Honda Plans Hybrid Push

DETROIT – Fueled by the new Insight and at least two more models in the pipeline, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. hopes to boost annual hybrid sales to 500,000 units in 2015.


In 2008, the auto maker sold 57,000 units, mostly Civic Hybrids, with several hundred Accord Hybrid.




If Honda achieves its target, hybrids will account for an estimated 10% of its global sales, says Yasunari Seki, the Insight’s chief engineer.


Seiki reiterates in an interview the auto maker plans to introduce a hybrid sports car in 2010. Then, probably in 2013 – although he would not confirm a launch date, Honda will follow with a hybrid version of the Fit, which may or may not be sold in North America.


The sports car will be based on the CR-Z concept unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. Seki notes the production model will be equipped with the same motor and battery as the Insight but boast a more powerful engine, most likely displacing 1.5L. The Insight has a 1.3L engine. The CR-Z powerplant will not be turbocharged, he says.


Seki indicates the Fit Hybrid will employ the same single-motor system as the Insight, although most likely an improved version.


In developing the current model, Honda reduced hybrid system size and cost 30% and 40%, respectively, from that of the Civic Hybrid. The auto maker’s 5-year development target is for a further 25% size and cost reduction.


Including the Insight’s 101-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery pack, the Insight’s integrated motor assist (IMA) hybrid system weighs 128 lbs. (58 kg), 20% less than the Civic Hybrid system at 158 lbs. (72 kg).


Seki doesn’t confirm the cost of the Insight’s hybrid system, but does concede it is in the range of ¥100,000-¥150,000 ($1,000-$1,500).




The chief engineer notes the Insight’s model life will be five years and that Honda will have five hybrids in its lineup by 2015, meaning the Insight is likely to undergo another model change in 2014.


Meanwhile, he says no decision has been reached regarding Honda’s plans to switch to a lithium-ion battery pack from NiMH. But by making that move, he says, the auto maker would be able to cut battery size and weight in half, as Li-ion has twice the energy density of NiMH.


Bringing down battery costs is another matter, according to Seki, and will depend in part on increasing production volume.


On April 1, Honda entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of GS Yuasa Corp. to develop and manufacture Li-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles. GS Yuasa says production startup is scheduled for 2013.


The battery will be based on GS Yuasa’s EH6 unit rated at 6 ampere-hours with energy density of 67 watt-hours per kg.


Separately, Tomohiko Kawanabe, a senior managing director at Honda R&D Co. Ltd., notes engineering targets for Li-ion batteries are between $500 and $800 per kWh, down from current $1,000-$2,000 levels. “I think $50 is necessary, but it is difficult to say when that can be achieved,” he says.


Seki also confirms Honda is developing a 2-motor hybrid system – although not necessarily the same concept as used by Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius. However, the auto maker has no immediate plans to introduce such a model.


Nevertheless, the chief engineer believes 2-motor systems hold potential for larger vehicles, such as the Ridgeline pickup or Odyssey minivan. “We think the technology is good for fuel economy,” he says.


But a 2-motor setup is less viable for smaller cars, such as the Fit, Insight or Civic, due to packaging constraints, Seki contends. The Prius battery and motor-generator are 2.5 times larger than that of the Insight, he notes.


Concerning mild hybrid stop-start systems, Seki hints Honda is considering such technology for its minivehicle lineup – currently comprising such 0.66L models as the Life, Acty, Vamos and Zest. He gives no timeframe for such a debut, however.


Honda does not include stop-start systems in its hybrid sales forecasts.


Seki is confident Honda will meet the Insight’s 2010 sales goal of 200,000 units, although last December Honda CEO Takeo Fukui cast doubt on whether the target would be reached. And while Seki predicts North America will be the Civic Hybrid’s main market, he believes the Insight will make inroads into Europe, where Honda is projecting 2010 sales of more than 30,000 units.


In addition to Europe, Honda hopes to sell 100,000 Insights in North America (including 90,000 in the U.S.) and 60,000 in Japan.




Turning to the Insight’s suppliers, Seki confirms Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. is producing the model’s battery pack. The unit, which like the Civic Hybrid’s 53-lb. (24-kg) pack employs 12 cylindrical cells per 14.4-volt module, weighs only 33 lbs. (15 kg), or 38% less.


The weight savings was achieved by using fewer modules – seven, compared with 11 for the Civic Hybrid. Power also was reduced as a result, from 158 volts to 101 volts.


In a technical paper presented at the SAE World Congress in April, Honda engineers say weight and volume of the power control unit was reduced 31% and 10%, respectively, by integrating the inverter, DC-DC converter and electronic control unit into a single package.


Specifically, the Insight’s inverter is 36% lighter and 35% smaller than the Civic Hybrid unit. The DC-DC converter is 46% lighter, largely the result of making the heat sink smaller, while the auto maker trimmed motor weight 15% by downsizing the stator and rotor yoke.


Other suppliers include Keihin Corp. (battery ECU, engine and transmission ECU and motor power drive unit), TDK Corp. (DC/DC converter) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (motor inverter).
Honda produces the Insight’s Multimatic S-CVT continuously variable transmission at its Hamamatsu, Japan, plant.


The auto maker assembles the hybrid’s 1.3L gasoline engine, motor and intelligent power unit on sublines in its Suzuka, Japan, facility.


A new motor line, which began operation in November, has capacity for 180,000 units, raising total motor production capacity on the plant’s two lines to 250,000.


Seki notes the auto maker has tripled motor production speed by improving winding operations and other processes.


Honda also manufactures the Insight’s regenerative braking system in-house, although sources say the car’s main braking system is from Continental AG.


The auto maker estimates 36% of Insight components are carried over from the Fit, Civic Hybrid and other models.



Source;

http://wardsauto.com/ar/honda_hybrid_push_090601/

Honda looks to expand hybrid market through venture with GS Yuasa

FUKUCHIYAMA, Apr 21, 2009 (Kyodo News International - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- YUSBF Quote Chart News PowerRating -- Honda Motor Co. and GS Yuasa Corp. on Tuesday marked the start of construction of their joint venture plant in Kyoto Prefecture to produce lithium ion batteries for hybrid cars, which many see as the key to enabling them to ride out the deep slump in the global auto industry.

Honda President Takeo Fukui indicated that the automaker plans to install the next-generation batteries that will be produced by the joint venture firm, Blue Energy Co., in its Civic or Fit hybrid model anticipated after 2010.

"We're going to take on the challenge of producing lithium ion batteries that will exceed nickel metal hydride batteries in performance and cost potential," Fukui said. "In order to strengthen our lineup, it's important to achieve further progress in hybrid technology." Fukui spoke to reporters following a groundbreaking ceremony in Fukuchiyama, where the plant will be built to make lithium ion batteries for gasoline-electric hybrids, a core component many experts believe will dominate the market for fuel-efficient cars.

Blue Energy plans to begin operations by autumn 2010 and is expected to have a battery production capacity that will be enough to make about 200,000 to 300,000 hybrids per year. The firm is capitalized at 15 billion yen and is owned 51 percent by GS Yuasa and 49 percent by Honda.

"The most attractive point for us is that we will be able to build next-generation eco-cars with the world's best automaker," GS Yuasa President Makoto Yoda said at a joint press conference with Honda's Fukui.

Despite being a front-runner in hybrid technology, Honda has been the last among Japan's top three automakers to find a specific partner to build its own lithium ion batteries.

The batteries are more compact, lightweight and powerful than nickel metal hydride batteries, which are mostly used in current hybrid models including Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius and Honda's Insight.

Toyota formed a separate battery venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., now Panasonic Corp., in 1996 while Nissan Motor Co. partnered with NEC Corp. in 2007.
Toyota plans to market a lithium ion battery-powered plug-in hybrid by the end of 2009, while Nissan has said it will launch an electric vehicle and a lithium ion-powered hybrid in 2010.
Meanwhile, Honda's current mega-hit Insight hybrid hatchback is powered by nickel metal hydride batteries developed by Sanyo Electric Co., a partnership many analysts believe will come under strain following its planned merger with Panasonic.

But Fukui expressed confidence that Honda's annual production level of all of its hybrid models will soon reach 400,000-500,000 units even as overall demand for vehicles sink under the weight of the global economic recession.

He added that Honda has received orders for more than 25,000 units of the Insight hybrid in just two months since its debut in early February, winning fans with its low retail price of 1.89 million yen.

Fukui said Honda's CR-Z sports car hybrid to be launched next year will not be powered with lithium ion batteries, but suggested the automaker may be ready to install the batteries in the hybrid version of the Fit compact or the second-generation Civic hybrid that will be launched at an undetermined date after 2010.

GS Yuasa, a Kyoto-based battery maker, also has a separate joint venture with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. to develop lithium ion batteries, which will be used to power Mitsubishi's zero-emission electric vehicle to be launched in the summer.

Source;
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2282149/

Honda's New Hybrid Information Site; Honda Words

The site details the storied history of Honda's gas-electric vehicles including the original Insight which was the first hybrid mass produced for the U.S. market. The "Words of Hybrid" are all connected, but they float around whimsically as you move your cursor through the page.

The new Insight takes center stage on the page with numerous photos and specs. There are tabs for the future CR-Z and Jazz (which U.S. readers would call the "Fit") hybrids, but little information is provided about either model. Regardless, the new site is worth a visit.

Source;
http://world.honda.com/HybridWorld/index.html

Via;
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1018649_hondas-self-loving-new-website--words-of-hybrid

Honda Enhances Advantages; Toyota Eliminates Disadvantages

Here's a nice little article showcasing some of the differences between Honda's Hybrid technology and Toyota's Hybrid technology....

Feb 9, 2009 18:49Yoshirou Tsuruhara, Nikkei Automotive Technology


Honda Motor Co Ltd released the Insight hybrid, one of this year's most anticipated new vehicles. Its entry level model is priced at ¥1,890,000 (approx US$20,700) and is ¥440,000 cheaper than the cheapest model of the current-generation Toyota Prius (¥2,331,000) (See related article).

"Considering Toyota's system, I believe they cannot sell Prius at ¥2 million or lower," a Honda staffer said at the presentation of the Insight.

Honda adopted a simple hybrid system composed of one driving motor and a small-capacity secondary battery. In contrast, Toyota's hybrid system is equipped with an independent driving motor and a generator, and the capacity of its battery is more than twice that of Honda's battery. Though Toyota has been working on cost reduction of its hybrid system too, there is a reason why it cannot cut the costs as much as Honda.

Honda achieved a 40% cost reduction by further downsizing the already small battery and motor mounted in the Civic Hybrid, according to the company. However, the fuel economy of the Insight is 30km/L under the 10·15 test mode, which is almost equal to the 31km/L of the Civic Hybrid. So, Honda reduced the cost of its hybrid system by making most of the simplicity of the system while compromising on the fuel economy to some extent.

Meanwhile, the new Prius, which is expected to be released by Toyota in May 2009, features a good highway-driving economy, which was not achieved by previous models.

The existing Prius has a fuel economy of 48MPG (20.4km/L) in the city mode of the US, which is 20% higher than 40MPG (17.0km/L) of the Civic hybrid. However, in the highway mode, the fuel economy of the Prius drops to 45MPG (19.1km/L), while that of the Civic hybrid increases to 45MPG.

The Prius has an advantage in city driving where the vehicle can be driven more efficiently by the motor than by the engine, while it has a disadvantage in highway driving where the engine is mainly used, because the Prius is loaded with heavy motor and battery.

In order to address this disadvantage, the new Prius will be mounted with a 1.8L engine (the engine capacity of the existing Prius is 1.5L). The main purpose of this change is not the enhancement of the output but the reduction of friction loss, which is achieved by generating the same amount of output with a lower revolution speed.

The highway-mode fuel economy of the new Prius has not been disclosed yet, but the fuel economy in the city/highway mixed mode has been improved by about 10% to 50MPG (21.3km/L) from 46MPG (19.6km/L) of the existing model.

However, the new Prius is expected to be more expensive than the current model, reflecting the improvements made to enhance the performance. So, it is likely that the price disparity between the Prius and the Insight will be even larger.

Honda made an effort for cost reduction by capitalizing on its strengths without being overly obsessed with fuel economy, while Toyota focused on its disadvantages and enhanced highway driving fuel economy. It seems that the time has come for hybrid vehicles to highlight their individuality.

Yoshirou Tsuruhara, Nikkei Automotive Technology


Source;
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20090209/165360/?ST=english_PRINT

Honda Boosts Hybrid Bet With Lithium Battery Venture

By Alan Ohnsman
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co., a holdout as other large carmakers unveiled plans for plug-in, battery-powered models, increased its commitment to hybrid vehicles by announcing a joint venture to supply lithium-ion batteries.

The agreement with battery supplier GS Yuasa Corp. calls for making high-powered lithium packs for new gasoline-electric models, Honda said today in Tokyo. The business, with 15 billion yen ($171 million) of capital, will be 49 percent owned by Honda and 51 percent by its partner.

“In the short term, we believe one of the easiest ways to reduce CO2 is to expand hybrid technology to midsize and larger cars,” David Iida, a Honda spokesman, said in an interview from the company’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California. “These will be batteries that produce the high power needed for hybrids,” not energy density needed for plug-in vehicles.

Honda, first to sell hybrids in the U.S. and lease hydrogen fuel-cell cars to drivers, hasn’t yet offered lithium-ion packs in its hybrid models, citing cost and durability problems.

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to test lithium-ion plug-in Priuses in the U.S. next year and General Motors Corp. aims to sell rechargeable Volt sedans by 2010, when Nissan Motor Co. expects to introduce electric cars that can travel 100 miles (160 kilometers) per charge.

Setting up the battery venture is tied to Honda’s decision to delay its so-called clean diesel autos, said Paul Lacy, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in Troy, Michigan. Honda indefinitely suspended plans to sell fuel-efficient, low-emission diesel cars, originally planned for 2009.

Diesel-Gasoline Gap

“These things are not unrelated,” Lacy said. “The gap between diesel prices and regular gasoline has grown, and from a unit price standpoint, the cost of equipment needed to clean up diesel exhaust isn’t cheap.”

By comparison, offering more hybrid models, as Tokyo-based Honda said it will do, and boosting production of batteries may bring the cost of hybrid parts down faster than can occur with diesel systems, Lacy said.

“As you grow in volume with hybrids, you get economies of scale that reduce prices,” he said. “With diesel it’s not that simple.”

Lithium-ion batteries are lighter and hold as much as twice the energy compared with nickel-metal-hydride models now used in Honda and Toyota hybrids. Producing large lithium-ion cells for autos is also more difficult and costly, and such batteries have been less durable in tests, automakers and analysts have said.

Honda announced the battery project after President Takeo Fukui earlier cut the company’s full-year profit forecast by 62 percent, citing a surging yen and falling sales in North America and Europe.

Honda, Mitsubishi Supplier

For the rest of the article, follow the link;
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=a7QHNmhOAjSA&refer=japan

Honda's Hybrid plan at odds with industry and just might work

I found this article on how Honda's way of developing their Hybrid differ's from the rest of the industry, it's a good read.
Honda plan at odds with industry and just might work
Updated Thu. Oct. 16 2008 12:34 PM ET
Jeremy Cato, Autos.CTV.ca

Honda's plan for electric vehicles is daring in its simplicity, comprehensive and forward-looking in its scope, completely at odds with the rest of the auto industry and it just might work.

It just might work at making hybrid electric/gasoline vehicles affordable for the masses in the short term and work at making hydrogen fuel cell vehicles - in essence electric vehicles using hydrogen as a source of on-board electric power -- viable in the long term.

"We are trying to make hybrid cars mainstream," said Honda official Sage Marie at the recent Paris auto show. "The biggest obstacle to that right now is price. Therefore, we are trying to bring the costs down and make hybrids affordable."

In Paris, Honda showed its four-door hatchback Insight that will go on sale in the spring for about $20,000. But the Insight is just the first of three dedicated hybrids Honda will bring to market over the next four years.

A hybrid version of the CR-Z sports car is also coming, as well as a hybrid version of the Fit subcompact sold in North America (also known as the Jazz around the rest of the world). Within the next year the Honda Civic Hybrid will also get a major makeover to separate it from the Insight.

All these are so-called "mild" hybrids. None will run on battery power alone. Instead, they use technology similar to that in the current Honda Civic Hybrid ($26,350). As such, there is a much smaller, much less expensive battery pack designed to run the car's accessories when stopped and the gasoline engine is turned off to save fuel.

The electric motor also provides a power boost when accelerating. Meanwhile, the car's regenerative brakes return energy to the batteries under braking - a side benefit of which is reduced brake wear and lower maintenance costs for owners. The Insight should deliver about the same fuel economy as the current Civic Hybrid (4.7 litres per 100 km in the city, 4.3 on the highway).

All the new Honda hybrid are alike in that they are small cars designed primarily for city driving, where hybrids are best at delivering fuel economy gains and lower emissions. For now, Honda is not pursuing full electric cars or so-called plug-in hybrids. And Honda has also not committed to any one supplier for advanced lithium ion batters, in sharp contrast to rivals such as Toyota and General Motors.

J.D. Power and Associates, the market research firm, thinks Honda might succeed in attracting large numbers of buyers to its hybrids if the price premium is about US$1,250, rather than as much as US$10,000 for hybrids such as GM's upcoming Chevrolet Volt which uses lithium ion batteries.

Indeed, Honda is expecting to sell 200,000 Insights a year, 100,000 of them alone in North America. That's a bold prediction.

Honda has never sold more than about 30,000 Civic Hybrids in a single year. By contrast, Toyota sold about 200,000 Prius hybrids in Canada and the United States combined last year.

The Insight's design suggests that Honda has learned at least one lesson from Toyota: make hybrids look different than anything else in the lineup so that owners have obvious proof for the world that they are driving a "green" car. But that's marketing.

But Honda is not using technological solutions similar to Toyota or any other global manufacturer.

"Honda is doing it Honda's way," Takaki Nakanishi, an auto analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co, told Automotive News.

But this is nothing new. Honda signaled its lack of interest in pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids more than a year ago. Honda CEO Takeo Fukui then expressed skepticism about plug-in hybrids, saying they offer too few environmental benefits. Such vehicles, like GM's Volt, are recharged through an electrical outlet yet are still partially powered by gasoline.

"My feeling is that the kind of plug-in hybrid currently proposed by different auto makers can be best described as a battery electric vehicle equipped with an unnecessary fuel engine and fuel tank," Fukui said at the company's research-and-development center. He was referring to plug-in hybrids such as the Chevy Volt.

Honda also is not interested in installing hybrid technology in larger vehicles and luxury models. Toyota has met with only limited success with that strategy.

Honda is not putting hybrid technology in large sport-utility vehicles, either. Toyota, along with GM, Chrysler and European makers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, are going down that road. So far, GM, Toyota and Chrysler have had little success with that strategy, either.

But small cars, they are ideal for hybrid technology, say Honda officials, because they are typically used for stop-and-go city driving - where hybrids deliver the most in terms of fuel economy gains and emissions reductions. In a nutshell, Honda's Fukui says his company's focus is on improving the economics of buying a hybrid.

"The price needs to be reasonable and fuel efficiency higher so the (premium) the consumer pays (for a hybrid car) can be returned in a short period of time," he says.

At the same time, Honda also is not interested in stand-alone electric vehicles, though rivals such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Subaru and perhaps others plan to sell them in the next few years. To get reasonable performance and range from an electric vehicles requires a huge, heavy and expensive battery pack, say Honda officials.

And while next-generation lithium ion batteries have promise, the technology is not mature enough and is not likely to be for some time to come. Honda cites safety and durability issues with this technology.

If a breakthrough happens with lithium ion batteries, Honda feels they will be available as a matter of simple economics. That is, to offset development costs, battery makers will sell to anyone and everyone.

Thus, for the foreseeable future, Honda is sticking with affordable and proven nickel-metal hydride batteries. Only Honda's limited-edition FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan uses lithium ion batteries, and while a few of these prototypes have been leased to customers in the U.S., a mass production fuel cell car is years away. Ultimately, though, Honda sees hydrogen fuel cells as a viable solution, though there is no filling station infrastructure and none planned.

Not to be lost here is the fact Honda has the resources to develop any technology it needs. This year Honda's research and development budget is US$5.75 billion, which is about two-thirds of what GM spends on R&D, though Honda sells about one-third the vehicles and has a far more streamlined model lineup.

So where does this position Honda versus its rivals?

Toyota, for one, is considering an entirely separate brand for its Prius hybrid - in essence a Prius lineup of large and small hybrid models. At the upcoming Detroit auto show in January, Toyota will be unveiling a new, bigger version of the Prius and at that time company officials may reveal more about its plans for a range of Prius models.

Toyota will also unveil a new hybrid car for its Lexus luxury brand at the '09 Detroit show. Indeed, Toyota has said it plans to make a hybrid-electric system available on every vehicle it sells worldwide sometime in the next decade.

Toyota has been clear on one thing: gas-electric hybrids will form the majority of its alternative-technology vehicles for decades to come. Toyota has said it expects to be selling one million hybrid vehicles a year early in the decade beginning in 2010.

Still, no auto maker is suggesting an imminent end to internal-combustion engines anytime soon. That technology is established and widespread.

Nonetheless, industry leaders are worried about new regulations aimed at the issue of climate change, not to mention unstable oil prices and oil supply. These factors will, they believe, force car makers to dramatically decrease petroleum use in new vehicles.

Honda thinks its hybrid strategy, clear, simple and based on viable, available and affordable technology, is the best way to get there over the next few years.

Source;
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081015/AUTOS_honda_081015/20081016?s_name=Autos

Honda Opens New Hybrid Site

Honda has opened a new "Words of Hybrid" site, featuring the all-new Insight Concept premiered at the Paris Motor Show on October 2, 2008. The site provides details of the Insight Concept and a history of Honda's hybrid development.

Follow the link;

http://world.honda.com/Hybrid/ Then click on the LAUNCH