Toyota Motor Corp. has unveiled plans to use plant-derived, carbon-neutral plastics in many of its vehicle models, including the redesigned 2010 Prius hybrid that will make its world debut at the Detroit auto show next month.

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The 2010 Prius will contain bioplastics.
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The so-called "ecological plastics" are polymer materials derived from biomass oils rather than petroleum. They emit less global-warming carbon dioxide during a product's lifecycle (from manufacture to disposal) than petroleum-based plastic.

Toyota, which first used bioplastics in Japanese-market Raum mini MPV in 2003, says its ecological plastic used in the all-new Prius and future vehicles meets the heat-resistance and shock-resistance demands of vehicle interiors and is every bit the equal of conventional plastics quality-wise.

Japan's largest automaker hopes to use plant-based plastic for up to 60 percent of the plastic components within vehicles (such sun visors, pillar covers and scuff plates) by the end of next year.

General Motors announced today that it plans to add two new fuel-efficient, direct-injected engines to its lineup.

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GM's new 2.4-liter engine.
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Purchasers of the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox crossover utility vehicle will get to choose which of the engines they want: a 2.4-liter four-cylinder or a 3.0-liter V-6.

The 2.4-liter engine delivers an estimated 180 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque at 4900 revolutions per minute. It uses technology based on GM's other four-cylinder direct-injection engines, but has several unique features. They include an 11.4:1 compression ratio that helps build power, slightly dished pistons that increase combustion efficiency and injectors with an application-specific flow rate.

GM claims the engine delivers an estimated 30 miles per gallon in highway driving.

The 3.0-liter engine is a variant of GM's family of DOHC (double overhead camshaft) V-6 engines that also includes GM's 3.6-liter direct-injection engine in the Cadillac CTS. That engine recently made Ward's 2009 Ten Best Engines list for North America for the second consecutive year.

It's rated at 255 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of torque. The engine features an isolated fuel injector system that reduces the direct injection high-pressure fuel system pulses for quieter operation. Rubber isolators are used with the fuel rail to eliminate metal-to-metal contact that would otherwise transmit noise and vibration from the high-pressure fuel system.

Fourteen U.S. technology companies are joining forces and seeking $1 billion in federal aid to build a plant to make advanced batteries for electric cars, in a bid to catch up to Asian rivals that are far ahead of the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported today (subscription required).

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GM engineers work on the lithium-ion battery pack for the Chevrolet Volt.
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The effort, the latest pitch from corporate America to inject federal dollars into a project, is similar to an alliance that two decades ago helped the U.S. computer-chip industry restore its competitiveness. Participants include 3M Corp. and Johnson Controls Inc.

Many experts believe battery technology and manufacturing capacity could become as strategically important as oil is today. Automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., say they plan to roll out plug-in electric cars by 2010.

But the United States has limited capacity to make the lithium-ion batteries those cars will need. Asian producers such as Panasonic Corp. dominate the car-battery field.

Energy-crops developer Ceres Inc. announced today that it has begun selling switchgrass and high-biomass sorghum seed in possibly the first seed sales of non-food, low-carbon crops developed specifically as raw materials for cellulosic ethanol.

The Thousand Oaks, California, company is offering the seeds direct to farms under its Blade Energy Crops label. The company reported that the first Blade products build on the inherent advantages of these highly efficient crops, offering double-digit biomass yield gains in many cases, which is a remarkable level of improvement by crop science standards.

High yields are needed since widely dispersed sources of biomass are cost-prohibitive to harvest and transport.

Anna Rath, vice president of commercial development, said that switchgrass and high-biomass sorghum can provide new options for growers, especially on underperforming land.

While she expects the bulk of Blade seed to be sold to bioenergy companies this first year, the company has set aside seed for growers interested in gaining experience with these crops as the market for biomass develops.

Ford Motor Co., the domestic carmaker that's not  facing imminent bankruptcy, plans to bring a small electric van to market in the U.S. and the blogosphere is abuzz with speculation, revved up by an article in the trade journal Automotive News, that it will be based on the compact Ford Transit Connect cargo van built in Turkey and sold in Europe.

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Could Smith Ampere (foreground) be Ford's new electric cargo van?

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The buzz is probably correct. After all, Ford of Europe already has teamed up with Britain's Smith Electric Vehicles to bring a Transit Connect EV to market — it was previewed by Green Car Advisor way back in April, when it was formally announced in the U.K. at a commercial truck show.

The van is co-branded as the Ford-Smith Ampere and was jointly developed by Ford and Smith's parent, Tanfield Group.

The European van has a payload capacity of almost 1,800 pounds (800 kilograms), a top speed of 70 miles an hour and a range of 100 miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack (which, for the battery wonks in the crowd, uses iron phosphate chemistry). We imagine a Ford electric cargo van for the U.S. would pencil out about the same.

Ford previously had announced that it was bringing a conventional version of the Transit Connect to the U.S. next year, so it's no big stretch to figure that an electric version would follow.

The interesting wrinkle here is that Smith Electric Vehicles has said it will sell the Amphere EV cargo van — its electric version of the Transit Connnect – in the U.S.

No word yet on whether Ford is planning to simply buy its Transit EVs from Smith or plans to compete directly with the British firm's co-developed version of the truck.

Ford is expected to reveal more of its EV plans during the upcoming Detroit auto show (press preview days are January 11-13), so stay tuned.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Ford must be delighted with this news: Sales of its 2009 Fiesta — the first of a generation of new global fuel-efficient cars from the American automaker — are off to a strong start and gaining market share in Europe.

As you'll no doubt recall, mass production of the Fiesta began at the company's Cologne, Germany, plant in mid-August. In its first two months on sale, Ford has sold more than 42,200 new Fiestas in Europe's main 19 markets despite soft overall industry sales.

Those sales made the new Fiesta the second-most popular vehicle in the Ford of Europe lineup behind the Focus compact. The new and outgoing Fiesta models were the best-selling car in the United Kingdom in November among all models from all automakers.  

The strong early sales of the low-emissions Fiesta helped Ford's European operations increase market share in November. It bodes well for the troubled automaker as it prepares to launch the global small car in China in the first quarter of next year and in other key Asian markets and the United States in early 2010.

Overall, Ford sold 95,700 vehicles across its 19 European markets. This was down 21.4 percent versus November 2007, but the company outperformed the industry by increasing its market share to 8.8 percent, up 0.5 percentage points.

Volvo today released photos of the S60 Concept sedan the Swedish automaker will unveil next month at the Detroit auto show.

While the press release that accompanied the photos focused on the car's sleek look, it's what's under the hood that leaves a lasting impression.

At its heart is a 1.6-liter gasoline turbocharged direct injection engine achieving a proclaimed 47 miles per gallon. Yes, 1.6 liters is small displacement and the 180 horsepower it puts out isn't going to impress NASCAR fans. But 47 MPG? That's sweet!

The gas-powered engine is expected to make it into production next year and, hopefully, the production-model S60 — at least as an option.

Volvo is withholding further performance details so as to not spoil the concept's debut.

One feature the automaker is discussing and promising to include in the all-new S60 is a ground-breaking safety innovation that, among other things, can detect a pedestrian who steps into the path of the car.

If the driver doesn't respond to the pedestrian quick enough, "the car's full braking power is automatically activated." We're not sure we like the sound of the car slamming on its own brakes, but the mileage, the mileage!

Financially strapped General Motors Corp. has quietly deferred construction of the Flint engine plant it announced with great fanfare earlier this year as the home of the new four-cylinder engines it would be using in the upcoming Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.

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GM's new 1.4-liter engine is displayed at vacant lot slated to be site for now-delayed Flint,Mi., engine plant.

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GM insists that the construction delay won't throw the Volt off schedule and that start of production is still slated for late 2010.

The turbocharged 1.4-liter engines to be built at the $359 million plant and installed in the Volt (below) wouldn't be used to propel the car but would serve instead as onboard generators to provide power to the Volt's electric motor. the plant also was to make engines for the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze compact.

Although GM isn't saying when it might restore funding for the plant's construction, powertrain division spokeswoman Sharon Basel said the automaker "still has plenty of time" to get the factory up and running without delaying the Volt's rollout (unless, of course, GM ends up in bankruptcy, in which case all bets are off).

"We still have some activities, like site surveying and engineering, that are going on," Basel said.

What was canceled as GM struggles to pare spending to the bone while it waits for a controversial federal auto industry bailout to be authorized by the Bush administration was "spending for materials for the new plant, things like structural steel," Basel said.

It's difficult to build a factory without structural steel.

The construction delay wasn't on GM's recent list of plants and projects affected by its financial meltdown. It came to light when the local paper in Flint — a city that has suffered tremendous economic pain at the hands of GM over the years — asked the automaker for a weekly progress update on the project.

Small cars fare better in crashes than they used to, but they still lag behind larger vehicles in protecting passengers. Their disadvantages are especially clear in side-impact crashes.

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Chrysler's PT Cruiser did poorly in the side-impact test.
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Of the nine small cars recently tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, all received the group's top rating of "good" in frontal crashes,  but only two got good ratings when broadsided.

The Insurance Institute tested nine small cars for the 2009 model year in front, side and rear collisions. The group included the BMW Mini Cooper, Chevrolet HHR, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Saturn Astra, Suzuki SX4, as well as the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe, which are essentially the same vehicle sold under two brand names.

Only the SX4 and Matrix, and its twin the Vibe, received good ratings for protection in side crashes. The Ford and Chevrolet were judged acceptable in side-impact protection, while the Hyundai and Saturn were marginal and the Chrysler was poor.

Only the Ford Focus was top-rated in rear-impact crashes that test how well the vehicles' seats and head restraints protect passengers. The Chrysler PT Cruiser was the worst performer, with poor ratings for side and rear protection.

Honda Motor Co. won't be bringing its mid- and large-size clean diesel engines to the U.S. in 2009 as planned due to rising material costs, slumping economic conditions and the significant disparity between diesel fuel and gasoline prices, a company spokesman told us today.

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Honda displayed its 4-cylinder clean diesel engine at the 2008 Detroit auto show.
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"We will postpone the introduction of the mid- and larger-size diesel engines into the U.S. market," David Iida, a spokesman for American Honda Motor Co., said. The company had said it was working on a low-emissions diesel V-6 engine, as well as a 4-cylinder diesel engine that would be introduced in the Acura series next year.

But because of the factors mentioned above, "we've changed our focus right now and we're going to devote a lot of energy to the further development of hybrid models," Iida said. "In the short term, we think this is probably the most efficient way to achieve CO2 reductions as well."

Iida confirmed Honda's plans to introduce the Insight hybrid in the U.S. this Spring and put the CRZ hybrid on sale by the end of 2010.

"We'll also look into enhancing our hybrid lineup with possible applications of hybrid technology to medium- to large-size vehicles," he said. He said he could not discuss which models be effected at this time.  

Iida announced that a new assembly line for hybrid engines was just added to Honda's Suzuka plant, raising from 70,000 to 250,000 the number of hybrid engines that can be produced at the factory annually.

Battery Venture Announced

Also today, Honda President Takeo Fukui announced the automaker is partnering with battery maker GS Yuasa Corp. to develop lithium-ion batteries for hybrid cars.

The new venture will launch next year at a cost of about 0 million.

The announcement came immediately after Honda slashed its profit forecast by more than half for this year, its third cut.

Fukui said the company believes accelerating the development of advanced environmental technology will be crucial in the severe business conditions.