deandorsey

Toyota the first with a RWD hybrid? ‘Not so fast,’ says GM

GM’s Vice President of powertrain development Tom Stephens has responded to a press release by Toyota touting the Lexus GS450h as the first commercially available rear-wheel-drive hybrid. Stephens says GM has produced over 4,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra hybrid pickups — which are of course, gas-electric hybrids with rear-wheel-drive. “So welcome, Toyota, to the rear-wheel drive hybrid club,” wrote Stephens. “We’re glad you’ve joined us.”



Stephens also said Toyota is not the first to use a longitudinal hybrid transmission, as it had claimed. “But as the head of GM Powertrain, I’m absolutely certain that GM has already developed two hybridized longitudinal transmissions, and we’re nearing completion of a third system,” he wrote. “So I’d respectfully suggest that Toyota recheck the calendar as GM’s been in the market for quite a while now.”



He also shed some light on future hybrid plans. “We’re not done developing rear-wheel drive hybrid systems, either,” he wrote. “In 2007, GM will introduce 2-mode hybrids in two of GM’s most popular full-size SUVs, the Chevrolet Tahoe and the GMC Yukon. And in 2008, we’ll make it available on Silverado and Sierra Crew Cab models and the Cadillac Escalade.”


some comments


Comment by JD, posted on March24 at 4:51 pm
Silverado “Hybrid”… Read this month’s Motor Trend, it talks about said “Hybrid”. It’s not a Hybrid, it’s a truck with a beefed up alternator. Toyota is the first.

Comment by Nick, posted on March24 at 4:52 pm
My feelings exactly Nick. For GM to even cosider the technology used in the Siverado/Sierra a hybrid in the same sense as Toyota’s technology is a joke. I’d even consider it false advertising.

However, it is cool that you can plug into the truck just like a generator.


Comment by Marc, posted on March24 at 6:56 pm
Could have sworn that the press release said RWD hybrin SEDAN….must be just my eyes…
In anycase, it is pretty audacious to call the Silverados/Sierras TRUE hybrids

Comment by Dre, posted on March24 at 7:12 pm
That is truly laughable, to call the GM’s idle only electric power source a hybrid. It doesn’t power anything other than a few outlets and keeps the elctronics going until the engine starts up again to actually drive the powertrain. The electric does nothing to suplement the gas engine or to launch the vehicle.
Kudos to them for developing a system that turns off the engine while the truck is sitting still, but it is not a hybrid in the true sense of the word.

Comment by Phil, posted on March24 at 8:20 pm
If I turn off my engine manually at the stop light, can I call my car a “Hybrid?”

If I put my car in NEUTRAL while not moving, so I could save a few drops of fuel, can I call my car a “Hybrid?”
http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/03/...-fast-says-gm/


lol

heres some responses on the gm blogsite...

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives..._first_ma.html

Moog-Type-S

GM truck "hybrids" are junk.

zeroday

clowns.

F23A4

GM can't possibly afford to get into a pissing match with Toyota.

Prius

laughable.

srika

GM: "Not so fast, Toyota"...

I'm having flashbacks of when a mod "warned" a megamod...

biker

@ GM

West6MT

,.....^^.....I was just telling someone about that the other day,.........


As for the article,.........I could care less.