With the fuel prices going skyward, more and more automotive manufacturers are working towards developing alternate drive systems. There’ve been a lot of alternate propulsion systems like fuel cells, solar energy, battery power etc heck, there have even been some air-powered cars! But infrastructure has not been worked out yet for such alternate systems to gain popularity that conventional fuels have enjoyed. Hey wait, someone whispered ‘hybrid’ over my shoulder. Yes, a hybrid vehicle is the one which derives its power from a combination of an IC engine and an electric motor. The working of a hybrid is something that I leave for a later occasion to discuss.
Yes, the Toyota has Prius – one that has been selling in good numbers and is famous among the Hollywood stars! Then you had the Honda Insight which got famous too and now the hybrid Civic is already knocking at India’s door. GM too has been proactive in the development of an alternate drive system. The latest to join the band is an Italian, and it’s Fiat.
Fiat is working on petrol and diesel hybrid engines for its small cars and vans. The aim is to have the hybrids rolling out by 2011. The electric power would be able to propel a vehicle for short distances thus would reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions. Alfredo Altavilla, CEO, Fiat Powertrain Technologies, has already hinted towards the mentioned time frame and said that development is in the research phase still.
Sergio Marchionne, CEO, Fiat, has been vocal enough and has made his desire of making Fiat the least polluting of any European carmaker by 2012. Incidentally, the European Commission would enforce an average carbon dioxide limit of 120g/km level down from the 160g/km that it is right now. Interestingly, Fiat has said that with the small-car development, it hopes to lower the carbon dioxide emission to 90g/km or less.
Fiat is working on a 2-cylinder, 900cc petrol-hybrid engine for small cars which will work through a dial-clutch transmission while for the vans, a diesel-hybrid four pot motor is under development which will have a displacement capacity of between 2-litres and 2.5-litres.
As far as this news is concerned, everyone would be thinking what has this got to do with India? Well, Fiat has initiated its operations with a new found zeal and they are committed to India like never before. Fiat’s bringing in its latest products and wants to have a strong foothold here. So it will only be natural for them to consider the alternate drive or hybrids for India, just like Honda is. As it is, we need to do something for our environment, and we need to do something soon.
