Within four years, the Big Three automakers will be mass-producing vehicles with hybrid engines that will significantly increase gas mileage, Vice President Al Gore said Thursday.
Representatives from Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG appeared with Gore to showcase high-mileage test cars developed under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a joint effort started in 1993 by the Clinton administration and automakers.
Under that program, the administration challenged automakers to develop by 2004 production prototypes of a family-size sedan that got at least 80 miles per gallon.
GM’s Precept has reached the goal, and concept cars developed by the two other automakers have come close. All use combination electric-diesel engines, more aerodynamic designs and lighter materials.
The automakers say they can use some of those advancements, particularly the hybrid engines, to make more-fuel-efficient cars by 2004.
An obstacle to various concepts for alternative-fuel vehicles has been consumer acceptance. Honda Motor Co., however, is on track to sell its full production run of 4,000 of the 2000 model Insights, a gas-electric hybrid that gets 70 m.p.g. on the highway. A Honda spokesman said that customers initially were attracted by the vehicle’s technology, but rising gas prices have created new interest in its fuel economy.
Administration officials have said the partnership on new vehicles would be expanded to include research on fuel efficiency technology for light trucks, mini-vans and sport-utility vehicles, which now account for nearly half of auto sales. The administration has included $14 million in its $256 million budget request for the partnership next year to fund the additional research.
Environmental groups say they are skeptical automakers will come through with vehicles that are more fuel efficient and better for the environment. Chris Hayday of the Sierra Club said the industry has a history of fighting government regulations to decrease automobile pollution and increase safety.
“I have very little confidence that the auto industry will tell their engineers to do the right thing and produce cars with better fuel economy and lower tailpipe emissions,” Hayday said.
But at the same time, rising gas prices seem to have had minimal impact on sales of gas-thirsty sport-utility vehicles: Automakers are selling as many as they can build. Dealers can’t keep enough on their lots. And customers say fuel economy isn’t a major concern.
“People just don’t seem to be worried about gas prices, or they’re not worried about them enough to buy compact cars instead of [Ford] Excursions,” said David Healy, an industry analyst with Burnham Securities.
