President Obama travelled to Detroit today to tout the success of the auto bailouts and federal stimulus program in reviving the American automotive industry. At General Motors's Hamtramck facility, Obama told workers that the $62 billion dollars the government spent to keep Chrysler and GM in business had saved 1.1 million jobs, and resulted in the strongest year of hiring that the industry has seen since 1999.

The speech comes one day after the administration released a new interactive map detailing the investments that have been made in new car and battery factories across the country and the resulting jobs created at each plant. The graphic shows particularly strong growth in Indiana and Michigan, which were two of the states hardest hit by the automotive crisis. Most of new job sites will produce green vehicles and components, with grants going to lithium ion battery, truck and bus hybridization, and electric vehicle factories. A handful of other projects include fuel cell research and manufacturing, biofuels, and natural gas and propane vehicle development.

The White House has released a new interactive map detailing investments that have been made in new car and battery factories across the country.

According to information provided by the administration, 55,000 new automotive jobs have been created in the last year, with more on their way in the near future as a series of new plug-in cars hit the market and carmakers add workers to help produce more next-generation, fuel-efficient vehicles.

Department of Energy loans have been awarded to new production facilities for the Nissan LEAF, THINK!, Fisker, and a $465 million renovation of the old NUMMI plant in California, which will someday produce the Tesla Model S electric sedan. The stimulus bill also provides grants to 30 battery and component factories across 19 states. By 2015, the White House says that the U.S. will have the capacity to build 500,000 electric vehicles per year, with 40 percent of the world's lithium ion battery production occurring domestically as well.

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By Larry E. Hall

Chevrolet’s Cruze is, well, Cruisin’. Since its launch in Europe in the spring of 2009, Chevy’s first global compact car has racked up a total of 270,000 sales in more than 60 countries. Add another 70,000 sales with versions from Holden in Australia and Daewoo in South Korea.

Is 40 MPG A New Trend?

The Chevy Cruze Eco and Ford Fiesta could be leading the way to economical fuel economy.

U.S. dealerships will begin sales in September and all models will be produced in Lordstown, Ohio. The Chevy Cruze will be one of the few compact cars built in the U.S. for the 2011 model year.

Pricing starts at $16,995 for the LS model with a long list of standard safety features, including 10 air bags, electronic stability control with rollover sensing, traction control and anti-lock brakes.

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By Larry E. Hall

Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

Volkswagen, along with other European auto companies, has long proclaimed diesels as a better green strategy than hybridization. True, diesels are efficient and practical, but in the U.S., they have a reputation of being noisy and smelly. VW has worked hard to overcome that image with cars like the Jetta TDI but now are apparently changing direction (although they still like diesels).

During a press conference last week at its Electronics Research Lab in Palo Alto, California, Volkswagen chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn repeated the company's electrified slogan: “In the future, the heart of Volkswagen will also beat with electricity.” And in an opaque reference to the original Beetle, Winterkorn told the gathered media that “Volkswagen is working on the electric car for everyone.” (We'll report on VW's electric car strategy on PluginCars.com later today.) He added that hybrid and electric vehicles will account for three percent of the German carmaker's global sales by 2018.

The Roadmap

Winterkorn concluded his remarks by laying out the company's roadmap for hybrid and electric vehicle introductions into the United States. First up is the 2011 Touareg Hybrid, which launches later this year.

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The Porsche 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid debuted in Geneva.

Porsche AG's supervisory board has voted to move forward with production on the Porsche 918 Spyder, which first turned heads at March's Geneva Auto Show. The plug-in hybrid supercar has a top speed of nearly 199 mph, can accelerate from 0 to 62 in just 3.2 seconds, and comes with an astounding $650,000 price tag. The high-end carmaker says that it has received 2,000 non-binding submissions of interest for the 918—more than twice the required level of interest for the board to vote on production of a new vehicle.

The Spyder's two drivetrains provide a total of 718 hp, with 218 hp coming from a pair of 160kW electric motors and the other 500 coming from a 3.4 liter V8 engine. One motor will be mounted to each axis, with the V8 powering just the rear wheels. The electric drivetrain will provide about 16 miles of pure electric range when the vehicle's fluid-cooled lithium ion battery is fully charged—similar to Toyota's Prius plug-in hybrid.

Like the Prius, the Nissan LEAF and other more modestly priced plug-ins, the 918 will come with a dashboard computerized navigation system that tells drivers how far they can go on all-electric power and where the closest public charging station is.

Porsche says that the car will produce just 79g/km of emissions and get 78 miles to the gallon. (Of course, the method for calculating official fuel economy numbers for a plug-in hybrid remains a major point of contention within the industry and among regulators.) Since the 918 has four distinct modes—with each providing varying levels of performance and fuel economy—calculating its fuel efficiency is an even more complicated task. E-Drive Mode is the most efficient, with Race Hybrid Mode providing the gaudiest power numbers. In Race Hybrid Mode, the electric motors are used only for short bursts of additional passing power—meaning that fuel efficiency numbers plummet.

The Spyder isn't the only hybrid that Porsche is preparing for release in the near future. The Cayenne S hybrid SUV will be released in the coming months, with Panamera S sedan following next year. Both will be equipped with V6 engines and nickel metal hydride batteries, with the Cayenne yielding 25 mpg and the Panamera nearly 28 mpg.

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General Motors announced today that the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will be offered for sale at $41,000, or for a surprisingly low monthly lease cost of $350 per month (with a $2,500 initial payment.) The sticker price for the Volt is $8,200 higher than that of the $32,800 all-electric Nissan LEAF—though the two vehicles' lease prices are virtually identical.

The Volt's $41,000 sticker cost doesn't actually reflect what early buyers will pay for the car—the federal government is subsidizing the price of both it and the LEAF to the tune of $7,500. That brings real price of the Volt down to $33,500. For California drivers in particular though, the economic attractiveness of buying a LEAF versus a Volt is even stronger—the Volt plug-in hybrid isn't eligible for the state's $3,000 Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle rebate for plug-in hybrids.

When Does a $41,000 Car Cost the Same as a $32,000 Car?

GM says that the apparent disparity between the Volt's sticker and lease prices is a reflection of the company's calculation that the vehicle will maintain a very high residual value after three years—significantly higher than that of the LEAF. Even if that is the case, it's probably more than just a coincidence that the result of that calculation was a monthly lease that matches up so closely to the LEAF's.

But there also seems to be bit of a hitch in GM's residual value logic. If electric vehicle incentives are still being offered three years from now, will any original lessees be interested in buying their used Volt when they can get a brand new plug-in for almost the same price?

Remember, the $7,500 federal credit only applies to new vehicles, and is subtracted from the monthly payment of the original lease. That means that whether or not the lessee decides to purchase the car at the end of 36 months, the Volt will effectively come full circle—from a $41,000 car that leases for the price of a $32,000 car, to a used car that resells for the price of a $41,000 car.

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AFS Trinity claims that its ultracapacitor technologies could push the mileage of a small plug-in hybrid SUV to 150 mpg.

AFS Trinity Power Corporation today announced that it has been awarded a patent for its Extreme Hybrid drive train that makes ultracapacitors a critical part of plug-in hybrid strategy. For the last few years, AFS Trinity has claimed that using ultracaps could push the mileage of a small SUV to 150 mpg.

Capacitors store only small amounts of electricity but can provide bursts of power—reducing strain on hybrid batteries primarily designed to store large amounts of energy. Think of capacitors as a way to provide instant oomph. In fact, F1 has been using something similar—an energy-saving device known as Kinetic Energy Recover Systems—for a few years. The benefit of ultracapicators for everyday hybrids is the ability to use smaller, less expensive battery packs—especially on plug-in hybrids—and to extend battery durability and performance.

The AFT Trinity patent provides broad protection for its technology, covering the use of ultracapacitors, flywheels, and “power batteries” used to protect the main energy storage battery bank.

“By seamlessly integrating ultra-capacitors into the electronic propulsion system of plug-ins, the AFS Trinity system eliminates peak electric loads on the battery caused by the frequent acceleration and braking events that are part of everyday driving,” wrote AFS Trinity Chief Executive Officer Edward W. Furia, in a letter to federal legislators. “This innovation allows plug-ins to travel farther on smaller, less-expensive lithium-ion batteries, while also increasing the useful life of the batteries.” Furia is advocating that government incentives should support power-based systems, not just vehicles like the Chevy Volt that have large battery packs.

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Before an impassioned plea from former Vice President Al Gore, the Obama Administration was reportedly ready to throw in the towel on climate legislation as early as last summer.

The White House and leading Democrats in the Senate have abandoned all efforts to pass comprehensive climate legislation this year. Senate leaders are said to be drafting a pared down energy bill that would create a handful of new incentives and programs but do nothing to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

Highlights of the limited bill include $5 billion dollars for energy-saving home retrofitting incentives, $4.1 billion in compressed natural gas vehicle incentives, expanded land and water conservation measures, and new reforms aimed at fixing the Department of the Interior's shameful record on offshore drilling oversight. The legislation would also increase the cap on oil spill liability from $75 million to $10 billion.

No Mention of Electric Vehicles or Biofuels

What's more notable about the legislation is what's missing. In addition to cap and trade, there is no mention of hybrid or electric vehicle incentives, clean energy financing or renewable energy targets. Also absent is an extension of the ethanol subsidies that are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

Both EVs and ethanol could be addressed in separate measures or could be folded into the bill at a later date. The Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2010—which would allocate $6 billion for plug-in cars—was passed out of committee last week, while the House Ways and Means Committee is considering extending ethanol subsidies, but cutting them from $0.45 to $0.36 per gallon.

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