Plugging in for a progress report on hybrid cars

Plug-in Prius

TOKYO — I had to go to Japan to find one, but I finally got my hands on a plug-in hybrid.

Not one of those hacked Priuses that after-market modifiers will produce in exchange for several thousand dollars and a canceled warranty. This was the real thing, built by Toyota.

With automotive media in Japan for the Tokyo Motor Show this week, I found myself at a test track near Mount Fuji with half a dozen plug-in Priuses — cars that might have a lot to say about our transportation future.

Hybrids such as the current Prius use a traditional gasoline engine. A small, battery-powered electric motor powers the car for short distances at low speeds and provides additional power at higher speeds.

By contrast, the Prius prototypes have a 6-mile electric-only range and can be recharged from a household outlet. Toyota isn't talking a mileage figure yet, but its president last week said it could possibly double the fuel efficiency of the current Prius.

The cars can be operated in two modes: electric only or hybrid with an electric-only capability. (Unlike those in the U.S., Priuses currently marketed in Japan have an electric-only option, although the range is just a mile or so at low speeds.)

A test drive showed off the torque-y acceleration electric motors are known for, speeding smoothly to 50 mph or so, at which point extra throttle caused the gas engine to kick in. Easing the pedal sent the car back into electric-only. Top speed as an electric: 62 mph.

To make a plug-in Prius happen, Toyota, like most car companies, is racing to perfect safe lithium-ion batteries (they've been known to overheat and catch on fire in laptops and cellphones). Lithium-ion is widely seen as the key breakthrough that could make electric cars practical.

There is no set sell-by date for the plug-in Prius.

Chevrolet Volt electric

General Motors, meanwhile, has touted a 40-mile all-electric range for its Chevy Volt (with a combustion engine as an auxiliary), provided researchers can develop those lithium-ion batteries. GM says it could go on sale in three years — a bold projection that invites derision from competitors.

Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport

This plug-in electric was one of the more realized (and least "out-there") concept cars at the Tokyo Motor Show. Powered by lithium-ion, it has a motor at each front wheel and one driving both rear wheels (MiEV is short for "motors in wheels electric vehicle"). It's an attractive four-seater fastback claiming a top speed of 112 mph and range of 124 miles.

Tesla Roadster

Tesla Motors is a Silicon Valley startup and a celebrity darling (George Clooney is signed up to get one of its first cars). But beyond the hype, it has attracted $105 million in venture capital — and it's about to field actual cars. It expects to build 650 of its sleek electric Roadsters in 2008 (assembled by Lotus in the U.K.) It also is planning a sedan.

The Roadster is fast (0-to-60 in under 4 seconds) and claims a range of 245 miles on a lithium-ion pack.

The down side? There's a customer waiting list, and the price is about $100,000.

Honda FCX

Honda will deliver fewer than 100 of its new hydrogen fuel-cell cars next year in the U.S., its CEO said last week.

Currently, two 2007 FCX sedans are in the hands of individuals in the U.S., and 20 more are in fleet service. Honda says most of the 2008 FCX models will go to individuals. The cars, which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars each to produce, will be leased.

Honda has shrunk the size of the fuel cell and associated hardware, allowing the 2008 model to be sleek, instead of the boxy, upright 2007 FCX.

Fuel-cell cars use hydrogen gas in an electro-chemical reaction to power electric motors. Water vapor is the exhaust.

Honda diesels

Honda is planning four-cylinder diesel engines in the U.S. in 2009 — probably in the Accord sedan — and V-6 diesels possibly for the Odyssey minivan, Pilot SUV and Ridgeline pickup.

The European-market Accord already has a diesel.

Honda CR-Z hybrid

Hybrids tend to be bulky because of the size and complexity of the battery, motor and engine. They're usually not known for their torque, acceleration, handling and innovative design.

The futuristic and sleek CR-Z gas-electric sports car has a new hybrid system that Honda says changes all that.

Honda isn't giving a release date but promised it for "the near future."

Unnamed Honda hybrid

Honda says it will put a small, fuel-efficient, gasoline-electric hybrid on sale in the U.S. in 2009, smaller and priced "significantly lower" than the Civic hybrid, but — Honda swears — big enough for a family, so bigger than the discontinued two-seater Insight.

Honda hopes to sell 100,000 of those a year, far more than the 28,000 Civic hybrids it has averaged the past two years.

Fuel-cell Chevy Equinox

Starting in January, GM plans to loan 100 Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell SUVs to people in and around Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. Called Project Driveway, it would be the largest fuel-cell test fleet and will last two years.

Because there are only a handful of hydrogen stations in the United States, GM is providing fueling sites in those areas.

BMW hybrid SUV

At the Frankfurt auto show, the German automaker showed a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the X6, though it didn't promise to build any.

The hybrid X6 uses what BMW calls ActiveHybrid technology. It teams a gasoline engine with two electric motors to boost fuel economy 20 percent over gasoline-only drivetrains.

Starting next year, the gasoline X6 is to be built at Spartanburg, S.C.

Hyundai fuel-cell cars

A sci-fi-looking, sexy sedan called i-Blue was designed from the ground up to be a fuel-cell vehicle and escapes the packaging compromises involved in converting a vehicle from gasoline to fuel cell.

The i-Blue is billed as having a range of 372 miles, a big jump from the 186-mile range of Hyundai's test fleet of Tucson fuel-cell SUVs. Hyundai plans 300-plus Tucson testers in the U.S.

Hyundai says it will put fuel cells into mass production between 2012 and 2015.

Mercedes-Benz hybrids

A gasoline-electric hybrid ML 450 SUV is bound for the U.S. in about two years. Mercedes claims it would be the most fuel-efficient model in its class but didn't specify mileage. It will use a 3.5-liter gasoline V-6 mated to electric motors.

The automaker also plans a "mild hybrid" of its S-class flagship sedan that could get 30 percent better mileage.

Nissan Mixim electric

This electric-only signals the company's intention to put an electric on sale in Japan early next decade, elsewhere later.

Mixim uses lithium-ion batteries that take a rapid recharge — 20 to 40 minutes.

Nissan says the technology is at hand to build Mixim today, but the cost would be too high. The car would go 155 miles on a charge and have a top speed of 110 mph.

Information from USA Today, The Associated Press, the Detroit Free Press and the Wall Street Journal was used in this report.