From recent advertisments doesn't seem as though Ford is pitching hybreds and GM is picthing alternative fuels. Wonder which is the right direction if either.

What are your thoughts?

 

I think that hybrids are going to be more useful in the near future, since they rely on an infrastructure (gas and diesel) that is already in place. I suspect that at some point in the future (and I have no idea how far in the future) some new alternative fuel, far better than anything that we have right now, will come along. That is the way of the future, but even if that fuel was discovered tomorrow, it would take quite a while to get the infrastructrure in place.

Having said that, I'm not sure that a hybrid drivetrain will be REPLACED by an alternative fuel drivetrain. Their benefits would apply in an alternative fueled vehicle as well.

 

I think both are pitching and building both. Though Hybrid tech works with everything.

 

I cant wait till diesel hybrids...

And I dunno if GM is fully pitching alternative fuels, this year or next there is going to be a 5.3L hybrid for the full size GM trucks and I think a 6.0L hybrid will follow.

 

i think gm advertising executives need their heads examined. all this hype pushing their alternative fuel vehicles. everything is plastered with the think green, go yellow bs. the only thing no one seems to notice is that there are no e-85 fuel stations here in jersey, and that is all they are pushing on the tv and in the dealerships.

 

Well of course the world revolves around Jersey.

 

You need an infrastructure to support alternative fuels.

 

my comment was based on the fact that the local cable company is airing these commercials, and the local chevy dealers are hyping vehicles that are designed to run on a fuel that you can not buy at the present time.
it is almost as intelligent as advertising and selling fuel cell vehicles in an area that will not have hydrogen filling stations for another 5 years.

 

What comes first the chicken or the egg?

 

I don't know, I prefer the corn to feed the chicken first.

 

the idea had to come first reguardless of what God decided to put here first. everything starts from an idea.

 

I just read that FoMoCo is going to introduce a hydraulic hybrid F150 that will have 3X the efficiency of a Toyota Prius.

http://www.newtechspy.com/articles06...lichybrid.html

---Ford is developing a new form of automotive propulsion, and the
implications for the American Auto Industry are huge. The Hydraulic
Hybrid could be the greatest innovation since the internal combustion
engine itself, and Ford is on the inside track with its F-150 Hybrid.
New Tech Spy Has learned details about the system that are simply
amazing and could put Ford in a commanding position in the fiercely
competitive full size pickup market.

---The Idea behind the current crop of Hybrid cars is well known; the
cars main energy comes from gasoline which recharges batteries that
move the car at low speeds. Hydraulic Hybrids work in the same manner,
only instead of batteries, excess energy is stored in hydraulic
cylinders.That in itself is not revolutionary, except for the fact
that Nickel Metal Hydride batteries used today are not an efficient
way to store energy, and hydraulic storage blows them away with 3X the
efficiency. Even next generation Lithium Ion batteries do not come
close to Hydraulic Energy Storage.

---The standard F-150 has a curb weight of about 4800 lbs., which is
65% greater than theToyota Prius, yet incredibly the Hydraulic F-150
with a continuously variable transmission matches the Prius with 60mpg
city rating, that's an amazing 400% increase over its gasoline
version.

---The F-150 makes for a perfect host for Hydraulic Hybrid technology
because of its height and body on frame construction, adding this
system to smaller vehicles will be challenging, but with those kind of
numbers small vehicles as we know them may become obsolete...The
Hydraulic F-150 is currently scheduled for launch in August of 2008,
can Ford work out all the bugs by then? The people are waiting for
Ford to come through in the clutch.

 

one can only hope, but i won't believe it till i see.

i like the idea and the numbers, but time will tell.