Just when we thought things were settling down,
we get news that two more of the big carmakers
appear to be coming around to PHEVs. Chrysler has
three prototypes it's already showing to dealers.
Nissan, which has recently been coming around to
EVs (along with Renault and its partnership with
Better Place), was one of the first carmakers in
the 1990s to be involved with PHEV development.

We'll update our page at
http://www.calcars.org/carmakers.html . This news
appears to leave Honda as the main holdout.

Nissan mulls plug-in hybrids: official
September 3, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyOf-wDJ3mG_hLpWYsyHBKBQ-UBw

TOKYO (AFP) — Nissan is considering developing
plug-in hybrid vehicles that can be charged at
home, as it seeks to catch up with its rivals in
fuel-sipping cars, an official said Wednesday.
Japan's third-largest automaker is considering
the move as consumers are increasingly switching
to fuel-efficient cars due to high gasoline
prices, spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa said, declining to give further details.

Nissan has already conducted tests with an
experimental model and is deciding whether to
bring the car to market, according to local
media. Nissan has been slower than Toyota and
Honda to embrace petrol-electric hybrids, seeing
a brighter future for vehicles running entirely on electricity.

Nissan Has Started PHEV Development
Green Car Congress 3 September 2008
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/09/nissan-has-star.html

Nissan Motor Co. has started development of a
plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), according
to Vice President Mitsuhiko Yamashita. The
release date remains to be determined.



Los Angeles Times/Up To Speed
Chrysler's plug-in plans
9/3/08 by Ken Bensinger
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/uptospeed/2008/09/chrysler-electr.html

Chrysler is not known for its green lineup. Its
most fuel-efficient vehicle, the Dodge Caliber,
gets 26 mpg combined city/highway. But the
smallest Detroit automaker is working to change
that, according to Jim Press, Chrysler's vice chairman and president.

The company is spending $3 billion developing a
new 6-cylinder motor, called the Phoenix, that
will feature cylinder deactivation, a process in
which fuel injection to some of the cylinders is
shut off at appropriate times to save fuel.
That's due out in 2010. It's also working on a
hybrid version of its Ram pickup, the company's
top-selling vehicle, which also is due out in 2010.

And now the company appears closer to developing
plug-in hybrid electric cars. Speaking at a media
luncheon Tuesday, Press said he'd driven three
"producible prototypes" of cars using plug-in
hybrid technology. The cars, he said, have
already been shown to the company's dealer
council and would be shown to other dealers next month.

The vehicles, being developed by Chrysler's new
Envi unit -- which also is developing pure
electric vehicles -- are capable of reaching 60
mph in less than four seconds, Press said, and
have a range of "at least 300 miles." He said the
technology would be particularly appropriate for
off-road vehicles, citing the Jeep brand as a
possible option, and said it could be adapted for
use in existing models or for use in new cars and trucks.

Although Press offered no release date for such
vehicles, having production ready plug-ins is a
huge step forward for Chrysler. At the Detroit
auto show in January, the company unveiled three
concept cars -- the Chrysler ecoVoyager, the
Dodge ZEO and the Jeep Renegade -- that had
all-electric, extended range electric or plug-in electric drivetrains.

But those cars were non-operational models, and
no timeline for development was even hinted at.
In July, Chrysler said it was developing electric
vehicles with a 40-mile range that would go on sale in three to five years.

The news today that Chrysler has working plug-in
hybrids signifies a significant step forward in
the company's adoption of such technologies and
increases the competition in the race to produce
the first commercially available plug-in hybrid.

General Motors is developing an extended-range
electric car, the Volt, due out in late 2010 or
early 2011; Toyota has promised to put a plug-in
version of its Prius into fleets by the end of
2009; and start-up Fisker Automotive says it will
sell an $80,000 plug-in next year.

Chrysler appears less enthusiastic about other
technologies, including hydrogen fuel cells,
which Press suggested might be something for his
children's lifetime rather than his own. For the
time being, he said, the focus is on combinations
of internal combustion motors and battery power.

"We're making substantial progress on
electrification of our vehicles," Press said.

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Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
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