This should be a fascinating year for hybrids in the compact and midsize
car segments, and a great year for consumer choice. The new American-built
2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid is the first midsize hybrid sedan to be built in
the U.S., while the revamped and substantially improved 2006 Honda Civic
Hybrid has already been well received since its unveiling this past fall.
Both of these vehicles are delivering what hybrid consumers are asking for
-- solid performance along with better gas mileage, lower smog-forming and
fewer global warming emissions. The Nissan Altima Hybrid is another
excellent vehicle, but will only be sold in California. The Hyundai Accent
Hybrid, having debuted last year at the Guangzhou, China, auto show, is
due in the U.S. by year's end, and it looks like it may give consumers a
44 percent boost in fuel economy for significantly less than $20,000 --
and that's before the federal tax credit.
Midsize Hybrids Should Follow the Leader
The second-generation Prius, which debuted in 2004, showed that you can
have it all -- more room, low emissions, and great gas mileage. The
natural follow-up would have been to build on what makes the Prius so
successful while providing luxury features for their upscale buyers.
Unfortunately, Honda and Toyota seem to have fallen back on the outdated
axiom that a luxury vehicle needs to double as a muscle car. Honda's
four-cylinder Accord is more popular than its V6 version, yet the company
decided to use the more inefficient six-cylinder engine as the foundation
for the Accord Hybrid, which offers only a 16 percent fuel economy boost
over the conventional four-cylinder Accord. Likewise, the Lexus GS luxury
sedan is expected to offer only about 27-28 mpg. Using the best hybrid
technology primarily to boost power is not what consumers expect out of
hybrids.
Hybrid SUVs Part Inspiration, Part Marketing Gimmick
The Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner Hybrids, and Ford's intentions to
significantly boost its production, have finally delivered well-performing
SUVs with significantly improved gas mileage. There was a time when GM
looked to be following Ford's footsteps with a full hybrid Vue SUV, but GM
scrapped those plans in favor of a limited production "Green Line" Vue,
which will only net a 20 percent fuel economy improvement (its original
hybrid Vue would have offered an estimated 50 percent improvement). While
this vehicle does include impressive conventional improvements, as a
hybrid, it is hollow. This is because it fails to employ the high-voltage
electronics and meaningful battery capacity that are characteristic of
true hybrids.
Even in its current form, however, the Green Line Vue could have
represented something transformational for Saturn, and for GM itself. The
Green Line Vue is a tremendous jump in conventional vehicle technology
and, had it applied this technology throughout the Vue fleet, GM would
have done more to help the environment by selling Green Line Vues than
Ford.
Impact of New Fuel Economy Labels is Uncertain
One wildcard in evaluating different hybrid vehicles is the relationship
between EPA fuel economy ratings and real world performance. The EPA
recently proposed a series of changes to make fuel economy ratings more
accurate. The changes, while not ideal, make good use of already-available
data and are a step in the right direction. In the short term, automakers
will be permitted to use a modified "fudge-factor" approach, similar to
the one they already use, to determine fuel economy ratings. After 2011,
automakers will be required to measure fuel economy results from three
additional test cycles: cycles that include high-speed and aggressive
driving, the use of air conditioning at high temperatures, and
cold-weather operation. Once these additional tests are in use it is
expected that certain hybrid vehicles will fare better than others, and
consumers will be able to make better decisions about choosing a vehicle.