Alternative energy fans will love this.
General Motors Corp. will likely unveil a prototype plug-in hybrid at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, a local paper reported Friday.
I'll try to control myself, and not drop any "extension cord" jokes.
All of this is really fascinating.
The advanced technology vehicle would have an extended driving range on battery power and would also have a diesel or gasoline engine that could power the car when the battery was low, the Detroit News said, citing unnamed GM officials.
The challenge will come as they try to make it affordable and practical.
GM, which is trying to recover from a $10.6 billion loss in 2005 and stop a slide in U.S. market share, has been criticized for relying heavily on gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. This year, it has also drawn sharp criticism for its decision to kill its EVA electric car program.
Who's been criticizing them? Apparantly, not consumers that buy them. And electric vehicles just have not been proven to the point that people buy them. Sorry, it's not all GM's fault.
The EVA was introduced at the 1997 Los Angeles Auto Show and leased to selected customers. But GM pulled the plug on the project in 2002, citing insufficient public support.
The automata eventually collected and destroyed almost all of the 1,000 EVA cars, prompting the making of a documentary titled “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
So once again, the public is to blame for not buying GM's offering? Hardly. It's just not time yet. But, it's coming.
Other are also researching plug-in technology, including Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s leading producer of hybrid vehicles.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. has also called for exploring plug-ins and is conducting advanced research on hydrogen.
Ford Motor Co. has a fleet of hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as part of “real world testing of fuel cell technology.”
Eventually, someone or some company is going to hit paydirt. The entrepreneurial spirit will win out. Just not fast enough for some.
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