Automakers to Invest $1 Billion in Hybrid Venture

Washington DC August 11, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that during an industry trade meeting in Traverse City, MI, representatives from General Motors, BMW AG, and DaimlerChrysler announced plans to invest more than $1 billion into the joint development of next-generation gas-electric hybrid engine technology.

Over the past 18 months, nearly 500 engineers from the three automakers have been working on the dual-mode hybrid technology, which includes "an onboard fuel-optimization computer that determines when and at what speeds the two motors will be used for power and how the on-board battery will be recharged," Reuters reports.

The hybrid technology, which is being developed now outside Detroit, MI, will be made available in two rear-wheel drive configurations or a front-wheel drive system, said representatives from the automakers.

DCX plans to use the new hybrid system in its 2008 Dodge Durango SUV; GM will use it in 2007 versions of the Tahoe and Yukon SUVs; and BMW has yet to indicate which of its vehicles will employ the technology, but gave a timeline of three to five years in which to incorporate the engines in its vehicles.