Automakers Turn to Technology to Break US Addiction to Oil

Environmentalists may seem skeptical about car manufacturers really trying to shift their products away from using oil, but some industry analysts are believers. At the Los Angeles Auto Show, being held December 1-10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, automakers have lined up to display their newest innovations intended to appeal to energy-minded consumers.

One example of this is GM chief Rick Wagoner saying during his speech that GM is morphing its Saturn Vue Green Line SUV to include plug-in hybrid technology. Nile Malloy, an environmental activist with the Rainforest Alliance, told reporters that Wagoner’s speech was impressive, as are the array of clean-driving concept cars at the show. But, Malloy said, the industry still isn’t offering any estimates as to when alternative fuel cars will become cars everyone can drive. He says that manufacturers are not pulling out all the stops to improve gas mileage and develop alternative-fuel vehicles across their entire range of products.

Kevin Smith of Edmunds.com, one of America's most influential and authoritative sources of automotive information, said that the automotive industry has finally begun to realize that it is responsible for helping to break the nation’s oil addition, if only for the good of the automotive industry itself.

Steve Wilhite, the CEO of Hyundai’s U.S. division, said that the next generation of "green" vehicles will be supported by a fundamental shift in the way consumers think about alternative-fuel vehicles. Wilhite said that his company is researching gas-electric hybrids, clean-burning diesel, and hydrogen-powered fuel cells. He believes that with time and research, American consumers can be persuaded to believe that the diesel-powered cars of today are nothing like the diesel-powered cars of the 1970s. But, Wilhite said, the new technologies come with their own set of problems, such as finding ways to dispose of the batteries that power hybrid cars without impacting the environment.

Honda announced that it already has 20 experimental FCX cars on the road, and it will be offering a limited number of hydrogen-powered fuel cell sedans in Japan and the United States by 2008. Fuel-cell power plants produce zero emissions. A redesigned FCX concept car on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show employs a center-mounted stack of fuel cells that keep the car lower to the ground, giving it a more conventional appearance. Honda said the new fuel cells are 30% lighter and 20% smaller than the cells in current use, but they are more powerful.

Jim Press, the president of Toyota North America, said in his speech that he wants Congress to extend federal tax credits for hybrid vehicles in order to give the American public valuable incentives to buy hybrids. Press also called on Congress to increase its own purchase of hybrids and alternative fleet vehicles.

A federal energy bill passed last year provides up to $3600 in tax credits to consumers who buy hybrids. But just a few months ago Toyota passed the legal production limit of 60,000 vehicles that are eligible for the full tax credit. Toyota officials say that the reduced tax credits are partly responsible for the decline in demand for hybrids, which caused their U.S. hybrid sales to drop last month to the lowest levels since March.

President Bush has called for Congress to extend the tax credits for hybrids, but so far Congress has done nothing. Speaking to the Electric Drive Transportation Association, Press said he’d "like to see those tax incentives continue."