Toyota has issued a clarification to reports earlier this week that it would introduce a third dedicated hybrid model in January at the Detroit Auto Show. At this year's show company president Katsuoko Watanabe announced that the company would bring two all new hybrid-only models to the 2009 show one each for Lexus and Toyota. That is all Toyota will unveil in Detroit. There will not be a third new hybrid. One of the new cars will be the new Prius. An additional model remains a possibility for introduction at some other show. This could either be a larger car or it might be the plug-in Prius that will debut in 2010 for fleet testing use.

[Source: Toyota]

Episode 18 of the Autoblog Green Podcast sees us reminiscing about the North American International Auto Show, recently passed in Detroit. We start with the reconfigured Saturn Vue Hybrid from AFS - the "extreme hybrid" claiming a narrowly defined150 mpg. AFS's claims point up the need for a new way to accurately rate mpg for hybrid and plugin powertrains. We touch on the Chrysler green trio, and Saturn's own Vue Two-Mode - one of three versions of the Vue that will have a flavor of hybrid powertrains (two mode, li-ion/phev, mild).

Everyone in Detroit had a Diesel, too, many displacing 2.2 liters and having four cylinders. We also talk abit about Ford going mainstream with their EcoBoost engine technology rather than trotting out ever larger V8s - big power doesn't always mean big cubes, and EcoBoost is more than small motors with big compressors strapped onto the exhaust manifolds. We wrap up by touching on the news that the ALMS series will see a fleet of Corvettes running cellulosic E85. The rules of the series allow lots of different technologies to run wheel to wheel, so alternative powertrains could be the next area where we see racing improving the breed. 43 minutes, and we're done, thanks for listening!

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Some details about this engine still remain sketchy, I imagine we will be hearing more about it soon enough, but here is some more information to go with what we have already written about the BMW diesel engine. So far, we know that it indeed uses urea (20 liters?), but is not called BlueTec. The urea will need to be refilled every 15K miles or so.

Additionally, the engine uses twin turbochargers of different sizes. The smaller turbo spools quickly for low RPM use and the larger one takes over at higher engine speeds. The total boost could be 40 psi. The exhaust is filtered multiple times, injected with urea and catalyzed twice. So, if you were the exhausted fuel, you would be burned, spun at super high speeds through one of two turbochargers or possibly both, heated super hot again in a catalyst, filtered once, injected with urea, and super heated again in another "catalyzer" before finally being clean enough to be exhausted out the tailpipe - to be inspected by the EPA.

That is a lot of steps to make the engine clean, but is obviously worth it if the engine is powerful enough and fuel efficient enough. After all that technology and clean-up, don't electric cars seem that much more exciting as green technology?

[Source: jalopnik.com]

As posted earlier, Saab has released a new concept car at the Detroit auto show, according to The Car Connection. The vehicle looks to be a 9-3 convertible, but underneath is a rather high tech vehicle using three electric motors and a CVT transmission in addition to its E100 2.0 liter 4 cylinder turbocharged (whew) engine. The juice for the electric motors comes courtesy of a 42-cell, 300-volt lithium-ion battery bank. The vehicle uses a "modular" design so changes to the donor vehicle (Saab 9-3 convertible) are kept reasonable. One of those three motors powers the rear wheels via a differential and drive shafts, making this vehicle all wheel drive. Pretty high tech stuff, here.

So, what is this follow-up post for? It seems, according to the Saab Weblog, that GM may have put an internal embargo on Saab so as not to upstage their other internal projects. Did they not want the rest of the world to know that Saab had engineered a plug-in hybrid? According to the Saab Weblog, they have uncovered the "smoking gun", proving that GM ordered Saab to glue shut the plug port at the rear and cover it with a plaque that says "HYBRID".

This is to take nothing away from the Chevy Volt concept, which has some amazing hybrid technology of its own, but why not allow Saab to get some good press for themselves? Possible, however unlikely it may seem, is that Saab chose to postpone this new information until Detroit. Who knows? Anyone out there with some other inside information relevant to this story want to give us the goods?

Related:

• Detroit Auto Show: It's here. GM's plug-in hybrid is the Chevy Volt Concept
• Detroit Auto Show: Saab BioPower concept

[Source: Saab Weblog - Trollhattan Saab]

We have reported on Saab's BioPower vehicles before, but not this one is particular. It is a new concept vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle uses no fossil fuels at all during operation. It runs on 100 percent ethanol, and because of that it gets more power than its gasoline powered equivalent. However, the trade off, of course, is that because it uses ethanol only, the engine alone provides less fuel efficiency.

In addition to the biofuel engine making 260 horsepower, the vehicle has three electric motors for an additional 148 kilowatts. The engine is a 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder - not the 2.3 used in their production BioPower vehicles. The hybrid technology comes from General Motors. The powertrain also makes use of a continuously variable transmission, or CVT, for additional fuel saving capabilities. Apparently, it also can run solely on electric power in city conditions, making it a full hybrid system.

The new-tech powertrain is wrapped in a Saab 9-3 convertible body, and is quicker to 60 mph by almost 3 seconds than the standard car. Saab introduced a BioPower concept at the British International Motor Show which ran on E85 and did not include the hybrid drivetrain.

EDIT: A reader of this site and a Saab message board posted a link in the comments that the only change to this vehicle since it was shown last April may be in the description Saab was allowed to use. The car may or may not be changed, but if it was not, GM may not have allowed Saab to reveal that this was a plug-in hybrid model until the Detroit show. Does anyone else have any information that may lead to cracking this case?

Related:

• Saab 2.3t BioFuel engine on sale Monday, Saab asks UK for biofuel boost

[Source: The Car Connection]

Motoatsu Shiraishi, president of Honda Research and Development, told Reuters at the Detroit auto show, "We are studying what kind of conditions would enable a plug-in." Accoring to Shiraishi, Honda sees two major challenges to plug-ins, battery capacity and the speed of charging.

This news, of course, comes on the same day that GM introduced their Chevy Volt concept, which at this point would have to be the most impressive alternative powered car around, albeit one not for sale.

Of course, the longer a vehicle can sustain operation without using any fossil fuels of its own (not including, of course, the fossil fuels required for its production), the better. The Chevy Volt sets the standard there, and is one reason that the Tesla Roadster generates so much positive press. A plug-in hybrid helps here, because it can be charged without using its internal combustion engine.

Related:

• Detroit Auto Show: It's here. GM's plug-in hybrid is the Chevy Volt Concept

[Source: Reuters]

Toyota has been making their hybrid powered vehicles for a while now, with the Prius taking top fuel efficiency honors and their Lexus hybrids taking the top luxury spot. Now, they turn their attention to the sportier side of things with their new concept car for Detroit, the FT-HS.

The vehicle will be powered by a 3.5 liter V6 engine mated to an electric motor and battery pack. The system in tandem is expected to make around 400 horsepower and propel the vehicle to 60 miler per hour in around 4 seconds.

Electric sports cars seem to be sprouting up all over by smaller manufacturers, will Toyota be the first of the major automotive giants to release a "green" sports car? Time will tell.

[Source: jalopnik.com]