[Mr. Wyndham]

Nice article on GM vs Toyota. Clearly indicates that Honda, and Toyota are scared.

Good.

Honda's bearishness on plug-ins doesn't cloud the potential of the technology. Honda, while leading all auto companies operating in the U.S. in fuel economy, has proved to be especially tone-deaf in understanding the U.S. market for its vehicles. It launched the Insight hybrid around the same time as Toyota's Prius, but its size and unappealing styling made it a dud. The Civic hybrid has been a steady seller, but it is dropping its Accord hybrid (BusinessWeek.com, 11/19/07), which didn't sell at all and offered little fuel economy benefit over the nonhybrid Accord. Toyota, whose executives say they don't believe GM can get a battery small enough to fit in a car and have a 40-mile range, meanwhile, is heavily invested in its hybrid system and has the advantage over its rivals in passenger car hybrids.


Indeed, some believe the "wow" factor of getting more than 100 mpg could help plug-ins eclipse the popularity of hybrids. GM says the Volt technology will allow consumers to go up to 40 miles on battery power, after which the gas engine kicks on to recharge the battery while the driver continues. If a driver makes several short trips on battery power, the battery can simply be plugged in overnight to recharge. Many drivers could go weeks without gassing up. And electricity at night is cheaper than daytime recharging. Dr. Gary Vas, director of the University of Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and a nuclear energy professor who is leading a study of plug-in vehicles, says the early indication on a study he is leading on the marketability of plug-ins "shows that consumers are more than ready to embrace it."

Then, this made me chuckle:

Toyota executives have said they believe the right model for plug-ins will enable drivers to go perhaps as much as eight miles on a charge before the gasoline power kicks on

are they kidding?:eek: