The coalition between GM and Toyota is showing signs of division – each favours a different technology for low emission vehicles. Despite these differences, the partnership has been extended for a further two years. The slow uptake of hybrids may prove that GM has the right idea in seeing the technology as just a stepping-stone to the development of other alternative fuel vehicles.
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General Motors and Toyota have agreed to extend their cooperation in developing low polluting fuel cell cars and trucks for another two years. The alliance, which began in 1999, has entered a more competitive phase as GM’s vice president of research and development, Larry Burns, confirmed that the two competitors would not be sharing their fuel-cell stack technology.
While Toyota is promoting the economic and ecological benefits of hybrids, GM sees hybrids as a stepping-stone to fuel cells. Hybrids combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to propel a car. They boost fuel economy, especially in heavy city traffic, and reduce emissions. Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity, and emit nothing more than water vapour in the process.
With only 35,000 hybrid vehicles sold in the US last year, the market is taking off very slowly. However, GM has decided to enter the market and will offer hybrid versions of its Silverado and Sierra pick-ups later this year.
Toyota, along with Honda, is one of the few car makers to put mass-market gas-electric hybrids on the road. It is now forcing its bigger rivals to play catch-up in the race to offer greener cars. Toyota hopes to sell 300,000 hybrids a year by 2005. To help reach this target, the company is supplying hybrids to other automakers. By raising volumes, Toyota should slash the high production costs and make hybrids a de facto standard for alternative-fuel cars for the time being.
The road for hybrids seems to be mapped out in the US but despite the higher price of fuel elsewhere, hybrids only enjoy mild acceptance in Japan and virtually no penetration in Europe. GM has been the industry’s most vocal supporter of developing fuel cell technology and hopes to make fuel cell cars in significant volumes by 2010. GM may be right to see hybrids as part of the path to growth for other forms of alternative fuel.
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