General Motors Corp (GM) and Daimler AG unveiled plans on Tuesday for lithium-ion hybrids as automakers push to overcome difficulties with a technology that promises to push hybrid autos to the next level of performance.
Daimler AG will be the first to get to market, announcing plans to introduce a hybrid version of its Mercedes-Benz flagship S-class luxury sedan using a gasoline engine and a lithium-ion power source next year.
The new S-class is what is called a "mild" hybrid, meaning the electric motor aids combustion but does not itself drive the car, instead boosting the main engine. The new models will achieve a carbon dioxide emissions level of 190 grams per kilometer, higher than many small cars with efficient engines but which Daimler strategist Johannes Reifenrath said would make it the most efficient luxury car in the world.
PHOTO: EPA
To date, the least-emitting car in Mercedes' fleet is the diesel S-class with 230g/km.
The Mercedes example demonstrates the application of the technology at the luxury end of the market and is driven in part by tougher regulations taking effect in Europe in 2012 that would require automakers to reduce average emissions in their fleet to 130g/km.
"Change has to start now. Automakers can't wait until 2012," Reifenrath said.
General Motors said it expects to bring its first lithium-ion battery powered hybrid engine system to market in North America sometime in 2010. No product has been announced yet, but officials said the technology had potential across a broad range of product models.
GM showcased the technology in a Saab concept car, boasting carbon emissions of 117g/km on gas and 105g/km on ethanol. Unlike GM's other hybrid project -- the Volt, which has a large battery that can move the car by itself -- the new concept uses a smaller battery about the size of a case of soft drinks to assist the main internal-combustion motor.
The dual announcements indicated increased confidence in the technology, already widely used in consumer electronics. But adapting to meet demanding auto requirements has been an obstacle as has concerns about costs and overheating.
"I think there's a trend there. I think it is good news that Mercedes and GM are coming out at the same time," GM spokesman Scott Fosgard said.
GM is working with Hitachi, which has used a lithium-ion battery in an electric car, to develop its technology. GM's chief hybrid engineer, Stephen Poulos, said that the Hitachi battery design would give the GM application a degree of stability because it was easy to regulate the flow of energy -- but that tests were still being done to ensure stability to prevent overheating and the potential for fires.
"There are a lot of controls to make sure that doesn't happen," he said. "It is a more forgiving application of the lithium ion than most applications out there."
Because they are smaller yet more powerful than the nickel metal hydride batteries used in first-generation hybrid cars, like Toyota Motor Corp's Prius, lithium-ion technology holds the potential to be used across a wider range of models -- as Mercedes' launch of the technology in its powerful S class indicates.
GM chief executive officer Rick Wagoner said the company expected the technology to improve fuel economy by 20 percent. But he said to have a real impact, the technology must drive high volumes.
"The view is that the technology has the opportunity to get a much better range on a small battery and this has a chance to break through in a big way," Wagoner said.
GM said it expects hybrid sales volumes to exceed 100,000 vehicles per year. The system would build on GM's current hybrids, reducing engineering costs and the cost to consumers, the company said.
The battery system would be mated to a wide range of GM engines, including turbocharged gasoline, diesel and bio-fuel power plants. GM said in a statement that the new hybrid system would save fuel by turning the engine off at idle and cutting off fuel during deceleration. It would offer brief electric-only power, the company said in a statement.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat