(.......it's been a while since I 'stirred the pot'......)


Q&A with Warren Brown
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com
Friday, December 8, 2006

Reston, Va.: Mr. Brown, thank you for taking questions today. Roughly ten years ago, I was a reporter for a defense trade publication and wrote about a hybrid Humvee developed for the Army by GM. With all that money they received from the military to develop hybrid technology, what excuse does GM have for not being out in front with hybrids?

Warren Brown: Hello, Reston:

Poor, misunderstood GM.

GM has no excuse for not being out front with hybrids. It does not need one. GM arguably has invested more money than any other company in alternative fuel technologies, especially hydrogen fuel cell technology, which is showing great promise, as evidenced by the latest test fleet of 100 fuel cell Equinox vehicles.

The only mistake GM made was in public relations. And it was a doozy. The company was so dedicated to coming up with what is still considered the ultimate energy saving technology, hydrogen fuel cells, it fooled itself into believing that the American public had patience for anything that required more time and effort than turning out a fast-food burger.

Toyota wasn't so silly. Toyota understood Americans better than Americans understood themselves. Toyota knew that Americans were more interested in sizzle and flash than they were in the finished meal. Toyota introduced gas-electric hybrids--the least efficient hybrids--as the answer to fuel economy problems, and the American public--including its media and politicians--bought it and crowned Toyota the Green King.

The same Toyota that only a few weeks ago in Los Angeles announced that it, yet again, will go after the Americans with big, big, gasoline-engine trucks.

The same Toyota that introduced the FJ Cruiser to counter the runaway success of GM's H3 Hummer.

The same Toyota that sells as many gas-consuming SUVs and pickups as it possibly can, while wearing the evangelical cloak of greenery.

Meanwhile, GM gets kicked for being a laggard in fuel economy, although, vehicle category by category, it has more fuel-efficient vehicles than Toyota.

I mean, geez, you should have seen the faces of the international media in Los Angeles last week when GM announced that it was pouring billions of dollars into the development of dual-model hybrid electric, plug-in electric and other electric vehicles, ioncluding fuel cells.

It was like someone had stolen their press badges. My God! What has happened to the GM we all loved to hate? Who will now be our favorite whipping boy for environmental recalcitrance and failed industrial performance? Bring back that old GM, please! Bring back Ker Kerkorian, that patron saint of American industrial competitiveness. Bring back Jerry Rork, that financial genius who laid the groundwork for Chrysler being sold to the Germans! We have stories to write!

So, here's the story:

The GM you loved to hate is gone.

The dual-mode hybrid being developed by GM, BMW and DaimlerChrysler will obsolete the current generation of hybrids.

The electric car is not dead. As I've written in this space many times, it never died.

The electric car will be here to stay for a long, long time, and it will be here to stay because of GM.

There, I've said it. Bet against me. But just be willing to pay up when events prove me right.
__________________

 

My hybrid is better!

 

I sure am going to miss that V8 rumble

 

Who said anything about there not being a V8? I love it, and said so a while ago, that it was brilliant of GM to go after fuel efficiency in the bigger vehicles. I think the V8 would still be used, you still need lots of power to run the bigger suv's, there would just be alot of other technology as well. I'll say again, GM is the Best in the Business. Great article thanks for posting Scott. I love it when you stir the pot a little! It's a dirty job, but someones got to do it.

 

Well eventually, if hydrogen becomes mainstream and can create enough power to be used even in trucks, what would be the point of an internal combustion engine?

 

and Warren Brown is?

 

Too many presuppositions to answer.

 

Appears to be a journalist/radio host. Coming from that most left-wing of publications, Washington Post, it's amazing he's allowed to say good things about an American industrial giant.

 

Wow, great to see you post again, Mr. Fbodfather. Honest to God, just the other day it was occurring to me that I hadn't seen a post from you in quite some time.

Nice timing.

By the way, excellent article. I've been making the same arguments to just about anyone who will listen to me (coworkers, friends, family, etc.)...Others have been trying to get the point across as well, including on this very board.

The Prius is one of the biggest strokes of marketing genius in recent automotive history. Meanwhile, the few hundred hybrid diesel-electric busses that GM-Allison has created continue to save more fuel than the fleet of Priuses running around...but few know or care.

 

I almost remember Warren Brown being a little bit of a lefty. Perhaps maybe not the best of people to quote when you deep dig into his beliefs.

Any press is positive press even if it's negative press I guess but, lets be honest GM does not need the association of anybody 'on the fence' per say.

 

I agree to a certain extent, but I think that's a bit of an extreme view. Prius is probably the most technologically advanced mass market automobile on the market today. It may not quite live up to all its expectations, and it may not make sense from a strict dollars and cents point of view. But few emerging technologies ever do. You have to start somewhere, get experience, and continue to refine the concept, which is what Toyota is doing. And to their credit, they haven't forced the early adopters to foot the bill (despite Toyota's protests otherwise, I highly doubt they make any profit on a Prius) nor saddled them with a half-baked bug-ridden compromise.

And I don't expect that hybrids are Toyota's end game anyhow. Like GM, they realize that eventually the gasoline IC engine has to go. It's just that Toyota chose to offer a very viable interim solution on the way to that goal, unlike GM which planned to foresake any middle steps and go straight to the fuel cells. However the real world experience Toyota is gaining on electric drivetrains, electronic controls, etc. will likely put them way ahead of GM in the fuel cell race too (I would certainly not bet against them). So while the Prius has been a dandy marketing vehicle, I think it's a mistake to dismiss it solely as such.

 

I didn't say it wasn't a pretty slick car, or that it isn't technologically advanced. I just said that it has served to make Toyota the undisputed "green" company, despite the fact that they otherwise commit the same "sins" as every other company.

Sure, the Prius has some significant technological advancements in it. But its biggest single accomplishment for Toyota has been to bolster its image, not to directly generate profit or to actually save lots of gasoline.

 

I think the problem is..GM has to market this not the press core.. The Press core will not publish this stuff. You might get a blurb about it in a paer but if it was Toyota. It would be the front cover of how Toyota is saving the world for the 100 time..
GM has to step up and promote itself..the way Toyota does with its "we got hybrid this and that" go out there and deliver the message dont rely on the press to do it cus it will fall on deaf ears..just like the saying of:

"It was like someone had stolen their press badges. My God! What has happened to the GM we all loved to hate? Who will now be our favorite whipping boy for environmental recalcitrance and failed industrial performance?"

if they cannot bash it they will ignore it.

 

Yeah. I am just thinking too far into the future. I am the "what if" type of person

 

uhmm........wrong.

GM started at "the top" in terms of fuel guzzlers-- there are thousands of GM Hybrid Buses out there -- saving more fossil fuel than Prius will ever hope to...............

GM is working its way 'down' rather than up.........with Tahoe Hybrid, Silverado Hybrid, Vue Greenline -- next is Malibu.................

GM is the leader in terms of E85 -- and while the infrastructure isn't there yet (unless you live in places like Minnesota..) -- E85 is STANDARD in cars like the Impala LS/LT and Monte Carlo.......also 5.3 in Tahoe/Suburban/Avalanche....and available in Express Van 1500 (work van and passenger van) 5.3 Silverado ....and Uplander.......

but of course, our 'green' friends will never mention that............


The bottom line is that there isn't on the horizon, any one magic bullet........and GM's position is that there have to be choices to fit peoples' needs and wants.......and thus the choices of Flex fuel, Hybrids, Displacement on Demand, and Hydrogen......and hold on to your hats....there's more coming shortly.