| From: SMART2::SMTP%"[email protected]" 16-MAY-1997 13:23:59.47
> [ Reuters New Media]
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> Friday May 16 10:14 AM EDT
>
> Nissan Develops Hybrid Electric Car
>
> TOKYO (Reuter) - Nissan Motor Co. Ltd said Friday it has developed a
> hybrid electric car that combines the benefits of an electric vehicle
> with those of a conventional gasoline-powered car.
>
> Nissan said it hopes to market the hybrid vehicle by the end of 1998,
> but a spokeswoman declined to confirm details on price and volume.
>
> The hybrid car is equipped with an electric motor and a gasoline
> engine, which powers a generator to produce electricity to run a
> traction motor.
>
> The car can be driven without charging the batteries from an external
> power source.
>
> The hybrid system has double the driving range of a gasoline
> engine-powered car, while emissions are also dramatically reduced
> compared with a conventional two-liter gasoline engine car.
>
> Nissan said its hybrid car uses new, high-power-density lithium-ion
> batteries jointly developed with Sony Corp. The new batteries will be
> one-third the size and weight of conventional lithium-ion batteries,
> it said.
>
> In March, rival Toyota Motor Corp. said it had developed a hybrid
> power system for use in mass-produced passenger cars and would launch
> sales of passenger cars using the system later this year.
>
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> Questions or Comments
http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970516/business/stories/nissan_1.html
|
| From: SMARTT::SMTP%"[email protected]" 30-MAY-1997 11:37:04.03
> Toyota shows off electric-gasoline hybrid car
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Copyright � 1997 Nando.net
> Copyright � 1997 The Associated Press
>
> SUSONO, Japan (May 30, 1997 09:19 a.m. EDT) -- It's as simple and
> quiet as turning on a lamp -- just a flick of the key switches the car
> on.
>
> There's barely a stir or a sound as the car glides slowly, the
> electric motor turning the wheels. But as soon as it begins to
> accelerate, the gasoline engine kicks in.
>
> Part electric car and part gasoline engine, the hybrid system -- which
> Toyota Motor Corp. proudly showed off to reporters this week -- is the
> best of both worlds for a super-clean, economical ride.
>
> Toyota will become the first automaker in the world to mass produce
> hybrid cars if it keeps its promise to start selling them in a new
> model, a passenger car, before year's end.
>
> That would have beat out Detroit's Big Three -- General Motors, Ford
> and Chrysler -- and local rivals such as Honda Motor Co. and Nissan
> Motor Co. All are working on hybrid technology.
>
> Audi, the luxury division of Volkswagen, also plans to market a hybrid
> car this fall, but production will be limited.
>
> The secret of the hybrid is that it operates as an electric car at
> lower speeds, when polluting emissions are a big problem for gasoline
> engines. But it also avoids the trappings of an electric car, which
> runs out of juice before it gets very far and needs eight hours for a
> full recharge.
>
> The hybrid never needs recharging because the gasoline engine charges
> the battery while the car runs.
>
> Drivers only need to stop at regular gas stations, where they will be
> pleased to learn, Toyota says, they're getting as much as 66 miles a
> gallon.
>
> Toyota plans to sell at least 1,000 hybrids a year in Japan. There are
> no plans so far to sell the Toyota hybrid in the United States or
> other countries, although it already meets California emission
> requirements.
>
> The aggressive push on the hybrid as an actual product reflects
> Toyota's determination to be first with the 21st-century car, despite
> the risks and costly investments.
>
> "Managers at Toyota are looking 30 years down the road," said Steve
> Volkmann, auto analyst at Morgan Stanley Japan in Tokyo. "They really
> worry about staying ahead of the curve."
>
> With emission laws becoming stricter in California, and the rest of
> the world expected to eventually follow suit, Toyota is sure the
> hybrid is the future.
>
> Toyota's hybrid cuts carbon dioxide emissions by half and other
> emissions by about 90 percent compared to gasoline engines.
>
> Takehisa Yaegashi, the engineer who headed the hybrid team, said
> Toyota has applied for some 300 patents for the hybrid.
>
> And he believes that catching up isn't going to be easy for the other
> automakers. "We didn't merely think it was key to make the hybrid for
> the environment. We wanted to make it attractive as a car," Yaegashi
> said.
>
> Toyota acknowledges it will lose money on the hybrid, although it will
> sell for about $4,300 more than a comparable regular car. Prices,
> initially a key deterrent to sales, are likely to come down with
> greater production.
>
> Toyota refused to say how much money had gone into developing the
> hybrid. But the effort is a sure reflection of Toyota's financial
> strength.
>
> Toyota posted record revenue of $107 billion for the fiscal year
> ending in March. It is also doing great business in the United States,
> with the Camry set to become the best-selling car this year.
>
> During the recent test drive at 1 1/2-mile course in Susono near Mount
> Fuji, west of Tokyo, the hybrid on a Corona sedan ran smoothly,
> picking up speed and stopping while going back and forth between the
> electric motor and 1.5-liter gasoline engine.
>
> Two computers determine whether the car goes electric or runs on gas.
> The engine never idles.
>
> Aside from bragging rights, the advantage of being first with the
> hybrid is marginal, as other automakers are also close, said David
> Cole, director of the Office for the Study of Automotive
> Transportation at the University of Michigan.
>
> "But Toyota is very good and very competent. It's something to take
> very seriously," he said in a telephone interview.
>
> By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Writer
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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