GM thinks 1/3rd of its cars sold in 7 years will be hybrids

[SVOboy]

Am I the only one who thinks this is BS? I guess if their sales keep dropping it might not be impossible...

Link

What will you be driving in 2015? If you only drive GM vehicles, there's a one in three chance it'll be a hybrid, according to a report from Bloomberg. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said, "around 2015 we're going to have to sell a ton of hybrids whether people want them or not." Lutz added, "it's basically going to result in the quasi-disappearance of V-8 engines." Lutz explained that the increase in sales of hybrids will be due to the new CAFE standards signed into law late last year that require car companies to make cars that, on average, get 35 miles per gallon. GM is well on its way to a having third of its U.S. cars sales being hybrids, just recently introducing their second generation mild hybrid system and promising to introduce a hybrid car every three months for the next four years.

[roflwaffle]

I think they're calling vehicles with engine stop/start and a battery pack to handle AC/etc when the engine's off (mild) hybrids, so I think it's possible.

[Peakster]

Mild hybrids are fairly easy to accomplish, so this might not be out of the question. The thing I think is so silly is that GM is saying that hybrids are the only way to meet the new standards of 35 MPG.

"it's basically going to result in the quasi-disappearance of V-8 engines."

That could be seen as a way of getting consumers all ruffled up and think CAFE is the blame.

So much for those flying cars and hover-boards for 2015 like people thought 20 years ago

[Red]

In 2015 GM will be selling 3 cars a year, so there is a very good chance atleast one of them would be a hybrid

[H4MM3R]

The price of gas by then will be so high, they'll have to supply hybrid's to keep up.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/04/g...d-hybrid-syst/

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03...eering-center/

[ericbecky]

Do you think they'll bring back the GM diesel?

[H4MM3R]

What is a GM diesel?

I know they have a new diesel coming out. Narrow V8 light weight diesel.

[ericbecky]

Sorry. I was joking.
I was referring to the old, 1980's version of the GM diesels. (They were full of problems.)

But then I found that a quick google search shows that they actually are considering diesel engines in cars again.
http://tinyurl.com/2ehsf3

Who knew?

[MetroMPG]

I got the joke, Eric. If we're really lucky, maybe they'll bring back diesels and add their 8-6-4 technology to them! What a combination!

[SVOboy]

Evidently in 12 years 80% of GM cars will be hybrids!

From GCC:

Detroit News. General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz said that the automaker would have to produce 80% of its vehicles as some type of hybrid by 2020 in order to meet new fuel economy standards.

“Ultimately by 2020, we figure that 80 percent of vehicles are going to require some sort of level of hybridization,” Lutz said in an interview today. “We cannot get to 35 miles per gallon with anything resembling the current product portfolio with conventional technology.”

Automakers must average a combined 35 miles per gallon by 2020 for passenger cars and light trucks, a 40 percent increase. Lutz said in order to meet the first increases in the requirements, GM would build about one-third of its vehicles as hybrids by 2015&mash;when new fuel economy standards “really start to bite.”

GM will have eight hybrids in its line-up by the end of 2008, ranging from mild hybrids with the GM Hybrid System to full hybrids with the advanced two-mode hybrid system. GM has also announced its intention to produce a Saturn VUE plug-in by the end of 2010, in addition to the Chevrolet Volt Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV).

Lutz said GM will be forced to add hybrid engines “to a lot of sport utilities and pick-up trucks.”

Lutz has said earlier that building so many hybrids will add $6,000 to $7,000 to the cost of an average vehicle and that most—if not all—V-8 engines will disappear. The company is still not sure how to get the heaviest vehicles to improve as much as the government will require. “We don't know. We’re open to ideas.”