General Motors Corp. on Wednesday became the first automaker to commit to make a rechargeable hybrid vehicle, a move intended to distance the world’s largest automaker from its harmful reputation for producing gas-guzzling trucks.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles have the potential to sharply increase fuel efficiency by using advanced batteries to power them over short distances, according to proponents.

Environmental activists have long lobbied GM and other leading automakers to develop such vehicles, which could be readily recharged when not in use, as a way to reduce oil consumption and auto emissions.

GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, speaking at the opening of the Los Angeles Auto Show, called development of the plug-in hybrid technology a “top priority” for the automaker.

“The technological hurdles are real, but we believe they are also surmountable,” he told reporters at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show.

Specifically, Wagoner said GM had begun work on a plug-in hybrid version of the Saturn Vue sports utility vehicle as part of an expanded range of vehicles powered by alternatives to traditional gasoline engines.

“We see energy and environmental leadership as a critical element of GM’s ongoing turnaround plan, a key part of our future business strategy,” he said.

Wagoner said he was uncertain about when a plug-in hybrid would be commercially available.

For GM, which has been stung by criticism alleging that it had conspired to kill an experimental vehicle program in California earlier this decade, Wagoner’s appearance in Los Angeles marked an attempt to generate renewed goodwill at a time of declining U.S. sales, industry sources said.

But in a sign of the continued tension around the issue of oil consumption and the Detroit automakers, protesters appeared on stage as soon as Wagoner had concluded his speech at the show, urging him to sign a corporate “pledge” on fuel economy.

Wagoner declined: “I think my speech spoke for itself,” he shot back.

GM said its plug-in vehicle could provide double the fuel-efficiency of any SUV now on the road.

GM also said starting in 2008 it would begin selling a version of the Vue hybrid using a “two-mode” electric power system it has developed jointly with DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW

AG.

Wagoner said GM would have further electric vehicle announcements at the Detroit Auto Show in early January.

Hybrid vehicles, like Toyota Motor Corp’s market-leading Prius, are powered by both an electric motor and a gas engine.

Almost a third of the Prius hybrids sold by Toyota have been sold in California, according to data compiled by Experian Automotive.

Some auto analysts have said Toyota’s lead in the hybrid market has created a kind of green “halo effect” that has helped it sell other kinds of vehicles, an especially key concern in California, the most populous and richest U.S. state.

GM’s hybrid announcements were intended in part to underscore how the automaker is investing some of the $9 billion it has saved through a wrenching program of job cuts and plant closures, executives said.

Wagoner said GM recognizes that to change consumer attitudes about its brands, it has to address environmental concerns.

“These things take time. You build brands and images over a period of time,” he said after his speech. “It’s going to take a while but it was a great opportunity for us today to make a strong statement.”

Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said the Japanese automaker was “going in the same direction” as GM, but would not build a plug-in until it was satisfied that such a car could meet all the demands of its customers.

“We’re pleased to see GM recognize (hybrids) as something more than a bridging technology,” Miller said.

Ford Motor Co’s North American sales chief Cisco Codina said his company was also working on plug-in hybrids as one of a range of gas alternatives.

“Our thinking right now is that we cannot discount any technology,” he told reporters. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is. And I think to some degree … there’s some catching up to do by some other manufacturers.”

(this article was taken from reuters.co.uk)

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