Companies With Plans For New Hybrids

The hybrid car plans of major automakers like Toyota© and Honda© have become clearer as customers have demanded cleaner vehicles.  Automakers around the world are stepping up to compete with these companies by developing their own hybrid car plans. 

Volvo© 7700 Hybrid Bus

Volvo© may be best known for its sleek and stylish luxury cars, but the automaker’s bus division is making its own hybrid plans.  The Volvo© 7700 hybrid bus is already in testing in Sweden with plans for full-scale production by 2010.  This bus is powered by a lithium-ion battery and generates secondary power from regenerative braking.  The Volvo© Integrated Starter Alternate Motor (I-SAM) shuts down the engine during long stops and restarts the engine with electrical power to save fuel. 

The target market for the Volvo© 7700 will be public transit systems looking to reduce their emissions and fuel consumption.  The Volvo© 7700 has been tested several times over in cold environments, demonstrating its durability in snow and harsh temperatures.  The vehicle’s 212-horsepower engine is strong enough to drive over hills on daily routes.  Volvo’s© hybrid car plans may involve its signature sedans, but the 7700 hybrid bus will be ready in the next year for use worldwide. 

Bright Automotive© Utility Vehicle

Bright Automotive© is focusing its hybrid car plans on short-range utility vehicles for government agencies, universities, and corporations.  The Bright© Idea is modeled after the typical minivan and uses a hybrid-electric drivetrain to reach its goal of 100 miles per gallon.  Bright Automotive© is able to travel up to 30 miles on all-electric power and 20 miles on a combination of electricity and gas, thereby reaching 50 miles per half gallon. 

The Bright© Idea features a convertible front seat that can be folded down for a mobile workstation.  The utility vehicle also features a sliding back door for easy loading and unloading of tools, equipment, and packages.  Bright Automotive© and Alcoa© worked to create aluminum body panels that would reduce overall vehicle weight.  Once the Bright© Idea is available for fleet purchases, the company’s hybrid car plans will be tied to interest among corporate buyers rather than individuals. 

Hyundai© Nuvis Crossover

Hyundai© has slowly but surely increased its competitiveness with Toyota©, Honda©, and Ford© by designing fuel-efficient coupes and sedans.  The automaker has created hybrid car plans to stay competitive with the Toyota Prius® and the Honda Civic®.  The centerpiece of Hyundai’s© hybrid car plans is the Blue Drive® system, a hybrid drivetrain that will be added to vehicles like the Nuvis Crossover. 

The Blue Drive® system is powered by a 270-volt lithium-ion battery that is more durable than comparable NiMH batteries.  The Hyundai© Nuvis Crossover features a starter/generator that conserves fuel by shutting down the engine at full stops.  The starter/generator restarts the 30 kW electric motor using electrical energy once the accelerator is pressed.  Hyundai’s© hybrid drivetrain is able to get 34 MPG in the city and 35 MPG highway with efficient gear shifting from a six-speed automatic transmission.  The Hyundai© Nuvis Crossover may be distant in the automaker’s hybrid car plans, but the Blue Drive® system will be featured in multiple cars in the near future. 

Lightning Hybrids© LH4

The researchers at Colorado’s Lightning Hybrids© have used all-electric automakers like Tesla Motors© as inspiration for their hybrid car plans.  The Lightning Hybrids© LH4 sedan runs on a mixture of biofuel and hydraulics without sacrificing exterior styling.  The LH4 is a four-seat sedan that will be priced somewhere between $39,000 and $59,000 once it is released in 2010. 

Lightning Hybrids© focused as much on power as fuel efficiency when creating the LH4.  This stylish sedan has a 240-horsepower that can reach 60 miles per hour from full stop in just over six seconds.  The Colorado automaker also plans to sell Hybrid Retrofit Systems to consumers nationwide to convert their gas vehicles into biofuel/hydraulic hybrids.  While major automakers like Toyota© and Honda© may be getting attention for their hybrids, budding automakers like Lightning Hybrids© are gaining momentum to turn their hybrid car plans into reality. 

BYD Auto©

China figures to be a major player in any automaker’s hybrid car plans as the 21st century progresses.  The country’s thawing Communist façade along with its abundance of young consumers means that hybrid automakers will have built-in markets once they expand from the United States.  The Chinese government has encouraged a domestic auto market by offering financial incentives to designers and manufacturers to develop vehicles for Chinese consumers.  BYD Auto© has gone beyond these incentives to implement hybrid car plans that could change the automotive market in China and neighboring countries. 

BYD Auto’s© signature hybrid car is the F3DM, but the automaker also has a larger F6DM and e6 crossover.  The F3DM is a plug-in hybrid sedan that is capable of traveling up to 62 miles on nothing but electric power.  The F3DM’s 267-mile range is ideal for Chinese drivers who are stuck in increasingly dense traffic to and from work.  The BYD Auto© drivetrain is made with a 25kW generator, 50kW traction motor, and 50kW gas engine that leads to high gas mileage.  As BYD Auto’s© F3DM becomes more prevalent in the Chinese auto market, the company’s hybrid car plans may expand to regional and national distribution. 

Online Resources For Hybrid Car Plans

The best place to find hybrid car plans on the Internet is Green Car Congress© (http://www.greencarcongress.com).  This website accumulates stories about vehicle emissions regulations, hybrid car plans, and infrastructure developments that affect the hybrid vehicle market.  Green Car Congress© is updated every day by editor Mike Millikin and covers domestic and foreign automakers of all sizes. 

CNET News© runs a Green Tech© blog (http://news.cnet.com/greentech/) that covers advances in green technology in the United States.  The Green Tech© blog is written by journalists around the world who keep an eye on hybrid car plans and developments in green building every day.  While Green Car Congress© is exclusively focused on hybrid car plans, readers can learn about macro-level green concerns from electric vehicle infrastructure to solar power generation.