Autos and motos: all news and articles

The technologically impressive Ford Fusion hybrid

I’ve been dying to get my hands on December’s auto sales to help me through my holiday hangover. I guess I’m not the only one a little off as most automakers have yet to report their numbers.

Yet, how exciting can the numbers really be? If you remove the sales data for the Toyota Prius, the numbers are depressing.

For instance, while Ford might be a little excited about possibly eclipsing Honda as the second best hybrid seller in the US, Ford will still probably sell less than 35,000 hybrid cars for all of 2009. Alone the Prius can achieve that in less than 3 months.

And, unfortunately, there isn’t much reason to believe 2010 will be any different.

Small hybrids everywhere

Fiat India, a partnership between Fiat and Tata, is planning to roll out a new hybrid by the end of 2010 or early 2011.

So, does that mean a Fiat hybrid could soon be in the works for the US market?

Regardless, the future of the auto industry is going to largely be built in Asia, and Asian automakers are quickly embracing hybrid technologies. Outside of Toyota, and Honda to some extent; however, small hybrid cars for the American market seem like an oxymoron for the US market.

Nevertheless, can the US auto industry succeed without reconciling the extreme difference between the American auto market and that of the rest of the world?

50 percent cheaper batteries coming soon?

British company Qinetiq has supposedly developed new lithium-ion batteries with iron sulfide chemistry that can reportedly offer twice as much power density as today’s lithium-ion batteries.

More important, however, the new batteries should be half the price of today’s NiMH batteries.

If true, hybrid cars would become both more cost-effective and more appealing to a significant percent of new car buyers. Likewise, plug-in hybrids and EVs might only cost an arm instead of an arm and a leg.