Toyota Prius and Saturn Vue Plug-Ins

There are a couple of cars on the horizon that we may never see. One is the Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid and the other is the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid, although Toyota may use another name besides Prius. Both vehicles will have about a 10 mile electric only range, which is fairly lame, by anyone's standards. However, 10 miles could easily cover a person's need to run errands and may even get you to work.

The range of these cars is not nearly as important as their ability to be plugged into household current. Instead of topping off the at the Mobil station, we could top with electricity generated on our own rooftops. Thrilling stuff, to be sure.

However, it is always prefaced with "however" isn't it?, it looks like Saturn may be headed for the chopping block, and the Vue with it. Sigh. A smaller plug-in hybrid SUV makes the world of sense and yet, GM cannot get it to market in time.

Speaking of getting it to market in time, why is Toyota waiting so long to give us a plug-in hybrid? All Toyota has to do is add another NiMH battery like the one already in each Prius and add an "EV button" with a receptacle for an extionsion cord and viola', a plug-in Prius. Toyota could have begun production on such a vehicle four years ago. I exaggerate not. Why the delay, Toyota?

GM is without excuse as well. A small 5 kWh battery pack in the Vue would be all that is necessary to give 8 to 10 miles electric range. GM built the EV1 (through Saturn, I might add), over 10 years ago with a range up to 160 miles and yet they somehow cannot make an SUV with a 10 mile range. Something's rotten in Denmark AND Detroit.

I suppose that my point is we need these technologies yesterday but cannot seem to get major automobile manufacturer's to produce them. And now with GM in dire straits and Saturn on the chopping block, we are left with Toyota, who is obviously is in no hurry.

GM considers dumping Saab, Saturn and Pontiac

According to early reports from Bloomberg, General Motors is considering eliminating Saab, Saturn and Pontiac as part of its overall strategy to prove to Congress that it is worthy of government assistance.

From Automotive News:

"The automaker is preparing to submit a detailed turnaround plan to Congress on Tuesday, followed by hearings next week in its quest for a federal loan to avert a cash shortage.

GM already has said it may sell Hummer.

GM's board will meet Sunday and Monday, both regularly scheduled meetings, to review the plan to be presented to Congress, Bloomberg said. Only a small portion of that plan will be made public."

I could see GM dumping Hummer and Pontiac and even Buick, but I would hate to see Saturn go. The Saturn Vue plug-in was supposed to be in production in 2010 and would represent the first plug-in hybrid electric to be sold in the US. I wonder if GM would sell the Saturn brand or just let it die like Oldsmobile?

Don't you wish we were privvy to the meetings this weekend?

AFS Trinity's XH150 pulled for LA Auto Show

This news is quite upsetting to me. From auto123.com:

"AFS Trinity Corporation has just announced that it will be pulling its XH150 hybrid SUV from the Los Angeles Auto Show and presenting it elsewhere in the city during that period. This announcement follows the decision of the manufacturers and the Los Angeles Auto Show authorities to muzzle AFS Trinity, as the fuel consumption of their vehicle has not been verified by the EPA."

The reason why AFS pulled out is because the LA Auto show relegated the company to the basement floor away from all the main foot traffic. Furthermore, the show prohibited AFS Trinity from using billboards that proclaimed their 150 mpg capabilities.

This tells me one thing. The major automakers are HOSTILE to fuel efficient vehicles and to any and all alternate fuel vehicles. The AFS Trinity AH150 is a plug-in hybrid Saturn Vue that I would love to see in my driveway. Unfortunately, major automakers do NOT want to see it in my drive. A plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius could give me 100 mpg, but do you see them selling these? No.

From the AFS Trinity website:

"The company's decision followed actions by the LA Auto Show to muzzle AFS Trinity from highlighting the 150 miles per gallon fuel economy of its XH150 prototype vehicles. "The suppression by the automakers of information about technologies such as this raises serious questions about the judgment, vision, intentions and capabilities of the leadership of these companies,” said Edward W. Furia, Chairman and CEO of AFS Trinity. “Such conduct by the automakers, who are currently seeking tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, ostensibly to develop fuel efficient vehicle technologies, is evidence they are reluctant to embrace solutions they didn’t invent.”

Something rotten in Denmark...still.

This is the vehicle America needs to live oil free now. Instead, the major auto manufacturer's thwart the technology, produce crappy gas guzzlers, drive their companies into the ground and then have the unmitigated audacity to beg the government for multi-billion dollar bailouts.

Another day at the office for GM

With each passing day, headlines mount pointing to General Motor's imminent and spectacular death.

From Wall Street Journal Online:

"General Motors Corp.'s shares Monday plummeted to a price it hasn't seen since 1946, on rising concerns the auto maker will run out of cash in the next few months and that any government bailout won't be beneficial to shareholders.

Shares of GM fell 23% to $3.34 in late-morning trading, after earlier hitting a 62-year low of $3.02, as analysts at both Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank cut their target prices and investment ratings on the stock.

Barclays now targets GM shares at $1, while Deutsche Bank slashed its target price to zero."

From gm-volt.com:

"It was recently reported that the plug-in Saturn VUE program was being moved from 2009 to 2011 due to GMs financial crisis. While partly true, the statement is not entirely correct.

GM had never stated the plug-in VUE would arrive in 2009.

GM spokesperson Brian Corbett has provided us the following statement:

“Our original statement said that production would begin “as soon as 2010” because we did not want to create artificial deadlines. We have dedicated significant resources to the program and it is progressing rapidly. Now that we are further along in the development process, we can now give a more up-to-date projection.”

Target shares for GM at $1 or less? Wow, that is brutal my friends. What is interesting to me about the plug-in Vue is that it could have been a major step in the right direction. Even though the vehicle is planned to have only a 10 mile EV only range, this is enough to offset many trips that would have required gasoline. If you had the ability to plug in your vehicle at work, then up to 20 miles of your commute could be oil free.

I find it rather comical that GM would talk about a plug-in Saturn Vue for 2011 when it is uncertain that they will make it to February. What is not comical is that it is nearly 2009 and there are NO production EV or PHEV vehicles for consumers. None are scheduled to appear from the major automakers next year either.