Hybrid Cars

Hybrid Cars and Trucks May Not be The Answer for Global Warming

Hybrid Cars and Trucks May Not be The Answer for Global Warming

While image conscious drivers in the United States have embraced hybrid car technology as a way to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions, hybrid cars may not be the only answer to prevent global warming. Trucking companies have been much more reluctant to adopt hybrid technology.  Truck operators think in terms of the cost of ownership of a hybrid versus a conventional truck. They consider questions such as: How much fuel will it consume? How much weight can it carry? How often will it break down? How costly will it be to repair? Several truck manufacturers such as Iveco and Freightliner have introduced hybrid vehicles. Federal Express Europe has started using some hybrid delivery vehicles, but currently, they are too expensive to be used on a widespread basis. 

According to an article published by Reuters, The main obstacle to growth is the truck industry’s low volume compared with cars, according to Stefano Chmielewski, president of Renault Trucks, the French unit of Volvo. “Take Europe. About one third of the overall truck market is distribution vehicles, divided up over 7 brands so about 15,000 units each. Economies of scale begin at 150,000 for trucks”

However new players are poised to enter the market. Japan’s Nissan Motor Co and Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s largest auto parts supplier, are in talks to form a comprehensive alliance in hybrid systems and parts.  Nissan plans to offer hybrid cars and other vehicles using internally developed technology as early as 2010. Bosch is dominant in diesel fuel injection systems but has also been developing hybrid power-trains, which link combustion engines with an electric motor. Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo newspaper said the companies were in talks because they had compatible hybrid technology. Nissan is seeking to ease the burden of heavy research and development costs, while Bosch has also worked on developing batteries needed in hybrids.

Hybrid cars may not work to reduce CO2 emissions in all countries. According to Toyota’s Tatehito Ueida, hybrid cars would not reduce CO2 emissions in China because China produces its electricity by burning coal. In countries such as France, which rely on nuclear power to produce electricity, replacing fossil fuel burning cars would lower CO2 production; however, in China, there would not be a clear reduction in CO2 since coal would still be burned to generate the electricity.