Mechanical and electrical engineers at DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and BMW have jointly developed a hybrid-vehicle technology that shuts the internal combustion engine off when the vehicle stops. Meanwhile, engineers are working to replace the platinum in fuel cells with cheaper materials, which could lead to viable hydrogen cars.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The high cost of hybrids has kept many people from going green, and a new Edmonds.com study shows that with the cost of gas -- combined with tax credits -- it only takes about three years to break even.
Now a new breed of hybrid is going to lessen that time even more. It's the brainchild of not one car company but DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and BMW! They are all working together to create the car of tomorrow.
As gas prices go up, the pressure is on to create cars that use less.
"The hybrid system that we're developing, we can apply to any vehicle that we have," Glenn Denomme, a chief engineer of Hybrid Powertrain Programs at DaimlerChrysler in Auburn Hills, Michigan, tells DBIS.