Hefty hybrids from GM

Another automotive industry first contribution of General Motors is its two-mode gas-electric hybrid transmission systems. The new fuel economy technology is bound to be under the hood of GM’s largest SUVs, the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid. This new move from GM will stain the stigma for large SUVs bearing the gas guzzlers tattoo.

GM’s Baltimore plant will be responsible for assembling the hybrid SUVs making way for GM to join the competition of Toyota with its Highlander and Lexus RX SUVs and Ford’s Escape Hybrid SUV.

According to executives from GM, their hybrid technology system is first in the United States and also emphasized that 75 percent (three-fourths) of its substance are from U.S. based suppliers.

The new hybrid systems is part of GM’s effort to provide its consumers with the most fuel efficient and environment friendly vehicles by utilizing various energy  resources such as ethanol, electricity and hydrogen said John Buttermore, GM’s Powertain vice-president of global manufacturing.

''We view this as an extraordinary opportunity, a chance, in essence, to reinvent the auto industry through technology and innovation and ultimately take the automobile out of the environmental debate,'' Buttermore said.

The two mode hybrid system is a product of the joint efforts of GM together with BMW (sells BMW brake fluid) and Daimler AG. The new technology will use a computer to choose from a thousand of combinations of running on one electric motor, two electric motors, a combination of electric motors and gasoline engine or turning off some of the gas engine’s cylinders.

GM vehicles to come from its Arlington, Texas plant are estimated to have an overall fuel economy of 21 miles per gallon, same as that of the four-cylindered Toyota Camry. This new fuel economy estimate is 30 percent higher than what the non-hybrid Tahoe and Yukon offers.