History of Plug-in Hybrids - 2007

2007

The Chevrolet Volt concept car was unveiled at the January 2007 North American International Auto Show

January 7: General Motors' Chevrolet Volt was unveiled at Detroit's North American International Auto Show. The Volt is part of GM's E-Flex architecture, which is expected to initially feature a plug-in capable, battery-dominant series hybrid architecture. Future E-Flex plug-in hybrid vehicles may use gasoline, diesel, or hydrogen fuel cell power to supplement the vehicle's battery. General Motors envisions an eventual progression of E-Flex vehicles from plug-in hybrids to pure electric vehicles, as battery technology improves. General Motors presented the Volt as a PHEV-40 that starts its engine when 40% of the battery charge remains, and which can achieve a fuel economy of 50 mpg (4.7 l/100 km), even if the vehicle is not plugged in.

February 28: The United States Department of Energy released a draft of a plan to accelerate the development and deployment of plug-in hybrid vehicle technology. On May 22, five research projects were selected to receive $19 million to further the development of technologies related to PHEVs, such as electric motor power inverters.

March 2: The South Coast Air Quality Management District in California approved a $2.6-million contract for the conversion of 20 Ford Escape Hybrids and 10 Toyota Priuses to plug-in hybrids. The SCAQMD selected Quantum Technologies and Hymotion to perform the conversions.

March 14: The Illinois Institute of Technology delivered a converted plug-in Ford Escape Hybrid to the Chicago Department of Fleet Management for four to six months of field testing of the vehicle to evaluate the vehicle's performance, as well as improvements in fuel efficiency and emission reduction. The project is sponsored by the City of Chicago, MicroSun Technologies, ComEd, and All Cell, an Illinois Institute of Technology-based technology transfer company formed in 2001 to commercialize lithium-ion batteries in military, medical, portable, and transportation applications.

April 9: Pacific Gas and Electric, California's largest electric company, announced their support for plug-in hybrids with Vehicle to Grid capabilities. PG&E proposed regulatory changes which could allow homeowners to use such vehicles for back-up electricity in the event of a power failure.

April 23: The California Air Resources Board Independent Expert Panel on Zero Emission Vehicles published a report that assessed advanced vehicle technologies and concluded, among other things, that plug-in hybrids "have the potential to provide significant direct societal benefits and are likely to become available in the near future."

April 25: Phoenix Motorcars and UQM Technologies announced a collaborative project to develop a plug-in series hybrid version of the sport utility truck that Phoenix currently sells as an all-electric vehicle. The vehicle is projected to use a small gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine as a range extender and lithium titanate batteries from Altair Nanotechnologies.

May 1: A123Systems lithium-ion battery company CEO David Vieau announced that A123 plans to market battery packs in 2008 for third-party conversion of hybrids to plug-in hybrids.

May 2: CalCars announced that it had received a $200,000 grant from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, for a two-year period to support its work in educating the public about plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles. In 2006, Google.org announced that it intended to develop a plug-in hybrid of its own.

July 9: Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally said he expects Ford to sell plug-in hybrids in five to ten years, the time depending on advances in lithium-ion battery technology. Ford will provide Southern California Edison with twenty Ford Escape Hybrid sport utility vehicles reconfigured to work as plug-ins by 2009, with the first by the end of this year. Ford announced that it will team up with Southern California Edison to examine the future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid.

July 12: Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., the President and C.E.O. of Center for Security Policy testified before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that China will shortly introduce to the USA and other export markets a Chery car variant at a price to consumers of $13,000 to $15,000.

July 18: Toyota requested permission from Japan’s government to test a prototype plug-in Prius with a lithium-ion battery pack on public roads. After the test, Toyota is expected to lease them to government and municipal fleets, and may introduce the new model at the Tokyo Motor Show in November.

On July 25, 2007, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport certified Toyota's plug-in hybrid for use on public roads, making it the first automobile to attain such approval. Toyota plans to conduct road tests to verify its all-electric range. The plug-in Prius was said to have an all-electric range of 13 km (8 mi). But later prototypes shown at the 2008 Paris Auto Show had an electric-only range of "just a little over six miles."

August 9: General Motors vice president Robert Lutz said that GM is on track for Chevrolet Volt production to begin by 2010. Announcing an agreement with A123Systems, Lutz said GM would like to have their planned Saturn Vue plug-in on the roads by 2009.

September 5: Quantum Technologies and Fisker Coachbuild, LLC announced the launch of a joint venture in Fisker Automotive. Fisker intends to build a US$ 80,000 luxury PHEV-50, the Fisker Karma, anticipated in late 2009.

September 6: Toyota announced that they reached an agreement with Electricite de France (EDF) to "jointly test prototype plug-in hybrid vehicles and develop electricity infrastructure for plug-ins".

September 11–23: The Frankfurt Auto Show features plug-in hybrids. The Volvo "Recharge" PHEV-60 concept car was unveiled, and General Motors Corporation exhibited the Opel Flextreme PHEV-34 concept car.

September 25: The United States Department of Energy is providing $17.2 million to further development of advanced batteries, and another $2 million for the study of future plug-ins. A cost-share with the United States Advanced Battery Consortium will allow up to $38 million in battery research and development.

October 9: Chinese manufacturer BYD Automobile Company, owned by China's largest mobile phone battery maker, announced that they would be introducing a production PHEV-60 sedan in China in the second half of 2008. BYD plans to exhibit it in January 2008 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Based on BYD's midsize F6 sedan, it uses iron-based batteries instead of lithium-ion, and can be recharged to 70 percent of capacity in 10 minutes.

October 27: Venture Vehicles announced it would produce two versions of the three-wheeled VentureOne, an electric model with a range of 120 miles (190 km), and a 100 mpg PHEV version.

November 8: German Environmental Minister Sigmar Gabriel received a concept paper from Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn about Volkswagen's attempts for electric drive and plug-in-hybrid technology.