U.S. Big Three unveil latest 'green' machines

Automotive Industries, Feb, 1998 by Lindsay Brooke, John McElroy

They've made big progress towards super-clean vehicles, but there's still a lot more R&D to do. Meanwhile, Toyota's hybrid-EV enters production.

It was a counterattack, plain and simple. After being upstaged on the "green car" front by the Japanese auto industry at last fall's Tokyo Motor Show, just prior to the Kyoto global warming conference, the U.S. Big Three secured the environmental high ground on their home turf.

Chrysler, Ford and GM stormed into last month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit with their "green" guns blazing. Chrysler showed how far it has come in developing a parallel-hybrid sedan based on its LH platform. Ford bragged that its entire fleet of SUVs and minivans will soon meet Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards, while inking a fuel cell development pact with Daimler-Benz and Ballard. And GM trooped out a family of alternative-powered cars based on the EV-1. It also announced a joint deal with Amoco to develop cleaner fuels, with an eye towards NOx catalyst compatibility

Meanwhile back in Japan, Toyota quietly delivered 700 units of its first production hybrid-electric car, the Prius, and claims to have orders for 3,700 more. Prius went on sale December 10, for the Japanese market only.

GM's Array of Alternate Power

GM used a quartet of its highly advanced EV-1 electric cars as platforms to showcase an array of alternate-power concepts. The automaker also announced it will soon fit Ovonic's nickel-metal hydride batteries in the EV-1, increasing the car's range to 160 miles.

The first EV-1-based concept GM unveiled is a series-type hybrid (in which the auxiliary power unit is used to charge the battery, rather than propel the vehicle). It's an EV-1 that's been stretched 19 inches and has an independent rear suspension in place of the standard beam axle. The hybrid car combines a second-generation Ovonic battery pack with a small, 40 kW gas turbine from Williams Research. GM claims 0-60 mph acceleration in nine seconds, and a 350-mile driving range.

The second vehicle GM unveiled is a parallel-type hybrid (either of two powerplants can propel the vehicle). Featuring all-wheel-drive, this EV-1 variant uses a 1.31, dohc, Isuzu direct-injection diesel, coupled to an automatic-shift 5-speed manual transmission and Ovonic battery pack. It will reach 60 mph in only seven seconds, claims GM. Running only on the diesel achieves 80 mpg, with a 550 mile range. As a pure EV, it can run 40 miles. This concept offers the best near-term production possibility, as GM already makes the diesel and electric powertrain. Vice chairman Harry Pearce promises a production-ready hybrid-EV by 2001.

The third vehicle GM unveiled is what Chairman Jack Smith calls the most promising for the long term -- a methanol fuel cell. GM projects the car to have a 300 mile range, or the equivalent of 80 mpg. Claimed 0 to 60 mph time is nine seconds. Pearce says GM will field a fuel cell car in 2004, or sooner. The automaker now has a global business team developing fuel cells.

Finally, GM unveiled an EV-1 powered by a CNG-fueled, 1.0L 3-cylinder with a continuously-variable transmission. It produces a claimed 60 mpg, does 0-60 mph in 11 seconds, and has a 400 mile range. Emissions are 10% of ULEV standards, says the automaker

Ford's LEV Trucks and P2000

In a move aimed at offsetting growing criticism of giant, gas-sucking SUVs, Ford Automotive Operations President Jac Nassar announced that his company's entire range of sport-utes and minivans -- some 800,000 vehicles -- will certify as LEVs for the 1999 model year. More effective catalysts and greater engine control power will enable it, even without a present LEV truck mandate.

Later this year comes the first driveable, hybrid-powered version of Ford's longer-term eco-car program, P2000. Nassar promises a "production-ready" version of the Contour-based sedan, which combines a 400-pound aluminum body-in-white and advanced diesel parallel-hybrid drivetrain, "soon after year 2000." Ford is working jointly with aluminum supplier Alcan on further reducing mass and adding strength. P2000 engineers say rivet-bonding, a technique used on the Plymouth Prowler and British Harrier fighter jet, will replace most spot welds.

Ford also showed a mock-up, fuel cell-powered version of a P2000 chassis. The automaker has joined Daimler-Benz and Ballard Power Systems on a hydrogen fuel cell development program, with Ford and D-B each kicking in $400 million. Nassar is eyeing 2004 as feasible for "market-ready prototypes" -- a code term used cautiously at the show by both Ford and GM execs which, we believe, translates into "still too expensive, unproven, and not quite ready for showrooms."

Jac Nassar predicts that the internal combustion engine will still have 70% of the vehicle market 30 years from now, "assuming no unnatural events like oil fields getting blown up. And that is with the potential of developing the internal combustion engine further, in terms of clean and efficient," he says. Nassar adds that Ford is spending about 5W/o of its advanced research budget on further refining IC engines.