Don't miss Joystiq's up-to-the-minute live coverage of E3!

Posts with tag two-mode hybrid

Embattled Oshawa plant to get GM hybrid truck production, will still close in 2009

GM's Oshawa Truck plant has been slated for closure in 2009, but GM has announced that the embattled plant will still build the Silverado Two-Mode hybrid beginning later this year. The move was well received by the CAW, which hasn't exactly been playing nice with the General since it got word of the plant's closure. The CAW threw up a blockade of GM's Canadian headquarters from June 4-15 in response to the General's announcement that it would close the facility. There has been some talk about perhaps switching the plant to car production, but GM has made no announcements and CEO Rick Wagoner didn't sound too optimistic about the plant's future when he announced the closing. At least the hybrid Silverado will help ensure that the plant has steady production for the near-term, but it'll likely have to be a lot more popular than the Tahoe hybrid if it's going to help Oshawa Truck stay open. Thanks for the tip, LIP!

[Source: CBC]

LA 2007 VIDEO: Interview with Two-mode hybrid Silverado PM Carl Hillenbrand



When the Two-Mode Silverado Hybrid hits the market next fall, it will likely boast best in class fuel economy while still managing to tow 6,100 lbs. While it's not that hard to beat the most miserly of full-size pickups in the MPG dept., doing that without sacrificing very much of the truck's capabilities is what's most impressive about the Silverado Hybrid. GM quotes fuel savings to be 40% better in city driving, with a 25% improvement overall. The hybrid Silverado can also hit 30 mph in electric-only mode for up to one mile depending on battery's state of charge. We teamed up with Pickuptruck.com editor Mike Levine to interview Silverado Program Manager Carl Hillenbrand, and the long-time GM truck man had plenty to say about the general's greenest-ever pickup. Click the video above for more.

AutoblogGreen First Drive: Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid



On any given Sunday morning, if I were offered the keys to either a Saturn Sky or a Chevy Tahoe with a big boat hitched to the back, 110 times out of a hundred I would put down that gnarly top on the Sky and make my way to the beach via the twistiest road I could possibly find. Once there, I would much rather go for a swim and lay on the beach than mess around with trying to launch a boat and later haul it out of the water.

Having made my own personal biases clear on this subject, there are clearly a great many people who would make the opposite choice. Many people choose to drive big SUVs for a wide variety of reasons, and with gas prices again at $3 a gallon and rising around most of the most of this country, those people would surely like to get a bit better gas mileage. After a long wait, they will soon have the option of a full-sized General Motors SUV with a new two-mode parallel hybrid setup, and AutoblogGreen has just had the opportunity to take a first drive in one. If this first application of the new hybrid system jointly developed by GM, BMW and DaimlerChrysler is of interest, check out ABG's detailed report by clicking here.

Chrysler announces Aspen Two-Mode hybrid



Considering that the Aspen is nothing more than a rebadged and gussied up Dodge Durango, it should come as no surprise that today Chrysler has announced a hybrid version of its ute to accompany the Dodge Durango Hybrid on the market in 2008. Both the Durango and the Aspen will feature a Two-Mode hybrid system – the one developed jointly with General Motors and BMW – paired with a 5.7L V8 HEMI engine featuring cylinder deactivation. Overall fuel economy should increase by 25%, while Chrysler predicts each utility vehicle will see their fuel economy in the city rise by some 40%. Each SUV will be wearing the above badge to indicate their greenness.
We're eager to see this Two-Mode hybrid system in action, and expect the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid to be the first on the market. AutoblogGreen has got some seat time scheduled with one in the near future and will report back with a full evaluation of how this technology works hauling around these behemoths.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Expedition to go green?

Ford Motor Company is mulling ways to move some of its Expedition metal -- which is a good thing considering the 82-day supply the automaker is currently hoarding. The Dearborn-based automaker is taking its big Expedition SUV, which gets 14 mpg in the city, and making a diesel or hybrid version of it. The diesel would be a V8 slated for Europe, while the hybrid version would compete with GM's big hybrid SUVs, the GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe. It might not move the cars off the lot now, but it is some foresight sorely needed for the vehicle if it is to survive.

The diesel engine won't be a big deal. Ford may decide to beef up the 3.6L diesel V8 currently found in many a Land Rover over in Europe, but a hybrid won't be so easy. If Ford decides to do the development of the hybrid itself, the vehicle would definitely arrive a little late to the party (the Expedition will probably go on sale in 2010, whereas we'll see GM's trucks in 2008); however, the company may decide to go another route to bring the vehicle to market faster -- buy the two-mode hybrid technology from GM. The issue at hand is that Ford currently does not have rear-wheel drive truck platforms capable of hosting hybrid technology.

[Source: Automotive News via AutoWeek and Hybrid Car News]


Autoblog Features





Featured Galleries

Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series Wallpaper
IIHS side crash test -  small pickups
Ford Mustang AV8R
TechArt GT Street RS
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Nissan GT-R
RCA Eco-Friendly Concepts
Ego Bentley Laptop
Honda OSM Concept
Lotus Evora
2010 Chevrolet Camaro: Live Reveal
2010 Chevrolet Camaro
BMW M1 Procar Series Revival at Hockenheim

 

Find Your Next Car


Sponsored Links

Autoblog bloggers (30 days)

#BloggerPostsCmts
1Damon Lavrinc975
2Noah Joseph920
3Chris Shunk751
4Jeremy Korzeniewski709
5Dan Roth5515
6Alex Nunez5328
7Drew Phillips383
8Jonathon Ramsey370
9Sam Abuelsamid276
10Michael Harley268
11John Neff206
12Sebastian Blanco110
13Frank Filipponio81
14Chris Tutor80
15Merritt Johnson84
16John McElroy20
17Justin Gardiner20