Hybrid happenings The technology of gas-electric cars keeps moving ahead What's up with gas-electric hybrids?

The Prius is fun to drive but is better known for its miserly fuel efficiency, with an EPA rating of 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway.

First there was the granola-crunchy Honda Insight followed by the 2004 Toyota Prius, the first hybrid to be a commercial success. Then the technology was bushwhacked by muscle hybrids like the Honda Accord and Lexus, which pushed performance over fuel efficiency.

"Hybrids started out with the Insight and first generation Prius, which were very unique (and) eccentric but got great gas mileage," said Gabriel Shenhar, senior auto test engineer and special publications program manager at Consumer Reports. The discontinued Insight, which got 70 miles to the gallon, came out in 1999; the first Prius, which got 60 m.p.g., in 2000.

Shenhar said the second-generation Prius was the first hybrid that compared favorably to other family sedans in terms of power and price. "That really worked. It (gave) people instant gratification for getting good fuel economy plus it was clean and good for the environment," he said.

Then came the powerful hybrids that took hybrid technology and harnessed it to create "green turbochargers" with quick acceleration.

"There was some 'overstepping' as evidenced in the (Honda) Accord and other performance oriented hybrids," said Brad Berman, editor of Oakland-based hybridcars.com. "The consumer had to deal with the fact that just because it's a hybrid, it does not mean that it's more fuel efficient."

"Now we are getting into a more sober look at hybrids," Shenhar said, citing the new Toyota Camry hybrid. "They've gotten it right . . . 34 (combined) miles per gallon, 8.5 seconds for zero to 60 (miles per hour)."

Berman agreed that Toyota was using a small engine and augmenting it with an electric motor rather than boosting performance by combining a full-sized engine with hybrid technology to provide quick acceleration.

Citing the recent spike in oil and gas prices following the cutoff of Alaskan crude, Berman said "the hard-earned lessons are coming again and again and again." But with most drivers focused on performance, hybrids will have to balance fuel economy and the "fun to drive" aspect to gain a wider market share.

The Prius is fun to drive but is better known for its miserly fuel efficiency, with an Environmental Protection Agency rating of 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. However, the EPA ratings for hybrids tend to be distorted because current testing is geared for plain gasoline engines. So while the EPA rates the Prius at a combined 55 m.p.g., Toyota acknowledges the car really gets around 50 mpg.

The EPA expects three additions to its tests -- high-speed/quick-acceleration driving, the use of air conditioning and operating in colder temperatures, which go into effect with 2008 model vehicles -- to accommodate hybrid technology and in the process reduce city driving estimates by about 15 percent and highway estimates by about 10 percent.

Hybrid technology is simple and not new, with examples going back to the early 1900s. Indeed, modern locomotives are hybrids, with diesel engines charging electric motors that drive the trains. In the case of hybrid cars, both technologies are used -- an electric motor for stop-go city driving and a gasoline engine for faster highway driving. Meanwhile, the engine acts as a generator with the battery recharged by the momentum of the car when it is slowing down and/or braking.

The technology is especially effective when the electric motor is used; in other words, when the vehicle is idling and launching in stop-go traffic with the internal combustion engine taking over at higher, highway speeds. However, when hybrids are driven at highway speeds for any length of time, the fuel efficiency of the vehicle is compromised. For a start, the engine is getting no better mileage than a regular gasoline one. And because of the extra weight of the batteries, the fuel efficiency is likely to be less.

Indeed, for the time being the batteries remain problematic. "At the end of the day, it's uncertain what life there is in those batteries," said Bob Kurilko, vice president of marketing and operations at Newgen Results Corp., a San Diego-based auto dealer services company that is a subsidiary of Englewood, Colo.-based TeleTech Holdings. "It's untested and one of the risk factors. Toyota is stepping up and eating the tab by replacing batteries, but how long will that go on? Batteries have to get lighter and have to get more durable."

In addition, the technology is moving so fast some analysts argue that hybrids depreciate faster than regular cars. In the same way that computers fall out of date in just a few years, so hybrids may suffer the same fate.

And while hybrids cost more than comparable models, there are tax incentives for buying a hybrid vehicle, with each manufacturer permitted to offer tax credits ranging from $250 to $3,400, depending on fuel economy and weight, for vehicles sold on or before Dec. 31, 2010, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance to Save Energy. The tax credit will be phased out for each manufacturer once it has sold 60,000 eligible vehicles. At that point, the tax credit for that company's vehicles will be gradually reduced over the course of another year.

Alliance president Kateri Callahan said her group had argued for lifting the cap on 60,000 vehicles, noting the figure included both hybrids and diesels.

"We are not in favor of subsidization," she said. "But (the tax credits) need to be in place long enough to assure market transformation."

For the time being, the tax credits about make up for the higher sticker price, but critics argue it still takes a number of years of better fuel economy to make up the price difference.

Indeed, drivers looking to save money could look to a number of alternatives, ranging from regular fuel efficient vehicles to better driving habits to manual transmissions to diesel engines.

Kurilko said the most practical solution to pursuing immediate fuel efficiency was diesel -- which raises the possibility of a diesel-electric hybrid combining the efficiency of electric power with a diesel engine that tends to be about 25 percent more efficient than a gasoline engine. Indeed, Callahan noted diesel hybrid buses currently run in New York and Seattle.

"On paper, (a diesel hybrid) is the best of both worlds, combining the instant response of an electric motor with the efficiency of a diesel engine," said Consumer Reports's Shenhar.

"There's a huge opportunity for diesel in North America," Kurilko said, citing the combination of cleaner fuel -- the federal government has mandated the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel by 2008 -- with more efficient engines from Europe for the anticipated growth.

The technology has already been developed in Europe, where diesels account for some 40 percent of new vehicle sales. GM's German subsidiary Opel, for example, has developed a diesel-hybrid version of its Astra compact car that combines two electrical systems, one high-voltage to power the car and the other a 12-volt system that powers the traditional electrical elements such as lights, wipers and music system.

However, Hybridcar.com's Berman noted that diesel engines are typically more expensive than gasoline ones, which would add to the cost of hybrid vehicles when they are already criticized for being too expensive. "Double the benefit at double the cost?" he asked rhetorically.

At the same time, some argue the current incentive to buy a hybrid car is more social than economic. "Social status is motivating this right now," said Kurilko. "Cars are an extension of personality and driving a Prius says you are environmentally conscious."

"But as they scale down and the price comes down, they'll enter the mainstream," he added. "We're on the cusp right now."

"We're certain to see more hybrids overall from more manufacturers," said Consumer Reports' Shenhar. "That's the technology that can deliver great fuel economy."

For more information, see:

ase.org

consumerreports.org (Guide to today's hybrid cars & SUVs)

hybridcars.com

pelsworth@projo.com / (401) 277-7403