Hybrid Gaselectric Vehicles

Toyota calls the lemon-lime-colored hybrid vehicle a concept, but shoppers can expect to see a version of this compact car -- kind of a svelte version of the Toyota Matrix -- in showrooms in several years. This is Toyota channeling Apple Inc. Just as Apple has built a family of products around its original iPod -- from the tiny Shuffle to the Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch -- Toyota plans to build its Prius into a sub-brand. The concept it unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is labeled the FT-CH dedicated hybrid concept, but Toyota executives acknowledge that it will become the Prius compact car offering.

Major automakers are readying a wave of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles for consumers, but one local school district is already taking advantage of the technology. The Ventura Unified School District unveiled a $200,000, state-of-the-art, plug-in hybrid electric school bus Tuesday, the first in Southern California. The bus will start hauling students this week and replaces a polluting, 1977 model. The bus, built by the IC Bus subsidiary of Navistar Inc., is powered by a lithium ion battery pack and is expected to improve fuel economy up to 30% and reduce emissions up to 40% over a conventional gasoline-powered school bus. Michael Chiacos, transportation specialist with the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara, believes the bus will do even better, improving fuel economy more than 60% compared with a traditional school bus. "The bus reflects our commitment to being a green school district as we ensure safe and healthy learning environments for our students," said Trudy T. Arriaga, superintendent of Ventura Unified School District.

Major automakers are readying a wave of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles for consumers, but one local school district is already taking advantage of the technology. The Ventura Unified School District unveiled a $200,000, state-of-the-art, plug-in hybrid electric school bus Tuesday, the first in Southern California. The bus will start hauling students this week and replaces a polluting, 1977 model. The bus, built by the IC Bus subsidiary of Navistar Inc., is powered by a lithium ion battery pack and is expected to improve fuel economy up to 30% and reduce emissions up to 40% over a conventional gasoline-powered school bus. Michael Chiacos, transportation specialist with the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara, believes the bus will do even better, improving fuel economy more than 60% compared with a traditional school bus. "The bus reflects our commitment to being a green school district as we ensure safe and healthy learning environments for our students," said Trudy T. Arriaga, superintendent of Ventura Unified School District.

Fisker Automotive Inc., the Irvine developer of electric cars, said it had raised an additional $115.3 million in private equity funding to develop plug-in hybrid cars. The money from three firms allows Fisker, founded by Danish design guru Henrik Fisker, to satisfy a U.S. Department of Energy condition to gain access to $528.7 million in federal loans. The agency's money is part of a $25-billion fund approved by Congress in 2007 to spur automakers to build electric and fuel-efficient vehicles.

Anyone strolling about the exhibition floor of the L.A. Auto Show this week can be forgiven for thinking that the battle for the green car has been won, and the plug-in electric hybrid is the victor. Scads of major automakers unveiled models that are within a year or two of showroom readiness, with the Chevy Volt (projected to run for 40 miles on a household charge before switching to gasoline) drawing perhaps the most buzz. Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. took a booth to promote its forthcoming $88,000 Karma, a plug-in luxury hybrid.

Fisker Automotive Inc., the Irvine developer of electric cars, said it had raised an additional $115.3 million in private equity funding to develop plug-in hybrid cars. The money from three firms allows Fisker, founded by Danish design guru Henrik Fisker, to satisfy a U.S. Department of Energy condition to gain access to $528.7 million in federal loans. The agency's money is part of a $25-billion fund approved by Congress in 2007 to spur automakers to build electric and fuel-efficient vehicles.

Being green no longer means being cramped. After several years of asking environmentally conscious motorists to sacrifice hip, head and elbow room to drive a car with high mileage and low emissions, automakers finally are moving into the mainstream with larger hybrid gasoline-electric models -- including sport utility vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp.

Rather than "rebuilding" our military at the cost of untold billions, as the conventional wisdom suggests we do in response to Sept. 11, why not use that treasure to hasten the replacement of our gas-guzzlers with fuel-cell and hybrid gas/electric vehicles? Not only would we rid ourselves of our deadly reliance on Middle East oil but also stimulate our economy. Barry Dantzscher Van Nuys

Honda Motor Co., one of the first automakers to sell hybrid gas-electric vehicles, plans to market a home-refueling system for its Civic model that is powered by natural gas. The fueling system, developed with FuelMaker Corp. of Toronto, will go on sale in California for about $2,000 early next year, Tokyo-based Honda said. The initial sales target is about 500 a year, said Andy Boyd, a spokesman for Honda's U.S. operation in Torrance.

The auto industry is pulling the plug on the all-electric car. The present generation of battery-powered electric vehicles, with their limited driving range of about 120 miles before needing a recharge, have lost favor among automakers and regulators. In turn, the dream of a California highway system buzzing with clean electric cars has been put on indefinite hold. Just this week at the electric-vehicle trade association's annual convention in Hollywood, Fla.

Toyota calls the lemon-lime-colored hybrid vehicle a concept, but shoppers can expect to see a version of this compact car -- kind of a svelte version of the Toyota Matrix -- in showrooms in several years. This is Toyota channeling Apple Inc. Just as Apple has built a family of products around its original iPod -- from the tiny Shuffle to the Wi-Fi-enabled iPod Touch -- Toyota plans to build its Prius into a sub-brand. The concept it unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit is labeled the FT-CH dedicated hybrid concept, but Toyota executives acknowledge that it will become the Prius compact car offering.

Anyone strolling about the exhibition floor of the L.A. Auto Show this week can be forgiven for thinking that the battle for the green car has been won, and the plug-in electric hybrid is the victor. Scads of major automakers unveiled models that are within a year or two of showroom readiness, with the Chevy Volt (projected to run for 40 miles on a household charge before switching to gasoline) drawing perhaps the most buzz. Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. took a booth to promote its forthcoming $88,000 Karma, a plug-in luxury hybrid.

Being green no longer means being cramped. After several years of asking environmentally conscious motorists to sacrifice hip, head and elbow room to drive a car with high mileage and low emissions, automakers finally are moving into the mainstream with larger hybrid gasoline-electric models -- including sport utility vehicles. Toyota Motor Corp.

With gasoline prices still soaring like fugitive helium balloons, the state's Air Resources Board shouldn't be pulling the plug on California's electric car program. Yet when the board meets Thursday it will consider dumping its core rule, lifting any obligation for most automakers to produce zero-emission vehicles for the next several years. Electric cars are the only vehicles with no tailpipe emissions.

As the price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Southern California climbs well past the $2 mark, watching the gas gauge has become as important as keeping an eye on the speedometer. And although spiraling gasoline prices have spurred demand for fuel-efficient hybrid gas-electric vehicles such as Honda's Hybrid Civic and Toyota's Prius, most people aren't going to toss out old Betsy and buy a hybrid just to save a few hundred dollars a year.