GM, Daimler-Chrysler and BMW getting ready to offer hybrids. Hybrid SUV’s. Cripes!


A research alliance consisting of General Motors Corp., BMW AG and DaimlerChrysler AG plans to invest over $1 billion in the development of a new hybrid transmission and related systems that backers say will leapfrog the market-leading technology now offered by Toyota Motor Corp.

And, then, they're going to build something truly dumb!


2005 GM/Opel diesel-hybrid — 59 mpg — never produced!


A research alliance consisting of General Motors Corp., BMW AG and DaimlerChrysler AG plans to invest over $1 billion in the development of a new hybrid transmission and related systems that backers say will leapfrog the market-leading technology now offered by Toyota Motor Corp.

The three automakers have about 500 engineers who have been working for the past 18 months on the joint development of the next-generation hybrid engine technology, which combines a battery-powered electric motor with a conventional gasoline combustion engine, company representatives said on Friday on the sidelines of an industry trade meeting.

The hybrid engine will be made available in two rear-wheel drive configurations or a front-wheel drive system, said representatives of the joint development project based in the Detroit suburb of Troy, Michigan.

They’re almost up to the Edsel.

“We believe that our two-mode hybrid is the best of the hybrid systems,” Truckenbrodt said. “I think all three of us can say it’s truly amazing what you can get out of if you bring wild, dedicated engineers together.”

Did they hire Steve Martin?

I’m skipping right past the $300 million they’re going to waste on transmission research. Constant velocity transmissions and even well-done 5 and 6-speed automatics work just fine.

DaimlerChrysler plans to use the new hybrid system in its 2008 Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle.

GM will use the hybrid in versions of the Tahoe and Yukon SUVs it plans to make available at the end of 2007.

BMW has not committed to a timetable for using the new engine system, but has said that it will make vehicles available with the upcoming hybrid engine system over the next three to five years.

Let’s say these Dodo birds take their SUV’s that get 14-20 mpg and increase economy 50%. That’s 21-30 mpg.

With gasoline at a floor of $3/gallon and climbing daily, people want better design all-round. Families with bills and budgets want gasoline-hybrids, diesels and diesel-hybrids [now that diesels are cleaner and quieter] and not in vehicles weighing 2 or 3 tons. Especially when weight savings turn into gasoline savings faster than anything else.

Posted: Sat - August 12, 2006 at 06:53 AM