Amidst the panoply of retro-muscle cars, gas guzzlers and fantasy machines on display at the 2006 North American International Auto Show where a handful of "green" machines that point toward the real road to the future.
Have you noticed all the media -- online, broadcast and print -- headlines about the "green" cars on display at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week? From Ford to GM to Subaru to Mitsubishi to Honda -- who rolled out of storage their late-90s GRX concept car pictured above, as well as their exciting new FCX fuel cell vehicle -- hybrids and alternative fuels seemed to the be talk of the town.
That is until you talk to someone who was actually there. I got an excited call last week from Bill Williams, the head of sales for Feed Good Cars, makers of the ZENN neighborhood electric vehicle. From a comment I made last week, he and Ian Clifford, the company president, assumed I was in Detroit for the show, which I wasn't. Bill wanted to have me see their new car, which had been appropriated by a local Detroit television station as their mobile production vehicle inside Cobo Center. Being electric, the television crew and reporter could use the newly -redesigned ZENN to roam at will through the expansive convention center in the heart of downtown Detroit. Talk about great publicity. As I was talking to Bill, the president of Rolls Royce was taking the NEV for a spin. I'll have our telephone conversation on EV World later this week.
But during the course of the interview, I asked Bill Williams how "green" the show appeared to him. This was his first time at NAIAS, but he said that it didn't seem all the "green" to him, what will all the retro muscle cars Detroit had rolled out for the show. The statistics would seem to support that impression.
I recall reading that carmakers from all around the world debuted something like 140+ new models this year, of which there were probably less than ten that could be considered "green" if you exclude flex-fuel vehicles, which while capable of burning E85 ethanol fuel usually don't. Their owners typically haven't a clue their cars will run on this alternative fuel and have even less of an idea where on earth to find it.
So, that leaves you a handful of soon-to-launch hybrids including the Toyota Camry, Saturn VUE, and Chevy Tahoe-line, the last making its showroom appearance in 2007. There were also a few fanciful hybrid concept cars from Ford, Mitsubishi and Subaru. I've heard little in the press about Nissan's Altima Hybrid, which is also slated to enter the market in 2006. You certainly won't learn anything about their plans from their media web site, which has to be the poorest designed site of its type of a major automaker... Nissan are you listening? I'd be happy to help you fix the problem, if you're interested.
In following the media coverage of the Detroit Auto Show, I came across a photo of the Honda GRX, which I think you'll agree is a pretty exciting concept vehicle, but I could find zip about on Honda's media web site. I emailed a couple people I know at Honda and Chuck Schifsky, Honda's main man in Detroit, replied with a brief explanation.
He writes, "The story behind the GRX is long. In short, it was a design exercise done by Honda R&D Americas in Torrance, CA in the mid-90s and it never showed at an auto show. Conversely, we never produced any PR materials for the GRX. The GRX was the inspiration for the JV-X which was the concept car for the Insight and showed the first time at the 1997 Tokyo show. The GRX is currently on display in the Michelin booth at the Detroit auto show as part of an environmental concept car display".
Needless to say, I wish they'd used the GRX as the basis of the Insight, but such is the fate of most concept cars. They stimulate the salivary glands, but like cotton candy at a ballpark, provide nothing but a sweet sugar high.
Perhaps the most promising comments to come out of January car show circuit that includes Los Angeles and Detroit, were those by Ford North American group president Mark Fields who told a press luncheon in LA that SUVs are "old thinking" and that car companies must "change or die".
In talking about Ford's soon-to-be-announced (on January 23rd) "Way Forward" plan for the future, Field's explained part of the rationale behind it.
"First, let's look at the economic environment in which our customers will make their car-buying decisions this year. The economy is projected to grow at a good pace of 3 percent or better. Gas prices have come down from the highs following the hurricanes last fall. But oil futures suggest a price between $60 and $65 a barrel this year, which means there won't be much relief at the gas pump. So, fuel economy will continue to be a factor for buyers".
I think that can be easily assumed, though there are lots of people who seem to think this is just a temporary price spike.
Yet, it would appear -- as underscored by the debut of Ford's Reflex diesel-hybrid -- that at least at Ford Motor Company the lights have finally turned on. So, maybe all that "greenwash" over the last few years is starting to translate into something tangible at in Dearborn... and yes, maybe even over at General Motors.
As for DaimlerChrysler, I am not sure what's going on in Auburn Hills, other than they seem to think that diesels are the way forward. Well, at least it's a start, but I sure hope they don't think that they tiny GEM electric car unit or a few dozen F-Cell fuel cell cars and buses absolves them of the need to move smartly towards an EV World. Hey guys, how about taking another look at your ESX 3 diesel-hybrid?