Hybrid Car Brands

Just who is making hybrid cars these days and what brands are considering making hybrid cars in the future?

Major Hybrid Car Brands
Hybrid cars are currently being built and sold by General Motors, Ford, Honda, Toyota and Nissan. General Motors builds hybrid cars under several divisions including Saturn, Chevrolet, and GMC.  Ford has the Mercury and Ford divisions.  Toyota sells hybrids under the brand name of Lexus .  While Honda and Nissan just sell hybrids under their own name plates.

Toyota
Under the Toyota brand name, there are three models currently on sale. The iconic Prius is almost synonymous with hybrid and is the first car most people think of when they think of hybrids. Toyota also sells the Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid under the moniker of Toyota.

Toyota also has their luxury division, the Lexus hybrids. Under the Lexus brand name, Toyota sells the HS, LS, RX, and GS Hybrids. They keep adding models under the Lexus nameplate, so expect and IS hybrid to arrive soon. The HS hybrid is a dedicated model like the Prius. The others are subtypes under the model. In other words, you can buy gas-only models, or you can opt for the hybrid engine.

Honda
Honda sells the Civic Hybrid under their brand name. They also currently sell the only other dedicated hybrid on the road, the Insight. They used to sell a Hybrid Accord, and the two-seater hybrid Insight, but have retired both models.

Expect to see Acura Hybrids in the future.

Nissan
Nissan has only one hybrid model for sale, the Nissan Altima Hybrid. It is built using hybrid technology from Toyota and is sold in only eight US states. Nissan has plans to bring an Infiniti M35 Hybrid to market in the coming year.

General Motors (Cadillac, Chevy, Saturn, GMC)
They build several models (currently) using the Chevrolet brand. There is the Chevy Malibu and Chevy Silverado. The Chevy Volt, the Extended Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV), will be out soon and while GM considers the Volt to be a subtype of electric vehicle, it still falls under the hybrid type.

GM also builds the GMC Yukon and Sierra. And the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid also falls under the GM brand.

The Saturn brand was at one point, the cornerstone for hybrids under the GM umbrella. But Saturn is no more. You can still see the hybrid Vue and Aura on the road today.

Ford
Ford sells four different models under two different brand names. The Mercury Division sells the Milan and Mariner Hybrid. While Ford retains the Fusion and Escape Hybrid. The Lincoln division will have its own hybrid soon, but it's not here yet. The Mercury hybrids are the upgraded version of the Ford Hybrids, so expect them to be very similar if you take a look at both of them.

Chrysler
Chrysler sold the Aspen and Durango Hybrids for a total of two months before pulling the plug on both models. The Dodge Durango is very similar to the Chrysler Aspen, and both were built using the dual hybrid technology developed in partnership with BMW and GM.

Chrysler at one point had plans to bring a Dodge Ram Hybrid to market, but that seems to be on hold.

Hyundai
Hyundai is jumping in with both feet in the next year, with the Sonata Hybrid. Distinguishing itself from the other hybrids listed above, it's going to be one of the first hybrids to use lithium polymer battery packs, giving it an advantage over some of the more established hybrid models and brands listed above.

Mazda
Mazda has sold the Tribute hybrid in very limited numbers.  The Tribute was built using Ford Hybrid technology, when Mazda and Ford were a lot tighter than they are today.  Now Mazda is looking to partner with Toyota for the technology used in the Prius for their future hybrid model in 2013.

Fisker and Tesla
Fisker and Tesla are both bringing hybrid cars to market (they probably don't appreciate being lumped together given the lawsuits over the past few years). These startups are working hard to go straight to electric or hybrid and are emphasizing performance, rather than fuel efficiency right from the get go.

Audi, Subaru, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler, Ferrari, Lotus, Kia, Maserati, Porsche, Suzuki, Volkswagen and Volvo
Each of the brands mentioned above are attempting their own hybrid models, and several have brought some noteworthy test models to auto shows. Several are on their way to bringing those cars to market right now, but are still a few years away from seeing them on the road in more than just 'test fleets'. Some are closer than others, while some probably have no intention of ever going hybrid unless they are forced to do so by the tighter restrictions being enforced in Europe, Asia and the US in the coming years.

Looking for more information on one of the brands above?
Either search for the brand name here on this site or use the categories below or on the sidebars.  Each of the major brands listed will have more information that I've accumulated over the years.

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No Longer Has a Hemi-Hybrid

Chrysler has ended the Ram Hybrid, before it even really started. Chrysler announced they would be expanding on a plug-in hybrid test for their Ram pickup, but would end the program to create a hybrid Ram.

Given their track record, I won't be holding my breath on the plug-in Ram.

Chrysler sold their Hybrid Aspen and Durango for a two months before abandoning their program. The plan was for the two-mode hybrid system, co-developed with BMW and GM, to go into the Dodge Ram later this year. But Chrysler just doesn't see a market for it.

Chrysler also killed off their ENVI division shortly after announcing they would create it and put an all electric vehicle on the road sometime soon.

The Plug-in Electric Hybrid (PHEV) system will be placed into 140 units with a lithium-ion battery pack capable of all electric movement for up to 20 miles. The truck will then turn into a hybrid car, with the gas engine providing most of the power from that point on. The electric motor will assist the gas engine.

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Plug-in Hybrid Truck Development - Ram Crew 1500

Chrysler sent $3.1 million to a University of Michigan researcher to help develop a plug-in hybrid pickup truck.

Associate Professor Chris Mi is one of a dozen UofM faculty members working on a $5 million grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission to develop plug-in hybrid vehicles. The research grant involves DTE Energy, General Motors Corporation, and the University of Michigan.

Mi is working on the best way to charge PHEV batteries, in terms of safety and efficiency. The research team is working to develop a battery management system that will ensure all battery cells are charged and discharged evenly to protect the cells from damage, prolong the battery life, and maximize the battery capacity.

At the same time, they are also working to develop fast charging centers, that can recharge a PHEV battery in 10-20 minutes.

The new grant from Chrysler is part of the $48 million grant Chrysler received as part of the stimulus funds. (via chicagotribune.com) Mi's work would help develop a Ram Crew 1500 plug-in hybrid truck, which would make it the only full size plug-in hybrid truck.

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Chrysler Ends ENVI Program

As part of the case for creating a bailout for Chrysler, the new ENVI division was set up last year. Chrysler put together three electric prototypes, and promised that one of them would be in production by 2010. They went on to pledge 500,000 electric vehicles by 2013.

Now that the bailout and bankruptcy is over, however, things have changed.

Chrysler, now owned by Fiat, laid out their five year plan, which will increase fuel efficiency based on Fiat expertise. But very little was said about hybrids or electric vehicles. Dodge will get the hybrid Ram, but if it follows the path of the prior Chrysler hybrids (sold for just two months), don't expect too much.

And now the ENVI division has been 'disbanded.'

"Envi is absorbed into the normal vehicle development program," Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa told Reuters.

"Until the (battery) storage gets resolved, I think electric vehicles are going to struggle," Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said.

Cappa confirmed that the ENVI group no longer exists, but is apparently upset at the term 'disbanded,' saying that the group's members all are still working and that former ENVI chief Lou Rhodes is still in charge of vehicle electrification programs - for both Chrysler and Fiat.

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Chrysler Will Have a Hybrid Ram in 2010

Chrysler is still planning on introducing a hybrid Dodge Ram in 2010, but a diesel version is now in question.

To be honest, when I thought about Chrysler's hybrid plans, I thought they were basically dropping them. Chrysler had introduced two hybrid SUVs using the two-mode hybrid technology created with GM and BMW. But the hybrids were quickly dropped after just a couple of months. They had also at one point talked about the ENVI project and introducing an electric vehicle, but not a lot has been heard about that, either.

Then with the economy, the bankruptcy, etc... I had guessed, incorrectly it turns out, that Chrysler would just quietly drop the whole project.

Plans for a hybrid Ram roll forward | detnews.com | The Detroit News

There have been no changes to the plans for the hybrid, Scott Kunselman, Chrysler senior vice president of engineering, confirmed in an interview at a recent Ram event here.

The engineering chief went on to cast a lot of doubt on the diesel version of the Ram. This may be surprising since the heavy duty diesel Ram is so popular, but the diesel is very popular with commercial buyers, unlike the light-duty Ram buyers who may not factor in the high resale value.

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Chrysler Renegotiates Contract with GM on Dual Mode Hybrid Engine

It seems Chrysler is trying to opt out of paying up their share for developing the dual mode hybrid engine. GM, Chrysler, and BMW partnered to create the dual-mode hybrid engine which is suitable for their SUVs and trucks. Chrysler used the new hybrid engine in the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango hybrids, which were subsequently killed off after just two months.

But Chrysler still wants to use the dual-mode hybrid engine in the Dodge Ram 1500 Hybrid next year.

But when they filed for bankruptcy, the company was split into old Chrysler and new Chrysler (Source: GM Looks for Two-Mode Hybrid Payments from Chrysler - PickupTrucks.com News). The new Chrysler was bought by Fiat, but did not bring along many of the old contracts. And the contract with GM for the dual-mode hybrid engine was left behind. Now, Chrysler wants to renegotiate the contract they had with GM.

Chrysler would like to pay just $173,477 to settle the full $531,275 in costs associated with: open receivables, payments for 2008 manufacturing costs, tooling, pre-production transmissions for the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango Two-Mode Hybrid SUVs (which were killed after only two months of production), and supply agreements.

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