Hybrid-Drive Vehicles

Hybrid Drive
Only two hybrid-drive vehicles are currently sold in our marketplace: the two-seat Honda Insight and Toyota's compact Prius sedan. But GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler all have pickups or sport/utility vehicles in the works for as early as 2003 that will make use of some level of this fuel-stretching technology.

Hybrids employ both a gasoline or diesel-fuel internal-combustion engine and an electric motor with a sophisticated storage battery to power the vehicle. Depending on how the car is driven, a complex computer-based control system manages power from the I.C. engine, the electric motor, or both, to maximize running efficiency, low emissions, and performance. Hybrids conveniently don't need to plug in to recharge the battery. Charging takes place in two ways: First, power is created via the car's forward momentum by a generator installed in the driveline. Second, electricity is recovered by braking generators that come online slightly ahead of the vehicle's conventional friction brakes to convert rolling (inertial) energy into electricity. The latter is called regenerative braking.

The Insight and Prius both come in just north of $20,000, making low price and super fuel economy attractive reasons to sample hybrid tech. Several experts at carmakers that don't currently offer hybrids said--off the record--the technology in these cars is frighteningly expensive. They also opined that Toyota and Honda are probably fielding the vehicles as costly green public-relations campaigns and as experiments with real customers. Yet, most of these critics added that their companies will have hybrid programs in just a few years. So it's hard to separate Prius envy from engineering and market viability facts.

Honda has said it will produce a hybrid-drive Civic beginning in spring 2002. And, according to Denny Clements, group vice president and general manager of Lexus, even his premium division is said to be looking at hybrids for near-future prestige models. It's also worth noting that Toyota has about 50,000 Prius on the road worldwide. That doesn't sound like a loss-leader science experiment.

The tiny, highly aerodynamic Insight, which makes extensive use of aluminum, magnesium, and plastic in its construction, is EPA rated at 61 mph in city driving and 68 on the highway. Honda claims the Insight can go up to 700 miles on a single tank. Numbers like that--with no plug-in required, using fuels available anywhere and earning impressive emissions ratings--mean hybrid technology appears highly viable in both the near and distant future.