Porsche 918 Spyder into Production?

Porsche is seriously considering taking the 918 Spyder, a plug-in hybrid that is more powerful than the Carrera GT. The electric motor helps the 500 hp V8 go from 0-60 in 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 198 mph, all while 78 mpg. 

It took them five months (started last August, finished the day before it was revealed).  But now it looks like Porsche is looking to move the Spyder into production.

Porsche 'will build 918' - Autocar.co.uk

Porsche has yet to commit to producing the car - but speaking to Autocar, Macht admitted that the positive reaction to the 918 had already swayed opinion within the firm.

"There is no one inside Porsche who doesn't want to build the 918," he said. "The response has been marvellous; we will ask buyers to sign letters of intent.

"The 918 Spyder provides the answer to whether there can be high-performance cars in the future," he added. "Many have said they are finished. This car shows they are not."

According to the NYTimes blog Porsche has never built a show car they didn't move into production.
Porsche’s Stealth Debut - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com

Believe it or not, the 918 Spyder is Porsche’s first concept car since the Boxster, which was initially shown in Detroit in 1993 and went into production as a 1997 model. Porsche has never built a show car it didn’t eventually put on the market, and the 918 is a possibility down the road.

Porsche 918 Spyder

But don't start holding your breath. It could take five years, even if they do decide to go ahead with it.

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Mass Hysteria, Maybe...

This is something I have been thinking about the past couple of days, but I can't say I am an unbiased observer when it comes to the Prius.

Spike in Prius complaints may not be all it seems - Yahoo! News

But as long as reports of Prius profile keep rolling in — just look at the extensive coverage given to a single crash in that New York suburb, something that would have gone utterly unnoticed a year ago — expect complaints to keep rising.

"We are basically anticipating them happening, and we may be prone to jump to conclusions," said L.J. Shrum, a marketing professor who specializes in consumer psychology at University of Texas at San Antonio

The story focuses on how the number of complaints has skyrocketed, not surprisingly, in conjunction with the media attention.  And the second high profile story of a Prius crash yesterday would have gone completely unnoticed by most.

It's hard to know what's true or not at this point.  People are reporting things they never reported before.

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Scary Ride in a Prius

A Prius driver went on a wild ride in San Diego.

A driver accelerated on Interstate 8 in La Posta to pass another car; however, the driver could not keep the car from moving at 94 mph afterward. He called 911 and the officers who were dispatched spoke to the driver over loudspeakers, advising him to push the brake pedal and apply the emergency brake.

Along with the car heading up a steep upgrade and their instructions, the car decelerated to about 50 mph and the driver turned off the engine and coasted to a stop with officers surrounding him with their patrol units. The ordeal ended with no incident or injury in this case.

This is scary stuff for Toyota, Toyota owners and the public in general. The debate continues on how this is happening.

Update1: Insideline questions the story  given by the driver of the Prius in California.
Driving for 20 minutes at 90+ mph anywhere in the US, never mind a busy highway?  A Prius 'jumping forward' is just about impossible.  And they show how easy it is to shift the Prius into neutral while driving it.  InsideLine is calling 'BS' and I'm inclined to wonder myself.

Update: Another reported Toyota Prius run away: Yahoo! News

The woman, who was not identified, was driving on a long, curving driveway when the Prius accelerated beyond her control, Marraccini said, adding that the two-lane road she sped across is a "fairly busy" street.

She traveled 150 to 200 feet, he said, before the Prius' front end struck the rock wall -- built with boulders weighing some 500 to 1,000 pounds -- with such force that it "hurled those boulders 10 or 15 feet away."

"The floor mat is not a contributing factor," Marraccini said, adding that it was firmly secured.

He said the car had previously been taken to a nearby Toyota dealership by the owner after the model was recalled.

Toyota recalled 2004-2009 Prius models last November as part of a wide-ranging safety recall to fix loose floor mats that can trap the accelerator and cause unintended acceleration.

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Prius Plant in Mississippi May Be Back on Again

Toyota, despite all the bad press lately, is going to open up the plant in Mississippi according to recent reports. At the same time, they could be delaying the launch of new cars in Europe.

The 2010 Rav4, Auris, and Auris Hybrid could all be halted if Toyota is not satisfied with the solutions to their acceleration problems.

In the meantime, the plant in Mississippi has been on again, off again for a while now, so we'll have to take a wait and see attitude. If it does ever get up and running, it will be good news for Prius buyers, who won't have to worry about the production in Japan being syphoned off.

But the state of Mississippi is pushing Toyota to go ahead with the plant in an effort to combat the state employment rate of 10.6 percent.

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Maserati to Move Into Hybrids - Rumors Abound

There are reports (IL) that Maserati will develop a hybrid powertrain based on the Ferrari model in their next generation of cars. The stricter fuel economy (emissions) laws in Europe are forcing car makers to move to less weightier options, plus other fuel efficient engines to compensate.

The three-pointed Trident brand will borrow similar emission and drivetrain logics from Ferrari and combine them with its already existing impressive performance to bring out the most efficient hybrid powertrain at affordable prices - nitrobahn

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Lexus CT 200h - More Details Ahead of the New York Auto Show

The Lexus CT 200h compact hybrid will be at the New York Auto Show March 31 through April 11.  The fivie door will be Lexus second dedicated hybrid model.

CT 200h Revealed at Geneva Auto Show

The LF-Ch, unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009 served as the basis for the CT 200h.  The compact hybrid is meant to fill the luxury compact division, for those who are interested in luxury and fuel efficiency.

The CT 200h features a 1.8-liter gas engine with Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i), a high performance battery, power control unit, transmission with an electric motor generator, a power split device to re-allocate power from the engine and electric motor generator according to operational requirements.

The CT 200h comes with four drive modes.  Each mode will change the rate of throttle opening for a given throttle-pedal angle.  EV mode allows you to drive on all electric power for as long as you can.  Eco-mode reduces the throttle response, while also adjusting the air conditioning settings to emphasize fuel economy.  Sport mode will provide a more responsive throttle, while modifying the Electronic Power Steering (EPS) settings to give a faster response to driver input. 

Normal mode allows you to balance between Eco and Sport.
 
In the interest of maximum fuel efficiency, particular attention has been paid to the aerodynamic efficiency of every aspect of the CT 200h’s design. The front and rear corners have been pulled in tight to improve the flow of air down the sides of the vehicle and minimize wind turbulence within the wheel arches. The sides of the cabin have been tapered, the rear edge of the roof lowered and even the lower body painstakingly detailed to optimize airflow. Completing the look are unique 17-inch alloy wheels and blue badging specific to Lexus hybrid vehicles.

CT 200h is Compact Luxury

The interior is 'efficient and elegant.'  Lexus made extensive use of metallic finishes and dark, soft touch materials reinforces the luxury experience.

The CT 200h 102-inch wheelbase allows front and rear seat passenger accomodations 'that is amongst the most spacious in the compact segment.'

Lexus has high hopes for the CT 200h in Europe, but it won't be released in the US until next year.

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Hybrid Car Sales, February 2010

Hybrid car sales were up 5.4% for the month of February, which would seem to indicate a good month and is also indicative of an overall recovery in the car market.  But individual model sales are more of a mixed bag.  Some were up, some were down, and the overall increase does not seem to reflect a lot of what might be expected.

Also, keep in mind that hybrid car sales were down by 30% in February, 2009 compared to February 2008.  The recession was in full force and overall light duty car sales were down by 40% (which means hybrids were a bright spot even if they were down 30%).  So, a 5 percent gain this month is nice, but not exactly the best they could be.

Monthly Sales		February 2009		February 2010		% Change
Make	Model	N	%	N	%
Ford	Escape/Mariner	1,294	8.3	782	4.8	-39.6
Ford	Fusion/Milan	0	0.0	1,317	8.0	0.0
GM	Escalade	0	0.0	146	0.9	0.0
GM	Silverado/Sierra	47	0.3	106	0.6	125.5
GM	Tahoe/Yukon	632	4.0	169	1.0	-73.3
Honda	Accord	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0
Honda	Civic	1,362	8.7	346	2.1	-74.6
Honda	Insight	0	0.0	2,014	12.2	0.0
Nissan	Altima	463	3.0	619	3.8	33.7
Toyota	Camry	2,080	13.3	1,011	6.1	-51.4
Toyota	GS 450h	22	0.1	22	0.1	0.0
Toyota	HS 250h	0	0.0	712	4.3	0.0
Toyota	Highlander	956	6.1	339	2.1	-64.5
Toyota	LS600hL	22	0.1	15	0.1	-31.8
Toyota	Prius	7,232	46.3	7,968	48.4	10.2
Toyota	RX 400h	1,502	9.6	890	5.4	-40.7
Total		15,612		16,456		5.4
Cumulative Sales		Cumulative 2009		Cumulative 2010		% Change
Make	Model	N	%	N	%
Ford	Escape/Mariner	2,174	7.1	1,497	4.5	-31.1
Ford	Fusion/Milan	0	0.0	2,469	7.4	0.0
GM	Escalade	132	0.4	198	0.6	50.0
GM	Silverado/Sierra	54	0.2	203	0.6	275.9
GM	Tahoe/Yukon	1,099	3.6	395	1.2	-64.1
Honda	Accord	1	0.0	0	0.0	-100.0
Honda	Civic	2,438	7.9	599	1.8	-75.4
Honda	Insight	0	0.0	3,321	9.9	0.0
Nissan	Altima	1,107	3.6	1,678	5.0	51.6
Toyota	Camry	3,221	10.5	1,878	5.6	-41.7
Toyota	GS 450h	63	0.2	63	0.2	0.0
Toyota	HS 250h	0	0.0	1,959	5.8	0.0
Toyota	Highlander	1,940	6.3	865	2.6	-55.4
Toyota	LS600hL	55	0.2	24	0.1	-56.4
Toyota	Prius	15,353	50.0	16,452	49.1	7.2
Toyota	RX 400h	3,058	10.0	1,906	5.7	-37.7
Total		30,695		33,507		9.2

Some assumptions you might make about hybrid sales this month just don't seem to be panning out.  For instance, the Toyota recalls should be affecting sales, especially with the Prius which is one of the models involved.  Although overall Toyota/Lexus hybrid car sales were down by 7.3% as Toyota overall light duty sales were way down this month, the Prius remains unaffected, however.  Prius sales were up by 10%, as heavy incentives, plus a waiting list on the Prius and an artificial limit on the numbers being imported right now have kept the pressure up. 

Japanese Prius sales are still sky high, with a six month waiting list on the Prius.  That means Toyota is not shipping as many Prius to the US.  That means there are still people who are having to wait for the Prius they ordered.  It's unclear if Toyota can keep that up in the coming months, but they are continuing to offer incentives on hybrids in February.

Also keep in mind that four new models are keeping things up, since they weren't being sold last February.  The Honda Insight, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids launched in March, so we'll have a better idea next month of how well they are doing.

Overall, Ford, Honda and Nissan were up from last year, which may indicate they were able to take advantage of the bad news surrounding Toyota.  Also, the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid was up 125% with big rebates being offered. 

Related:
Hybrid Car Sales, February 2009
Hybrid Car Sales, January 2010

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