More Hybrids in next five years

[jsanford]

Reprinted without permission from http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2005/01/10/:

Baby, You Can Drive My Car -- In 2010

Lots more hybrids and hydrogen cars in the pipeline

We begin with a public service announcement: Quit driving so damn much. Ride your bike. Take a bus. Walk. OK, with that out of the way, we turn to auto news, which is plentiful. Ford announced it would add four new hybrids to its lineup, at least one by the end of the year. GM announced that it would add two, both SUVs. GM also made a splash by unveiling the Sequel, a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered car with a range of 300 miles, something of a milestone in the hydrogen car biz. The company claims mass-produced fuel-cell vehicles could be available to everyday consumers by 2010. Honda is offering its fuel-cell FCX to some U.S. municipal fleets; Ford will make fuel-cell buses for the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Ford's Mary Ann Wright describes the auto tech "frenzy" as a response to "a groundswell, not really of industry pushing as much as everybody demanding that we really get serious about these solutions. ... The public is aware that we can't continue to consume oil like we do."