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Hybrids Can Revolutionize Roads with 60 MPG Cars and Trucks (But Automakers Can't Skimp on Technology)

Hybrid Owners Rally at LA Auto Show to Urge Broader, Most Effective Use of Hybrid Technology

Friday, January 3, 2003

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3 - America's cars and trucks can reach an average of 60 miles per gallon by the end of the next decade if automakers use the best hybrid vehicle technologies and mass-produce them fleet-wide, according to a new report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists. As part of the report launch, dozens of Southern California hybrid car drivers will join Ed Begley Jr. and other celebrities today outside the Los Angeles Auto Show to urge automakers to adopt hybrid technology throughout their product lines.

"The hybrid revolution is underway," said report author David Friedman, an engineer and Senior Analyst at UCS. "More than 50,000 Americans drive hybrid cars. But if hybrid vehicles are going to deliver their full promise, automakers must make wise choices as they apply both conventional and hybrid technology in their vehicles."

Hybrid cars and trucks look and drive like other vehicles on the road but incorporate some of the benefits of full-function battery-electric vehicles. The new study is the first independent assessment of the cost and performance of hybrid vehicles for all 5 major car and truck classes. The report found all passenger vehicles can benefit from hybridization, but SUVs, pickups, and minivans show the greatest promise for improvement with the technology.

The report characterizes the Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid as "mild" hybrids because they use a downsized engine along with an electric motor. A regenerative braking system, which enables the electric drive motor to assist the brakes, saves wasted energy. The Toyota Prius is defined as a "full" hybrid because it takes the additional step of using its electric motor and battery pack to drive the vehicle at low speeds with the conventional engine turned off, providing added fuel economy benefits.

The ultimate performance of a hybrid is not just determined by whether it is a mild or full hybrid. According to the report, hybrids that use the best available conventional technology (e.g., more efficient engines and transmissions, and high-strength steel or aluminum components) will provide superior fuel economy and pollution performance. Hybrids that do not make the necessary conventional technology investments will fall short of what conventional technology can do alone.
"Automakers will waste money if they cut corners and slap weaker hybrid technology on today's average car or truck," said Friedman. "Ford's soon-to-be-released full hybrid SUV is a good first example of how the technology can improve a truck, but they can go further by incorporating better conventional technology as well."

The widespread use of full hybrid vehicles is the key to a US passenger car and truck fleet that achieves an average fuel economy of 60 mpg. The study finds that the sticker price of full hybrids will be about $4,000 more than a conventional vehicle, but drivers will save nearly $5,500 on gasoline over the life of the vehicle. Consumers would also see an average net savings of $900 (including battery replacement costs), in addition to the energy security and environmental gains.

"Over half of the nearly 20 million barrels of oil products the United States burns each day comes from other countries, including 500,000 barrels from Iraq," Friedman said. "Well-designed hybrids can reduce oil consumption and also bring environmental benefits by cutting heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks to below their 1990 levels."

The vast majority of new passenger vehicles on display at 2003 auto shows will fail to draw upon the fuel-saving potential of hybrid technologies. Most won't even incorporate the existing conventional technology that could bring the fleet to 40 mpg. At the Los Angeles Auto Show, local hybrid owners will urge automakers to offer consumers more hybrid models. A recent study by J.D. Power found that 60 percent of more than 5,000 new vehicle buyers surveyed would definitely consider purchasing a hybrid as their next vehicle. Automakers will ultimately build and mass-produce hydrogen fuel-cell cars, but these will not be ready to replace the internal combustion engine in most new cars and trucks for over a decade.

"I drove cross-country and back last month in my hybrid car and spent only $150 in gas," said actor Ed Begley Jr., a longtime UCS supporter who helped organize the event at the LA Auto Show. "Hybrid cars not only look cool, but also help cool global warming."

The full text of A New Road: The Technology and Potential of Hybrid Vehicles is available online at www.ucsusa.org/publication.cfm?publicationID=543. Founded in 1969, the Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit partnership of scientists and citizens combining rigorous scientific analysis, innovative policy development and effective citizen advocacy to achieve practical environmental solutions. UCS's Clean Vehicles Program in Berkeley, California develops and promotes strategies to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of the US transportation system.