At the Chicago Auto Show ABG had the chance to sit down with Toyota's Bob Carter and Jaycie Chitwood. Bob is currently the Group VP for the Toyota Division and Jaycie is the Senior Strategic Planner. We talked about a range of issues including hybrid marketing, diesel, ethanol, hydrogen and weight reduction.
ABG: In production applications Toyota were obviously the pioneers in bringing hybrid vehicles to the mainstream and everybody is scrambling to catch up and get their own hybrids and other alternative drivetrains to market. Moving forward, obviously, you have applied your hybrid synergy drive to a wide a variety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Let's start by talking a little bit about where you are today and where Toyota is going in the next five to ten years?
BC: Okay, where we are today. Six hybrids, three Toyotas, three Lexus. We are really pleased with the progress. Total we did 278,000 units last year. Prius had a tremendous increase, up 67 percent. We had a 44 percent increase overall in hybrids. We first brought Prius to the U.S. in 2000. As you are aware Prius was actually introduced in Japan in 1997.
There were a lot of people who were just scratching their heads. They did not really understand it. A lot of criticism on hybrid, why they are doing that. Back in 2000, fuel prices were under $1.50 a gallon and there was not nearly the concern on supply and concern on the environment was there but was not really, in my view, embedded in the society the way it is today.
We introduced the first generation. It did well. It attracted the early adoptors that we were primarily interested in environmental impact. We also had people that were attracted by the technology. What is so encouraging to walk around this show is when we look at 2007, the 278,000 hybrids, it has gone beyond the initial adoptors. It's starting to embed itself within the general market and 11 percent, I am talking in terms of Toyota division which I represent, of our total sales last year were hybrid. Yet less than 2 percent of the industry was hybrid.
Judging by the almost uniformly negative reaction in the comments following the introduction of the facelifted 2009 Acura RL in Chicago last week, the grille on the car shown above could quickly become a popular aftermarket item for the new TSX when it hits the road later this year. What we have here is the new 2009 Honda Accord that's sold outside of North America. On these shores, we get the same car badged as the Acura TSX. The Euro Accord will premiere at the Geneva Motor Show two weeks ahead of the Acura's debut.
Honda has just released pics showing the Accord/TSX from all angles along with some details on the powertrains the Euro-market car will be offered with. In Honda guise, the Accord gets a choice of 2.0L and 2.4L gas engines with 156 and 200hp. The bigger gas engine only makes 172lb-ft of torque. Probably the most entertaining version of the car will the one powered by Honda's new i-DTEC clean diesel. Although it only produces 150hp, torque output is a more impressive 258lb-ft. Honda hasn't announced fuel consumption numbers yet, but it should be fairly thrifty. When the diesel appears in the U.S. next year it will be Tier 2 Bin 5 compliant without a urea injection system thanks to Honda's nifty new ammonia-generating catalyst.
There is nothing remotely green about the F-650-based Alton XUV in the picture above. The Alton beast, on display at the Chicago Auto Show, seems to be designed to provoke, with its insane GVWR of 25,999 lbs and $200,000 price tag. Still, there is at least one area where the aftermarket gearheads at Alton decided to take the weight of the vehicle into account: the thing's carbon fiber hood. I doubt the environment was on their minds as they were installing that part; they were probably laughing about how the expensive material would allow them to charge an even prettier penny from people with more money than brains. Alternately, they might have wanted to balance out one of the three TVs in the cabin (two drop-down 16 inchers and a 42-inch plasma screen) or one of the four computers.
Anyway, if we can move on from the lightweight hood (and crooked bumper), let's check out Ford's Work Solutions, also introduced in Chicago. We talked about this in our podcast, but I wanted to highlight the concept again here. The idea is to use computers and RFID chips to make organizing work fleets easier and more efficient. With all the tools tagged and the computer able to determine what's in the bed, you'll never forget a piece of equipment after you tell the truck what kind of job you're about to drive to. As Mike from Pickuptruck.com mentioned to us at the show, this feature will save a lot of wasted trips, and I'm pretty sure that there's more than one contractor reading this who's driven 50 miles only to find that his ladder is back home safely in the garage. The subsequent 100-mile trip and wasted fuel - not to mention unbilled time - would be saved with a package like Work Solutions. To me, this is the most stealthy way to conserve fuel we saw at the who. You can read more details over at Autoblog and read one more unconventional way we can save fuel after the jump.
Joel Maguire of General Motors sat down to chat with AutoblogGreen at the Chicago Auto Show following the introduction of the GMC Denali XT concept. The Denali is a four-door unibody pickup truck based on the company's Zeta rear wheel drive platform.
ABG: So, Joel, what is your role at GM?
Joel Maguire: I am the global innovation manager for hybrids. I work in the Advance Engineering Organization in Power Train. I'm not doing current production stuff. I am doing what is next. I work closely with the group that is doing the production stuff. So, I was involved in the Denali XT and had a lot of help from other folks along with some people in Troy who are doing the production stuff.
ABG: When did the Denali XT program start and when did you make the decision to use the type of powertrain that went in there?
Read the answer to this and more questions about why the current hybrids are not flex-fuel capable after the jump.
Gallery: Chicago 2008: GMC Denali XT concept reveal
Some people use airport layovers to sleep, read, or get a meal. Sam and Sebastian took the opportunity to record AutoblogGreen Podcast #19. While waiting for a plane to whisk them back home from the Chicago Auto Show, we recapped a few things we saw at the show. It wasn't the greenest show we've seen, but they have the biggest building, by their own admission. A few things left impressions on us, first of which was the GMC Denali XT. The Zeta variant is the first use of GM's Two-mode hybrid system on a passenger car platform. Other exciting GM news is the announcement that ICM and Coskata will be working together to build a cellulosic ethanol plant. Ford came out with a couple of ideas aimed at truck customers that could boost CAFE numbers. The Transit Connect is a right-sized utility van, and their new Work Solutions system could be a stealthy way to improve economy. Honda has hybrids and diesels coming, and Toyota will be trying to add lightness to its fleet. Our interview this time around is with Bridgestone's Dan McDonald about their "One Team, One Planet" initiatives.
Thanks for listening!
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One of the North American debuts at the Chicago Auto Show was the Hyundai i-Blue concept car and, as you can see in the video above (I hope), this thing looks a lot better in person than in the pictures we'd seen from the car's real introduction at the Frankfurt Motor Show last fall. The facts behind the hydrogen-powered fuel cell car are the same as back then: Hyundai's third-gen fuel cell stack sits under the center of the floor and a 10,000 psi storage tank holds 115L of compressed hydrogen. All these components give Hyundai's first dedicated fuel cell vehicle a range of 370 miles. While nothing on the car has changed, we're glad to change our opinion of it based on a little face time. Check the video after the jump
I came across the Bridgestone booth at the Chicago Auto Show while they were rehearsing for an upcoming press conference. Ex-NFL player Eddie George was running through the script and Bridgestone was showing off its Super Bowl commercials, but I was more interested in the booth's "One Team, One Planet" display. I got a chance to speak about the environmental efforts that Bridgestone and Firestone have done and are doing with Dan MacDonald, Bridgestone's director of media relations, and Michael Martini, president of North American Consumer O.E. for both Firestone and Bridgestone.
The short version of the tale is that the tire manufacturer is working on the reduce, reuse, recycle method. Whether it's retreading a tire (a process that uses 68 percent less oil compared to making a new tire - 7 gallons vs. 22 gallons) or giving the State of Tennessee ten thousand acres to be set aside as a nature reserve, there's a lot more going green here than low-rolling resistance tires. Don't worry, we talk about that, too. Listen in here (8 MB, 17 min).
You can see high-resolution images of all the panels in the "One Team, One Planet" in the gallery below.
We showed you the pictures yesterday, and now we've got some video to go along with the Denali XT unveiling. While GMC started the unveiling with the introduction of the 2009 Silverado hybrid, you can tell that GMC is more interested in the Denali XT than that standard truck. The XT is a more exciting vehicle - even if it's just a concept - and you can see GMC North America design head Bryan Nesbitt's excitement in the Denali XT's look as he introduces it. Sure, every time a vehicle is unveiled at an auto show, enthusiasm is the rule; I'm just sayin'. Why listen to me, though, when you can watch the event itself in the video above?
I've already heard a lot of wonderful oneliners about the just-unveiled International LoneStar. Over at Autoblog, someone writes that those Escalades are getting bigger every year and here at the Chicago Auto Show, we're pretty sure this name is a misprint. LoanStar is a more accurate name for this sleek new monster.
The reason we're covering such a huge semi on AutoblogGreen is that Navistar/International is making a big deal about the fuel efficiency gains to be had when using the LoneStar vs. other trucks with that traditional flat grille. There were even electricity-generating windmills in the promotional video for the LoneStar that was screened before the big reveal. Dee Kapur, the president of Navistar Truck Group, introduce the LoneStar and said that what his company was trying to do with this machine was to marry efficiency with the pride in their trucks that longhaul drivers demand. Officially, International estimates the LoneStar will use around 15 percent less fuel than "classic trucks," which should result in fuel savings of between $3,000 to $8,000. Guess buyers can use the savings to pay down the Loan. Actually, we don't know yet how much this truck will cost but deliveries will start this fall.
The long wait for the new fifty-state legal VW Jetta CleanTDI is almost over. After a delay from the original March launch date to finish certification, the first batch of 1,000 diesel Jettas will arrive at dealers in the US and Canada in June. You won't be able to actually buy one at that point because each dealer will only get one car. The cars will be used as demonstrators for test drives through the summer to re-introduce potential buyers to the new powertrain. In late August, VW will start shipping cars to dealers in earnest for sale to any and all. No pricing yet but VW has previously indicated that the diesel would run about $2,000 extra just like the previous-generation model.
The Electric Runabout, made by Columbia, was the first electric car ridden in by a U.S. President. That historical event happened over 105 years ago, in case you were wondering. The 1903 Columbia Electric Runabout had a 40-mile range and, like most electric cars of the era, was very popular with female drivers. While that 40-mile range sound wicked good compared to today's electric cars (and concept cars), the Runabout was really more like a Walkabout since its top speed was a solid 14 miles per hour - downhill.
The car was powered by a 40-volt, 30 amp motor from General Electric and cost $850 back at the beginning of the last century. While Columbia went out of business in 1911, you can see the Runabout this coming week as part of the historical display corner of the Chicago Auto Show (this is the 100th show, after all) hidden way in the back of the show floor.
Gallery: Chicago 2008: Columbia Electric Runabout from 1903
GMC doesn't do concepts very often but their latest example was unveiled here at the Chicago Auto Show. The new Denali XT concept is primarily a styling exercise but it also highlights a lot of ideas for the future of the truck market. As new fuel economy regulations kick in the coming years, trucks will have to get smaller and lighter and a car based truck like this will likely become a viable option for drivers who chose pickups for personal use rather than as a work truck. Regardless of whether this particular vehicle turns up, the powertrain almost certainly will. Future GM trucks will very likely use a smaller displacement V-8 like this 4.9L (or even smaller) with direct fuel injection. It many applications it will also be combined with the two-mode hybrid system as volumes increase and cost is reduced.
Gallery: Chicago 2008: GMC Denali XT concept reveal
The American version of the smallish Ford Transit Connect was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show yesterday and Ford did the honorable thing (at least, that's how it felt as a hungry blogger on the expo floor) when it displayed just how versatile the delivery van can be by having the vans sort of deliver food to everyone in attendance. The four versions of the Transit Connect were each personalized by one of four Chicago-area personalities, from a blues musician to caterers. These people, who've all thought about how the Transit Connect could help them in their line of work, were all on hand, but it was the caterers who I appreciated the most. The music - by Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang - was good, too. You can't eat along in the video above, but you can at least see the vans.
Just how many hybrids has General Motors sold? Apparently not very many. We all know the Prius is the 800lb gorilla of the hybrid segment with sales of between 800,000 and 900,000 so far. A reader left a link to an IRS website in a comment the other day. The site lists which vehicles are still eligible for federal tax credits which get phased out as sales for each manufacturer increase. According to the last update in October 2007, General Motors had only sold a total of 9,577 hybrid vehicles by the end of September 2007.
At a lunch discussion with GM North America President Troy Clarke today at the Chicago Auto Show, I posed the question of how many hybrids the company had sold. According to Clarke until now GM had not been very aggressive in marketing their hybrid models. He explained that they were still feeling their way in the market and the time period covered by those numbers was prior to the launch of the 2008 Saturn Vue and Chevy Malibu mild hybrids along with the two-mode hybrid SUVs. GM actually started shipping the hybrid Tahoes and Yukons during the first week of January and ran an ad for the Yukon during the Super Bowl. Clarke says that now that five of these hybrids are shipping and five more are coming later this year, they will be pushing them a lot more. Hopefully by the end of this year that number will grow by an order of magnitude.
After announcing a few feature updates in the Ford F150 at the Chicago Auto Show today, Ford unveiled the U.S. version of the Ford Transit Connect. This Euro-style van fits into a greener delivery niche, and Ford certainly made these vans look appealing, with four vans dancing around the stage, each decked out for a different use: musicians, caterers and the like. The Transit Connect gets good mileage for a delivery van (19 mpg city and 24 mpg highway). The designers found a way to pack 143 cubic feet of cargo space into a van that can fit into garages with 6 ft. 8 in. clearance. It won't be available on these shores until the middle of next year, but I imagine these will be pretty solid sellers when they get here.
We've have a video of the reveal soon.
Gallery: Chicago 2008: Ford Transit Connect live reveal
At the Chicago Auto Show ABG had the chance to sit down with Toyota's Bob Carter and Jaycie Chitwood. Bob is currently the Group VP for the Toyota Division and Jaycie is the Senior Strategic Planner. We talked about a range of issues including hybrid marketing, diesel, ethanol, hydrogen and weight reduction.
Some people use airport layovers to sleep, read, or get a meal. Sam and Sebastian took the opportunity to record AutoblogGreen Podcast #19. While waiting for a plane to whisk them back home from the 
Just how many hybrids has General Motors sold? Apparently not very many. We all know the Prius is the 800lb gorilla of the hybrid segment with sales of between 800,000 and 900,000 so far. A reader 
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