GM cancels 2010 Chevy Malibu Hybrid, working on better hybrid system

Looks like we were right on again...

http://www.autospies.com/news/If-the-new-Malibu-Hybrid-is-SO-good-why-does-it-get-NINE-MPG-less-than-the-Toyota-Camry-23566/

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Loosely translated:

"The Camry and Fusion hybrids are much better, so we're gonna go back to the drawing board and refine our hybrid system so its competitive with theirs. We're the NEW GM now, so we're gonna actually try to play in the game rather than just show up like we used to do."

The Malibu Hybrid is the car that comes to market when you really DON'T believe in the concept and feel YOUR strategy is the winner.

You throw something out, market the message you care and continue on your losing strategy.

THAT'S WHY they're dead men walking right now.

To THIS day, they truly don't believe in hybrids.

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I still don't believe in hybrids, taking that huge depreciation hit after 5 years when you batteries go isn't something I look for in a car.

Yea, just like all those Prius Hybrid cabs working in New York City with over 350k miles on them...with nothing EVER going wrong on them outside of having to change the oil.

Lose the hybrids are less reliable or long lasting...it just isn't true.

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— Joe_Limon:

| I still don't believe in hybrids, taking that huge
| depreciation hit after 5 years when you batteries go
| isn't something I look for in a car.

What drives you to spread those lies? Someone pays you for writing this?

You know that Toyota warrants the battery pack for 8 years/100k miles or 10 years/150k miles. Average annual mileage in the States is 15k so it matches perfectly. Yet despite knowing this, you blatantly spread misinformation and FUD. Why?

342,000 miles/550,000 km on original batteries:
http://john1701a.com/prius/owners/jesse4.htm

People like Joe Limon believe what they want to believe, not what is true.

you have to understand that this move to electric cars is HUGE in a historical perspective. And history has proven that older people who are used to a certain way of doing things do not like change. Even if that change brings something better.

But like someone once said: you can hold back an invading army, but not an idea whose time has come.

electric is the future

Haha, wow basic science offends you. With batteries, it isn't a question of if, but a question of when will they die. Many people run their cars up till 100,000 miles before trading for a new one. What sucks for them is that when they reach the end of their car's time with them, they either take a $5000 hit to replace the batteries, or they take a $5000 hit in the resale. If they manage to sell the car under the impression that the batteries are new, then it sucks to be the person buying a second hand hybrid. And at the end of the day they diminish the driving pleasure by adding weight and cost to the vehicle.

— Joe_Limon:

| Haha, wow basic science offends you. Many people run their cars up
| till 100,000 miles before trading for a new one. What sucks
| for them is that when they reach the end of their car's
| time with them, they either take a $5000 hit to replace
| the batteries, or they take a $5000 hit in the resale.

Sorry, Lemon, you're trolling.

The basic science in the form of the U.S Department of Energy did an "end of life" evaluation of hybrid cars (Prii, GEN1 Insights, Civic hybrids) at 160.000 miles and found its batteries still having 40-60-80% of the capacity and fuel mileage being even better in case of the Prius.

Source:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/avta/pdfs/hev/end_of_life_test_1.pdf

Considering that the capacity loss follows a logarytmic curve, which is natural for such processes (which in turn means biggest losses come first), this explains why taxi drivers get 300,000+ miles from their hybrids before batteries the swap.

Did I mention hybrids needs about 10% of their batteries capacity to work? Oversizing has been done for the sake of longevity.

And new batteries for the Prius start at about 2500 USD and are getting cheaper and cheaper. Refurbished ones start at 500 USD.

Lemon, you once were posting funny and sensible comments. Now you just come up with anti-hybrid Toyota hating unfounded nonsense.

Sorry, but that isn't the experience I have had with batteries, most have followed a rather different curve. Lasting really well until the last couple months of use and in those months dieing horribly. All of my opinions towards hybrids are based off of opinions from people I know who drive/have driven hybrids. Mr Bratwurst, I know you love numbers and proof, but there is one thing you should always keep in mind. 80% of statistics are made up on the spot to prove a point. Sure I say that now in jest, but it is true, there are many people who get paid to come up with numbers to promote "green driving". Why? Simply because there is money in it, a lot of money. When it comes to all the dooms day predictions about global warming and running out of oil I simply don't agree with either party, as I feel both are lying to me. Say one day when all this tech becomes cheap enough, if given the choice between mag rims or a hybrid system. I will choose the rims, why? because of the negative stigma I see attached to "green".

Once again GM fails where Ford excels.

Oh man, oil is back up to $70. It will be $100 before you know it. And when the world hits peak oil sometime around 2015, $4 a gallon gas will be pleasant fantasy

Booooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm with Joe_Limon on this one. I too see through that scam. Let's look at the math. The person that buys the car new has the 8 year warranty on it. He sells it after 5 years. It is then bought by a lady who doesn't have the warranty transferred to her. That's a remaining 3 years. If that battery fails during the time that she has it, she will then have to shell out to replace it. At that point, the cost of the battery may be close to, if not greater than the value of the car. The more this starts to happen is the more fearful potential second or third owners will be. This in turn drives residuals down. For those who really don't understand how car sales work, that means the seller has to take his asking price down in order to get rid of the car. And residuals are a funny thing. This situation only has to happen with one prominent model for ALL hybrids to take a hit. All of us who own cell phones or cordless phones, or laptops at one point have been stuck with trying to find a replacement battery because it won't hold the charge. Why don't you think a hybrid's battery won't be the same? Some cellphone owners never face this problem though because as soon as a new model comes out the phone companies offer incentives to "upgrade". THIS is the sort of tactic that has got these car manufacturers in the shit as we speak. It may be cost effective for Nokia and Motorola, but we are now seeing that it doesn't quite work for GM or even the "great" Toyota. Another issue facing hybrids is lithium ion batteries. Most of the world's lithium is controlled by non-US states. Bolivia has the worlds largest reserves, but Chile and Argentina produce the most. CHINA is also ramping up their production with work being done on extracting lithium from salts. In a few years hybrid production will create another pocket raping cartel (let's call it OLEC for now, following the usual pocket raping parlance). Then we'll be right where we started. Hybrids are a stop-gap idea that should be moved away from in short order. Trust me, if you think a war that is 7000 miles away is affecting us in the West, think about what will happen when one starts in our back yard.

What they mean is that they are holding off to wait for the materials to be cheaper. So they can mass produce the car.