Product News

General Motors Announces "Strong" Hybrid SUVs and Pick-up Trucks

General Motors announced it will add a "strong" hybrid powertrain to its next-generation full-size sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks. (A "strong" hybrid vehicle runs on electric power only at low speeds.) The gasoline-electric, full-size trucks will use the strong hybrid system, which builds on knowledge from the development of the GM Allison parallel hybrid electric system for buses. Allison hybrid transit buses are in pilot programs in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Austin, Houston, and Newark, Orange County, Calif., and Hartford, Conn. The buses achieve fuel savings of up to 60 percent, according to GM.

The hybrid full-size SUVs and pick-ups, which debut in 2007, will also feature GM's Displacement on Demand cylinder deactivation technology (shuts down unneeded cylinders when the engine is running at low loads). Using both technologies, GM expects a fuel economy improvement of about 30 percent.

With the addition of the full-size truck hybrid program, the advanced hybrid system announced for the 2006 Saturn VUE earlier this year is discontinued. Instead, the Saturn VUE in spring 2006 will get GM's Belt Alternator Starter (BAS) hybrid system coupled to a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which will get an estimated fuel-economy improvement of 12 percent to 15 percent. In addition to the strong hybrid trucks and BAS Saturn VUE, GM currently is producing a parallel hybrid truck, which goes on sale to fleet customers this year and retail customers in 2004. For more information, visit www.gm.com.

Ford to Build 2005 Escape Hybrid

Ford Motor Co. has announced it will begin building next summer the all-new 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, a full hybrid electric vehicle able to run either on its gasoline or its electric motor, or both together. The Escape Hybrid will deliver acceleration similar to a V-6 Escape but will be more fuel-efficient—between 35 and 40 mpg in city driving, according to Ford. The vehicle will never need to be plugged in and will be certified to PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) standards, according to Ford. For more information, visit www.ford.com.

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