because you can't let Toyota rule the roost herecontinually.=94
|
|
Linear Mode
