'Hybrids Of The Future'

Hybrids Of The Future

By Sam Heisin at 09/18/08 03:34

No doubt about it, but the future of cars will all be hybrids. Green cars are now being produced massively and is continuously being developed for better features. Just recently, we have seen the unveiling of one of these 'future of cars', the Chevy Volt.

Chevrolet's new Volt was unveiled last Sept. 16 in time with GM's 100th year anniversary. I saw the footage of the unveiling and the Volt is indeed a beauty. It looks very elegant and regal, really worth the long wait. But oh, the long wait is still not over, as the Volt unveiled is for the 2011 production. Sorry folks, but you can't have it this Christmas as a gift.

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On another news, a new Hybrid is is also being developed by Mercedes Benz. It is called the Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID. People, take note of the capital letters. MB doesn't want you to forget it's a hybrid and they want all people to know it's a HYBRID so take make it all caps.

Well, not only the letters that are big, this will also be one big hybrid. It is an S-Class Mercedes and is made into a Lexus SL600hl limo. It will be like the Insight, Prius and Volt's long lost father. It has a horsepower of 299 and 190g of CO2/kilometer, obviously the best rating for a hybrid car this big.

But please, can somebody explain to me what's the Blue in its name got to do with it being a HYBRID?

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Limelite Coach Works of Santa Clara, Calif.—which builds a variety of stretch limos from Hummers and Escalades to Mini Coopers and Jaguar XFs—recently added more than 13 feet to a Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid. LimeLite Business Development Representative Mike Williams told HybridCars.com that it’s the first hybrid limo off the line for the company, and was sold before it was finished being built. Zbest Limos of Baltimore, Md. will soon put the vehicle into service.

Williams noted that limo services historically have not paid much attention to fuel economy, but rising gas prices have given them new interest in the savings offered by hybrids. The company believes that using the Tahoe hybrid can yield up to 80 percent fuel savings compared to a comparable non-hybrid model.

When parked, all of the electronics in the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid limo run off the battery while traditional limos need to run the gas engine to power toys such as flat-screen TVs, Karaoke machines, full-service wet bars, and multi-color neon lighting. In the company’s first conversion, the usual purple neon lights were switched to green.

LimeLite has more hybrids on the way. Shop foreman Miguel De la Vega said the stretch of 160 inches in the first Tahoe was conservative—they now feel they can go to a more extreme 220-inch stretch. The company had no problems dealing with the high-voltage hybrid system, though De la Vega said he was “very careful.” All of the Tahoe’s hybrid system remains intact. In a standard limo, they would have added an additional battery and a beefed-up alternator.

Phil Restivo, president and CEO of LimeLite, told HybridCars.com that the hybrid limo business is just beginning. “The hybrid Escalade is coming in October,” he said. Since the standard Escalade is one of LimeLite’s big sellers, he thinks the hybrid version will also be popular.

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