Hybrid Trucks Apt to Shake Up Segment

Washington DC June 28, 2005; The AIADA newsletter reported that ”until recently, hybrid vehicles, too, were small. But a growing stream of sport utilities and midsize sedans with hybrid powertrains is changing that profile,” reports The New York Times.

Take Toyota, whose “line of hybrid models has expanded from the first-generation Prius, a pipsqueak that arrived in the United States in 2001 with a 70-horsepower gasoline engine and a 44-horsepower electric motor, to include larger vehicles like the Highlander, a hybrid utility wagon with a total of 268 horsepower from its gas and electric power plants. Hybrid luxury sedans that promise V-8 performance from 6-cylinder engines, like the Lexus GS 450h that goes on sale next spring, are in the works.”

Other automakers including, GM and Ford are also looking to expand their hybrid truck offerings. According to the Times, “Americans buy millions of pickups every year. And while the mileage figures may be less remarkable than those of small cars, the savings are significant and the potentially high production volumes open opportunities to cut the cost of future hybrids.”