article thumbnail

Interim NREL Report on In-Use Azure Balance Gasoline Hybrids in FedEx Fleet Finds Substantially Lower Tailpipe Emissions, Similar Fuel Economy to Diesels

Green Car Congress

Fuel economy was similar between the gHEVs and diesel vehicles, except for the highest kinetic intensity drive cycle where the hybrid exhibited ~20% higher fuel economy. NREL collected and analyzed data for in-use fuel economy and fuel costs, maintenance costs, total operating costs, and vehicle uptime. Ah NimH battery pack.

article thumbnail

Toyota to Lease 200 PHEVs in Japan Starting at End of 2009, 500 Globally; Gen3 Prius Plus Li-ion Pack

Green Car Congress

Toyota has been testing an earlier plug-in prototype featuring a large NiMH pack rather than the proposed Li-ion pack, with an electric range of approximately 13 km (8 miles) under the Japan 10-15 cycle ( Earlier post.).

Li-ion 150
article thumbnail

Insight Becomes First Hybrid Vehicle to Rank as Best-Selling Vehicle in Japan

Green Car Congress

The Honda Fit was the best-selling car among new vehicle registrations in Japan for calendar year 2008 and the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. Fit was also the industry’s best-selling car for the month of March 2009, for the fourth consecutive month since December 2008, until it was displaced by Insight.

Insight 150
article thumbnail

Pike forecasts 26.4% CAGR for electric-drive buses to 2018; hybrid, battery-electric and fuel cell

Green Car Congress

Pike suggests that North America will experience a rebound in a few years, as the economy stabilizes along with public transit funding levels. Since 2009, hundreds of battery buses have been deployed. Fundamentally, all of these buses require either government emissions or fuel economy policy. grants to offset the price premium.

2018 276
article thumbnail

Porsche adds second production hybrid model, Panamera S Hybrid

Green Car Congress

Optional low-rolling-resistance tires developed especially for the Panamera help this hybrid performance sedan deliver its NEDC fuel economy figure. Official US EPA fuel economy estimates will be available closer to the car’s on-sale date. With standard performance tires, the Panamera S Hybrid’s fuel consumption is 7.1

Porsche 199
article thumbnail

NREL/GM Project Finds Ultracaps Perform as Well or Better Than NiMH Pack for Energy Storage in Mild Hybrid Vehicle

Green Car Congress

A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) project, funded by GM, found that an ultracapacitor-based energy storage system (ESS) in a Saturn VUE BAS (belt alternator starter) mild hybrid performed at least as well or better than the NiMH battery system in the production hybrid. Pesaran, A.; Lustbader, J.; Tataria, H.

NiMH 299
article thumbnail

Mixed Outlook for Mainstream Consumer Adoption of PHEVs

Green Car Congress

Bubble chart of plausible mainstream PHEV buyers’ battery requirements (light and dark gray circles) and experts’s requirements overlaid on a Ragone plot of NiMH and Li-ion batteries. The Most Plausible Early Market consumers value fuel economy. Source: Ken Kurani. Click to enlarge.

PHEV 150