General Motors, BMW, and DaimlerChrysler are spending over $1 billion for the development of a two-mode hybrid transmission and related systems that backers say will enable the companies to leapfrog Toyota’s hybrid technology. In late 2005, the three companies announced they would form an alliance to develop a dual-mode hybrid system. In April of this year, the companies detailed the technology, saying it represented “a major automotive industry milestone.” Development of the transmission is expected to cost about $300 million for the partners, said Andreas Truckenbrodt, executive director of DaimlerChrysler’s hybrid programs. The remainder of the investment represents the cost of integrating the new hybrid system with other vehicle components, he said. The Reuters report did not make clear how much had already been spent on the project, and if that was included in the $1 billion figure.


08/11, 10:11 AM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
so, they plan to invest $$$ into a dual mode hybrib system that is coming to market in the ‘07 Durango and Aspen?
old news.
08/11, 10:13 AM
posted by:
Jimbo -- Gulph Mill$
i wish VAG took part in this collaboration.
08/11, 10:30 AM
posted by:
Renton
Jimbo — BMW is invovled. It has a very good if not the best chance of working then.
08/11, 10:37 AM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
since GM and DCX can’t get anything right, huh renton? tuck in your skirt, your bias is showing. would you like a link to provide you with all that you will need to know about this system?
08/11, 10:38 AM
posted by:
Kevin
BMW will make the best one.
08/11, 10:46 AM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
Keven, have you studied the dual mode system that has ALREADY been jointly developed by these three?
you are an idiot.
08/11, 10:59 AM
posted by:
anonymous
Over a billion?
I am afraid to see the cost this system will add to vehicles.
08/11, 11:02 AM
posted by:
Renton
1952 MG TD — ” tuck in your skirt, your bias is showing.”
I admit, it is no secret that I favor BMW. Who are you kidding though,the company is one of the best engineering and design firms in the world. They make some of the finest motors and drivetrains the world has ever seen.
Its not so much biased, as it is obvious .
08/11, 11:05 AM
posted by:
Piablo
Considering GM has developed the world’s best traction control sytem, and the world’s best suspension system (so much so that Ferarri has purchased it) as well as the world’s first production electric automobile, I believe this new transmission will be no exception. GM has been at the forefront of many technologies. I have no doubt this transmission will be the staple for future hybrid vehicles. I have always said current hybrid cars like the Prius are a waste of money and impractical. My view has nothing to do with who makes it, as i do own a Nissan, it’s the technology and the lack of benefit those hybrids bring. This new configuration augments the weaknesses of a combustion engine where as other hybrids simply pose a different power source with different weaknesses like having 1500lbs of batteries in tow.
Another feather in the cap for GM. And way to go for BWM and DC to jump in on a good opportunity when they see one.
08/11, 11:10 AM
posted by:
Kevin
Of course I haven’t studied the “dual mode system that has ALREADY been jointly developed by these three” because I’m too busy making sweet moves and counting cash, but that’s irrelevant because BMW will still make a better hybrid system because they rock - hard.
By the way, it’s “Kevin,” dumbass. Can you read?
08/11, 11:21 AM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
Stoopid people make my head hurt.
08/11, 11:36 AM
posted by:
Piablo
LOL! Then don’t let them kick you in the face!
08/11, 11:43 AM
posted by:
Kevin
Got ‘em. I’m smarter than you, MG. I guarantee it.
08/11, 11:46 AM
posted by:
Jay
No we can all see that 1952 MG TD cannot spell OR read correctly. Stoopid, Keven, etc.
Don’t go banging on everyone if you don’t know how to even spell correctly. I bet he’s in 3rd grade.
Anyways I am not going to be another hater on this site, I think saying that I got my point out.
I see this guy banging on everyones stuff, he’s got atleast half of the posts on this forum.
Anyways let’s get back on subject.
This is an interesting system, it’s overlays four (fixed) gears over two ECVTS. Therefore it has a large gear ratio, and it would be much easier on the hybrid powertrain. The advantage of the CVT is its mechanical simplicity - no clutches, torque converters or shifting gears.
With regenerative braking and a large battery capacity this will be a large jump from Toyotas now dominant hybrid system.
For those of you who don’t know what an ECVT is (even though I believe most of us are smarter than 1952 MG TD) then here’s a wiki article on the E-CVT and CVT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
and here’s an article on the CVT (relates to the ECVT some):
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cvt.htm
08/11, 11:46 AM
posted by:
teknomusik
Guys, let us just say it is a good thing for us the consumers. No need to say one is better than the other or else the companies involved wouldn’t have embarked on this project in the first place. Each company brings its strength into this project and hopefully it will be a product that equates to the final package been better than the individual components.
08/11, 12:13 PM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
yes, you all schooled me. I feel so hurt that people who I have never, and will never meet think they won a “shampoo is better” “Conditioner is better” “stop looking at me swan!” argumenton an internet message board.
by the way, a little reading:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_6_42/ai_n16420651/pg_1
http://www.sae.org/automag/techbriefs/06-2006/1-114-6-20.pdf
08/11, 1:10 PM
posted by:
Kevin
I love hating on each other on this website.
08/11, 2:16 PM
posted by:
Piablo
Thanks for the links Jay!
08/11, 3:42 PM
posted by:
Arne
Do you guys have such small egos that you have to feel better by bashing someone else on the INTERNET?
“Got ‘em. I’m smarter than you, MG. I guarantee it.”
Your arrogance is pathetic, that’s for sure.
08/11, 5:17 PM
posted by:
GMFan Dan
God I feel sorry for Ford! I wish they were in on this, I would hate to see them get swept away, even though they have some nice hybrids.
08/11, 8:43 PM
posted by:
anonymous
Did Ford get left out of the club bc they bought their current hybrid system from the enemy?
Intersting that they announced their plans last year, thus giving Toyota plenty of time to come up w/ their counter move (plug in hybrid?)
08/12, 2:24 AM
posted by:
jtg
Finally, a hybrid that makes sense!
08/12, 11:25 AM
posted by:
stuart
Plug in hybrids are plain stupid. The point is to re-use energy which is being wasted like when you are breaking. There is loads of energy like this being wasted
08/12, 12:34 PM
posted by:
JC2
actually Stuart energy is never wasted… it just turns into something else. Here read this:
Energy is subject to the law of conservation of energy (which is a mathematical restatement of shift symmetry of time). Thus, energy cannot be made or destroyed, it can only be converted from one form to another, that is, transformed.
and heres where I got it from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy
Please it’s third grade, don’t make such stupid statements you sound like an idiot even when you may not be.
Plug in hybrids are a very good idea. They lengthen the range of the vehicle to be capable of using electric power. Because the electric motor has always and will be more efficient than the primative internal combustion engine, if you can lengthen the time of the electric motor propelling the car it will be more efficient.
But it’s still not an answer to ending our fuel consumtion and overall pollution.
Where does the energy come from? Answer: power plants
Where does the fuel for the power plants come from: Overseas. And if it’s coal or nuclear it still produces waste. So the plug in hybrid (or electric car for that matter) is not the total answer to our problems. But it’s more efficient and less costly, so it does solve the issue of cost.
08/14, 9:54 AM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
JC2:
More polution is created by the power plant creating the energy stored and used to power a plug-in than is produced by an internal combustion engine. Plug-in’s are not even a band-aid or alternative to polution, they are a step backwards and nothing more than a marketing gimmick.