Australia to miss out on global hybrid project?

Australia is well down the list of markets DaimlerChrysler will target with its jointly developed '2-mode' hybrid-equipped cars and SUVs. That’s the message that DaimlerChrysler's executive director of the Hybrid Development Centre, Andreas Truckenbrodt delivered on a whistlestop tour of Australia last week.

Truckenbrodt called the Michigan (USA) centre’s latest ‘2-mode’ hybrid transmission “the product of global cooperation.”  The fruit of unprecedented engineering cooperation between DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and BMW, the state of the art advanced hybrid transmission’s application will certainly not be global, however.

Set to be unveiled first in the new generation GM Chevrolet Tahoe SUV next year followed by the Dodge Durango in 2008, the fuel-saving petrol-electric drivetrain is destined to be largely aimed at the US with some minor interest expected in Europe. And with the system having not been engineered to suit right-hand drive vehicles, you can cross Australia off the list altogether in the short to medium term.

The system uses two electric motors and a combination of four fixed gears and a two-mode CVT drive all housed in a unit that is of similar size to a conventional transmission. It is claimed to be able to provide up to a 25 per cent reduction in fuel consumption.

Depending on the drive requirements, the system can run a varied combination of mechanical and electric motors to achieve the appropriate torque output. By using four fixed gears overlaid with the ‘2-mode’ CVT, DaimlerChrysler claims the system is more efficient than existing single-mode hybrid systems across a broader range of operations.

It can also be applied to front, rear and all-wheel drive vehicles -- hence its first applications for big US-market SUVs.

Dr Truckenbrodt also said he expected the system to be available in large Mercedes passenger cars before the end of the decade but once again, these will largely be aimed at the US market. Mercedes Benz unveiled a hybrid-equipped S-Class at last September's Frankfurt show (pictured)

"We believe that full hybrid is maybe not the first solution for Europe, because of the high diesel share, he says.

The hybrid system can be applied to diesel engines but Dr Truckenbrodt says there is little benefit in developing diesel hybrid vehicles as the fuel consumption gains would be outweighed by the cost, weight and complexity of the drivetrains.

A team of around 500 engineers from the three companies with a budget of around $US300m has developing the ‘2-mode’ system at the Michigan facility. The unit is then taken by each manufacturer to be integrated into its vehicles of choice. At present the cooperation agreement is for the development of the first generation system only, however, with initial implementation imminent, the cooperation may continue.

The main reason for the cooperative development is cost with Truckenbrodt saying that even with this joint venture development hybrids are still not profitable. Indeed, he says they may not be for the next ten years, or at least until production volumes grow significantly.

Hybrids have become the favoured option in terms of reducing fuel consumption and lowering the impact of transport in terms of greenhouse gas production in the USA and Japan where petrol power rules supreme.

With a vast amount of R&D dollars spent on the development of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells for vehicles, hybrids had for a long time been considered by the European makers as largely a stop gap. Now with the continuing difficulties for fuel cells (especially in terms of developing a refuelling infrastructure and the sheer cost of the cells) there has been a more concentrated effort on hybrids and cleaner diesels for the USA and Europe respectively.

Dr Truckenbrodt believes that in the long term fuel cells will have a place in the powertrain division of carmakers but says that in the next 10-20 years their application will be limited to specialty vehicles like urban delivery vans and city busses. And even then any further growth will need “friendly assistance” from governments to help drive infrastructure solutions.

On the diesel front, he says DaimlerChrysler is moving ahead to tackle one of the last big bogeys -- NOx emissions with the company set to introduce Bluetec technology into its E320 and CLS320 models later this year. This technology has the potential to reduce NOx emissions by up to 80 per cent.

Despite the similarities between the Australian and US markets in terms of a preference for big, petrol-fuelled engines, it seems we may lose out on the big benefits of hybrid technology with Toyota set to remain the sole player for some time.

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