Honda Accord Diesel and New Hybrid Coming for 2009 Model Year

At the Tokyo Auto Show, Honda confirmed that the 2009 US Accord will have an optional 2.2 liter diesel engine. Boost levels, and therefore output, have not yet been finalized, but it's expected to make at least 150 horsepower and 260 lb-ft. of torque, while likely eclipsing the fuel economy of both the old V6 Accord Hybrid and the current Toyota Camry Hybrid.

This will be an impressive engine for several reasons. Other than the respectable power and torque for a four cylinder and expected strong fuel efficiency (likely well over 40 miles per gallon in the real world), the engine will mark the debut of Honda's Clean Diesel technology in the US. The engine will be 50 state-legal (unlike many 2007 model year diesels), and unique to Honda, the engine will not require a urea injection as Mercedes and larger VW diesels to remove harmful NOx from the exhaust (Mercedes calls their diesels BlueTec, and the urea injection liquid, which must be periodically refilled at the dealer, is called AdBlue). Instead, Honda's solution is a NOx converter that - without adding any chemicals - produces its own ammonia through a chemical reaction that reacts with the NOx to produce harmless nitrogen and water.

Honda is also planning to begin sales of its new dedicated hybrid model, likely to compete directly with the popular Toyota Prius. The new Honda hybrid (which still does not have a name) will be a five passenger vehicle. This vehicle may be followed later by a smaller, sportier hybrid model similar to the Honda CR-Z concept (shown to the left) previously shown by Honda.

The best news about these new engines and vehicles is that Honda has directly addressed one of the biggest criticisms of hybrid and diesel vehicles: that is, diesels and hybrids typically save fuel, but the added complexity and components makes the vehicles too expensive to have any kind of economic benefit. Instead, Honda expects that the breakeven point (where fuel savings have equaled the additional price premium for a diesel or hybrid) will be two years for these new models. An earlier rumor on the Accord Diesel's pricing was that it would slot somewhere in the middle of the lineup, so it certainly seems plausible. If Honda keeps the pricing in that sweet spot, 2009 Accord Diesel sales should take off.

Autoblog Wants To Marry General Motors

John Neff at Autoblog reported on comments made by Honda chief executive Takeo Fukui about the concept Chevy Volt in a post today. Seems that Honda doesn't think there is much of a future in technology like the Volt, and is letting it be known. A few months ago, Toyota more or less said the same thing. Whether they're right or not isn't the point of MY post however. This is:

What bothers us about Toyota and Honda going after General Motors and its plans for the Chevy Volt is simply the fact that they're bothering to address the Volt at all. Stop worrying about what the other guy's doing and get to work on your own plan for saving the Earth from the evil of the internal combustion engine. We get it, you both aren't down with doing a plug-in series hybrid like the Volt. Then what are you going to do and where is it? Rather than claiming consumers aren't going to respond well to a hybrid that has to be plugged in everyday (yeah, who wants to get their fuel from the outlet in their garage rather than driving down the street for it?), quit yer yappin' and show us a better solution!

Umm, John? See those 15,000 or so copies of the Prius being sold every month? Or the Highlander hybrid? Or the Camry hybrid? Or the GS400h? Or the LS600h? Or the RX350h? What about the Civic and Accord hybrids? What about the Honda hydrogen concept cars that are actually being driven on roads? The stupidity of asking what Honda and Toyota are going to do regarding fuel consumption looms large over this article, considering the fact that both companies are world leaders in fuel economy and technology related to increasing it. Meanwhile, GM is only now rolling out the Two Mode hybrid system, and for years has bastardized the hybrid badge by using BAS crap. One good idea that has not come close to fruition does not make GM a leader in any sense of the word.

Diesel Accord To Get 62 MPG?

So it's not gospel yet, but an intrepid listener at The Car Lounge reports that radio host Paul Harvey had the following information on the next generation Accord, which will have a diesel engine option at some point. Further info as well at CNET News.

• Runs as clean as a Prius
  
• Gets 62.8 MPG
• Is bio-diesel compatible
  

The big question- mixed or highway driving? But then again, that number is impressive either way. Probably the even bigger question- how much?

The most interesting story in the automotive industry during the next 5 years will be which technology for greater fuel economy wins out. Will it be some variant of the Prius as we know it right now? Toyota has the overwhelming lead in the market, and is just hitting their stride. Will it be something like the Volt from GM? I'd think battery technology will have to make some incredible strides for that to be a possibility in the near future. Or will it be diesel? Honda among others, has essentially thrown their hat into this ring, and with almost daily advances in diesel tech, plus the availability of clean disel in North America, it might be an option.

Or will it be a mixture of all of them? A plug in hybrid based on the Prius that has battery tech from the Volt that can run on diesel (or biodiesel).

Toyota Announces New Prius Pricing

From the mouth of the super fun happy time true American glorious horse-

The fuel-efficient 2008 Prius is a better value this year with an expanded lineup to include a lower-priced, new standard model. The base MSRP for Prius ranges from $20,950 for the newly introduced standard model to $23,220 for the Touring model. The total Prius average MSRP increases $150 or 0.7 percent.

Last I checked, they sold almost 18,000 of these things last month with the supply chains opened up versus previous years. With this price drop, how long before we see 25,000 per month, and 300,000 per year? Toyota must be laughing all the way to the bank as they've now matured their technology and are well on their way to mass market acceptance with the Prius- what was once a fringe car with a loud following mostly due to pricing and supply constraints can now be bought by just about anyone out there. Meanwhile the competition is either licensing their stuff from Toyota (hi Nissan!), proceeding VERY slowly (hi Ford!), doing nothing (hey there Chrysler, Hyundai, et al!), bowing out of the market altogether (we can see you Honda!) or just now releasing a relevant competitor in higher priced vehicles while touting future technology that is still at a minimum 2 years away (hey there GM!).

And no one has even mentioned the real elephant in the room for everyone else- Prius, The Brand.

GM Two-Mode Hybrid To Cost Arm, Leg, Plus Body Part To Be Named Later

From Automotive News (subscription required)-

General Motors might absorb some costs of a Two Mode hybrid transmission in its
full-sized trucks to make the technology affordable to consumers, product chief
Bob Lutz says.The automaker plans to have at least three hybrid transmissions
and offer as many as a dozen hybrid models in the next few years. The Two Mode
system, which has two electric motors that assist the engine, would be the
premium system, Lutz said. The cost of that system is more than $10,000, sources
close to the program say.

That's not good.

Not good at all.

Note that it says AT LEAST $10k. Are you prepared to pay AT LEAST $35k US for an Aura? Or AT LEAST $32k US for a Malibu? What about smaller vehicles? If anything, this news means that GM is going to be stuck using the shitty BAS system for their low end vehicles for quite a while- at least until the economies of scale let them bring down the cost of their Two Mode system. The thought of GM subsidizing this system is ludicrous- using cash to subsidize the Two Mode would be suicide, especially since they're low on cash anyways, and much of their lineup is still in dire need of updates and revisions.

If you look at the Prius, it had 'premium' pricing for close to ten years before Toyota finally had the production capacity to make enough of them to drop the price. Does GM have 10 years? Or do they believe that using the Two Mode strictly in their $50k+ vehicles is a good strategy to persuade the general public that they are a green company? The whole thing is quickly becoming a joke- waiting for the vaporware that is the Volt, waiting for the Two Mode to become affordable, betting the farm on E85. And while they're touting upcoming technology, they continue to sell compact cars that are well behind everyone else in fuel economy, and utilize second rate 'hybrid' technology and trying to pass it off as filet mignon.

But it's all a conspiracy right Bob?

So to sum up- the Two Mode was supposed to be the silver bullet against the werewolf that is Toyota. And now it turns out that the werewolf can only be killed with silver bullets coated with diamonds. At a cost of more than $10,000 for the system, only the supremely stupid will bother with this system in anything less than a Cadillac- and that's not going to be enough for GM.

Bob Lutz To The World- No Really, We're Serious, I Promise!

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2007/03/gm_charging_ahe_1.html

I knew it wouldn’t be long before the naysayers came out.

We’re not unplugging anything. We revealed the Chevrolet Volt, our electrically driven concept vehicle, to much praise at the Detroit show in January. We said we knew we had a tough challenge to see it through, but that we’re committed to the program.

...

I’ve said before that this is not a publicity stunt, but it’s as if people don’t want to believe it if we give them anything short of a guarantee of Volt delivery… with an exact date, time and sticker price.

So speaketh Sir Bob The Magnificent, so proclaimeth the nattering masses that call themselves GM diehards.

When Lutz gets defensive like this, one has to laugh. For all of his business acumen and past creative genius, the man has a serious chip on his shoulder. What were the odds that he would portray the reporting of the words of HIS OWN PEOPLE as being some sort of biased mandate by the journalists of this world? Slam dunk guaranteed, and the man didn't disappoint. It's become the new mantra at GM- us against the world, even when we're the ones who've gotten ourselves into this mess.

Bob- no one would have demanded build dates and such from GM if YOU AND YOUR STAFF hadn't opened your traps about a 2010 target. No one would have reported about GM backing off of their Volt hype if you all hadn't told the press to temper their Volt expectations. See where this is going?

Sometimes the answer is right in front of you Bob. I suggest you look there first. There is not witch hunt against GM- make a decent product like the Lambdas, or a spectacular product like the Z06, and the witch hunt somehow ceases. Flap your gums in the wind like a flowing American flag, and you'll get called for it.

How GM May Have Muffed Up An Easy Win.

Concept cars are always an interesting gamble for a manufacturer. Sometimes they're legitimate sneak peaks at future vehicles. Sometimes they're pie in the sky exterior design exercises covering humdrum mechanicals. Sometimes they're purely engineering exercises. And sometimes they portend a revolution.

At NAIAS in Detroit this year, GM portended a revolution. Somehow evading the embargo breakers, they unveiled a concept that actually caught a lot of people by surprise- the Chevrolet Volt. Not only did it have concept styling, but it had one hell of a futuristic premise- the kind that portends a revolution: a purely electric vehicle charged every so often by an internal combustion engine. Such a simple premise, and yet one that hadn't been broached by the industry yet.

Theoretically, a vehicle like the Volt would erase gasoline needs for anyone travelling less than 60 miles in day. Drive it less than that, and all you'd have to do is plug it in when you got home. Easy, quick, painless. Heck, drive it 100 miles, and you'd only be using the small and economical gas generator for 40 miles. 40 miles for 100 miles is a great tradeoff no?

The problem with all of this was that, well, GM didn't preview a revolution. Yet.

Rather, they previewed a possible revolution. If things went perfectly the way they wanted them to. If battery technology got to a certain capacity point. If the battery technology got cheaper. If the battery technology increased the amount of recharge cycles it could endure. That's a lot of ifs. It's an especially large amount of ifs when you realize that in the last 100 years or so, battery capacity and flexibility has only increased 8-fold, which is rather piddling considering we've been trying to extract more power from batteries for some time now.

Of course, GM did nothing to dissuade the positive press. And why would they? The Volt did evreything they could have imagined, and more. In one fell swoop, GM became the darling of NAIAS and a feel good old fashioned example of American ingenuity once again leading the world. And read carefully- that is EXACTLY what they wanted. The press, enamored with their story, buried the news about how this was not feasible at all unless a lot of ifs were satisfied in the middle of their stories. Headlines sprung forth that inferred that the Volt would be ready quickly. Again, GM did NOTHING to dissuade this. Bob Lutz even gave interviews saying that the battery technology was 90% there and that GM should have the vehicle by 2010.

But things seem to have hit a snag.

Instead of being forgotten and relegated to the dustbins of auto shows past, the Volt idea has lived on. It's a testament to how good of an idea it is really.

And now, after all the thunder and lightning, GM is trying to cool down expectations.

From the Detroit News:

The enormity of GM's challenge was evident last week when it called journalists to a backgrounder to explain the technological hurdles facing the Volt project -- and reiterate that it can't guarantee the futuristic car will ever hit the road.

Isn't that a pile of BS? Two months ago, they had no problems letting imaginations run wild. Now, they're backing up quickly. So if Toyota/Honda/InsertBrandHere comes to market with a plug-in hybrid before GM, they will have basically advertised the idea for free at NAIAS this year. And with rumours of the next gen Prius being a plug-in, this may very well be the case. And don't even try to imagine the backlash against GM if they don't get this thing to market at or close to 2010- after the EV1 debacle, they'll be crucified. And they will have done it all to themselves.

At the very least, this whole situation continues to exhibit just how much trouble GM really is in- with no united message, and the same old 'wait till next year' approach to both their vehicles AND now their concepts, has GM changed?