Click the Escalade hybrid for a high-res gallery

This fall, GM is adding its 2-Mode hybrid drivetrain to the Cadillac Escalade in an attempt to actually make some money off the system. Those of you who thought the existing Tahoe and Yukon hybrids were too rich for the average Joe, with prices starting at $50,000, you might want skip right past the Escalade, which is expected to be priced in the mid-70s. The Escalade uses the same 6.0L V8 as the other Two-Mode hybrid vehicles and will be available with both rear- and four-wheel-drive. The extra mass of the better-equipped Escalade means that it loses 1 mpg compared to its lesser siblings, getting 20 mpg city and 21 mpg on the highway. Unfortunately it looks like Escalade hybrid buyers will still be saddled with those ridiculous "HYBRID" graphics along the rocker panels. If you're interested in a tour of what will likely be the second most expensive hybrid after the Lexus LS600h, check out the video after the jump.


[Source: GMNext]

During a media preview of the new BlueTec diesel powered Mercedes SUVs here in Vermont, Thomas Ruhl Director of R-Class, SUV hybrid and BlueTec discussed some of the alternative drive systems coming from Stuttgart in the near future. While he didn't get into any of the electric car programs that have been discussed recently, he did talk about hybrids. Ruhl confirmed that the S400 BlueHybrid and ML450 BlueHybrid will be launched in the U.S. in 2009. BlueHybrid does not mean these are diesel hybrids, Blue is just the color that Mercedes and others are using to denote their cleaner, more efficient vehicles. When a diesel hybrid arrives it will be called a BlueTec Hybrid.

The S400 will use the mild hybrid system jointly developed by Mercedes and BMW and will be equipped with a lithium ion battery. The ML450 will be the first Mercedes application of the Two-Mode hybrid system. General Motors is building the Two-Mode hybrid transmissions for its own applications as well as supplying Chrylser. Similarly, Ruhl revealed that Mercedes would build the Two-Mode transmissions for both its own and BMW's vehicles. The X6 will be the first Munich model to get the hybrid treatment. The guts of the Mercedes-built units will be identical for both German brands and, like the American version, the only difference is the mechanical interface to connect the respective automakers engines as well as the control software. One item Ruhl declined to discuss is the battery for use with the Two-Mode hybrids. GM and Chrysler are both using nickel metal hydride. Mercedes is using lithium ion for the mild hybrid and the 'no comment' from Ruhl indicates that the same may be true for the Two-Mode.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Last summer Ichiro Suzuki was selected as the MVP of the baseball All-Star game and got the keys to one of the first Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrids. At the time, those SUVs were still more than six months away from production. This year, Chrysler is getting ready to launch their own full-size hybrid SUVs and they may be awarding one of the early production Aspen Hybrids to a women golfer at the Ginn Tribute LPGA tournament this weekend. If any of the 144 golfers, including Annika Sorenstarn, shoot a hole-in-one during the tournament they will get one of the first Aspens.

The Aspen and its twin Dodge Durango hybrid don't go on sale until this fall but they are set up very much like the corresponding GM hybrids. The same two-mode hybrid transmission is paired up with a large V8, in Chrysler's case the 5.7L HEMI. The HEMI is also equipped with cylinder deactivation allowing it to run on either four or eight cylinders. The nickel metal hydride battery pack is installed below the second row seat. While GM is offering their hybrids with either rear or all wheel drive, Chrysler is only planning to offer the Aspen/Durango with the latter configuration. The Chrysler press release is after the jump.

Hot on the heels of word that Holden Special Vehicles was looking at alternative drivetrains for future high performance models for the GM Australian lineup comes news that Holden will introduce a mainstream hybrid within two years. Nick Reilly, GM President Asia-Pacific was in Australia recently for an annual review at Holden and announced that the brand that developed the Zeta platform would introduce a gas-electric hybrid within two years. According to Reilly, the big Commodore sedan would likely be the first to go hybrid. Actually selling hybrids in Australia could prove problematic though since buyers there have generally shown little willingness to pay the extra cost. Reilly is encouraging the Australian federal government to introduce tax breaks to eliminate some of the financial sting for consumers.

Of particular interest to Americans is that the Commodore is now available in here as the Pontiac G8 and the new Camaro that is debuting this summer is also based on the same architecture. If a hybrid Commodore appears, it is almost a certainty to show up in at least the G8 and possibly the Camaro soon after. GM already showed a two-mode hybrid equipped concept pickup at the Chicago Auto Show called the GMC Denali XT which is built on the same platform. At the debut of the two-mode Tahoe last year, GM officials described a third smaller rear wheel drive passenger car variant of the system which could make its debut in the Commodore. The next generation of GM's mild hybrid is also possible and GM explicitly said that system could be used in rear wheel drive applications.

We contacted GM's US hybrid spokesman Brian Corbett for comment on which system might be used. Corbett declined comment on any unannounced products.

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]

The second member of the Two-Mode hybrid partnership to bring a vehicle to the streets following GM's launch of the Tahoe/Yukon hybrids will be Chrysler. The Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen Hybrids don't actually go on sale to the the public until later this fall. However, the first "saleable" Aspen hybrid rolled silently off the assembly line at Chrysler's Newark, DE assembly plant on the March 10. So-called saleable units are typically built many months ahead of retail sales and built from production intent parts on production units. These vehicles are generally kept for internal use including durability testing and final validation of hardware and software. These vehicles will also be used for early media drives that will likely take place this summer. The Chrysler hybrids are using the same hybrid transmission used by GM supplied from that company's Baltimore transmission plant. The only difference is the case casting to allow it to interface with the Chrysler V-8 engine.

[Source: Red Letter Dodge]

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Following on the heels of General Motors and Chrysler earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz will be showing their first Two-Mode hybrid application next week in Frankfurt. Like its partners, Mercedes will be putting the system into an SUV, in this case the ML450. The combined output of the ML will be 340 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. Combined fuel efficiency should be 30.5 mpg (US).

They haven't specified which gas engine will be used although the output seems to imply a V-6 of about 3.5L. If that's the case they will be following the Lexus nomenclature practice of numbering their hybrids with the equivalent gas engine output (450 being comparable to a 4.5L V-8). The ML450 is scheduled to go on sale in 2009.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Someone with a camera phone recently spotted what appears to be a Cadillac Escalade hybrid taking a break at a state park near the General Motors Proving Ground in Michigan. Apparently Mike hasn't been reading our recent coverage of the Two-Mode hybrid system so he's not aware of some the more recent details. The Two-Mode Escalade should be out about twelve months from now and will have precisely the same power-train as the Yukon/Tahoe twins including the 6.0L displacement on demand V-8.

The truck at the in the photos looks like it still has the standard Escalade front clip rather than an aero-optimized version like the Tahoe/Yukon although that will probably change before production. We'll probably see the correct front end at the Detroit Auto Show in January. The photographer did peel back the black duct tape to get a shot of the Two-Mode badge on the back edge of the rear doors.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Click on the image for a high-res gallery of the Two-Mode Hybrid GM SUVs

Back in 2004 General Motors first announced plans to partner with DaimlerChrysler and later also BMW to develop a full parallel hybrid drivetrain system. This system, referred to as the Two-Mode hybrid, was adapted from a system developed by GM's Allison transmission division for use on transit buses. Subsequently the three companies opened a joint development center in Troy, MI in 2006 and all three companies have applications planned although only GM and Chrysler have announced specific vehicles. BMW has yet to announce a specific vehicle and likely won't introduce their first application until 2009 or 2010. Early in 2008, Chrysler will release a version of the Dodge Durango/Chrysler Aspen equipped with the Two-Mode system and sometime after that Mercedes is expected to bring forth a hybrid ML class, possibly also equipped with a BlueTec Diesel.

General Motors has announced three vehicles that will get the new system, with the Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon being the first one coming this fall. A few months after that the Cadillac Escalade picks up the extra hardware, followed by the Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra pickups and finally the Saturn Vue/Chevy Equinox. The smaller crossovers will be the first application with a transverse drivetrain in both front and all wheel drive configurations. The GMT900 platform vehicles will also be in available in both rear and all-wheel drive hybrid configurations. With the Tahoe/Yukon hybrids due to come off the Arlington, TX assembly lines in just a few months, GM felt it was time to invite some media to their Milford Proving Ground to sample the new system for the first time.

Continue reading about the first drive in these new hybrids after the jump.

In a move that would have come as a surprise only if it hadn't happened, Chrysler has announced that the Aspen SUV will join the Dodge Durango early next year in getting a hybrid drivetrain. The Durango hybrid had already been announced and Chrysler has now confirmed that both variants will pair the Two-Mode hybrid system with a 5.7L Hemi V-8.

The Hemi is also equipped with cylinder deactivation that can turn off four of the eight cylinders under light load conditions. Chrysler is claiming a twenty-five percent improvement in overall fuel efficiency and forty percent improvement in city driving. The Two-Mode system is being jointly developed by General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and BMW. The Chrysler press release and a video of Mark Chernoby, VP of Advanced Vehicle Engineering are after the jump.

[Source: Chrysler]

If people thought high gas prices spelled the demise for the large SUV and truck industry, they are sadly mistaken. Automotive curmudgeon Jerry Flint writes how the segment plays an important role in sustaining the domestic automakers financially and is the one in which they'll soon be unleashing their greatest advantage.

The advantage is the two-mode hybrid engine. Developed through a three-way collaboration between General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, and BMW, the engine not only provides up to a 25 percent increased fuel economy compared to a V-8, but provides additional power to haul large or heavy loads. Even better, two-mode hybrids have been optimized for highway as well as city driving. Hybrids by Ford, Honda, and Toyota are designed primarily for fuel economy especially in city driving. GM will probably roll out the new engine first in its large SUVs like the Suburban while Chrysler will install the engine in its Dodge Durango. BMW and Mercedes-Benz (the other half of DaimlerChrysler) are considering implementing the engine in their luxury vehicles.

Automakers who were not part of the two-mode hybrid development are looking at diesel technology in compensation. Diesel provides many similar benefits: high mileage and plenty of torque. U.S. environmental laws, though, have proven to be a real stumbling block.

Flint sees no clear winner between the two technologies or if there will be any competition at all: in one of his four scenarios, competitors may license the two-mode technology for their own use. Regardless what ultimately happens, he sees trucks and SUVs continuing to play a role in domestic automakers'  futures.

Related:
Hydrogen fuel cells are the wave of the future - just not the near future
GM, DaimlerChrysler, BMW debut new full hybrid system
Diesels may turn the heat up on hybrids
GM, Chrysler hybrid plans include two-mode system

[Source: Forbes]