Any upcoming Hybrid car coming to SG

[Eugene79]

Heard Hyundai and KIA coming up with hybrid car. Any idea when is it make available in SG?

[Icyfreakass]

Hope fisker karma and tesla comes.

[Picanto]

Hope fisker karma and tesla comes.

 

THATS out of reach for most buyers.

 

[CarsNStars]

Hybrid cars are still not selling well in Asia - predominantly due to the fact they are priced about $10k more than a full petrol equivalent.

 

At the same time, car buyers are worried about maintenance, parts availability. You need a good strong eco-consciousness in society before hybrid sales start climbing.

 

Also, the tropical climate of Singapore is not very conducive to electric engines - battery lasts shorter compared to temperate regions.

 

Lastly, hybrid cost-savings kick in when you need to travel a long distance daily. With the small size of Singapore, hybrids are not perceived as giving back the returns.

 

All that said, yes I wish the Tesla Roadster can be found here too. However, that is a full electric vehicle, and you will need to own your own garage before that could be put to any use.

 

So, all said, hybrids/full-electrics are not going to be popular in Singapore until 1) the technology matures further, 2) infrastructure (charging stations, etc) are in place, and 3) the green movement picks up strongly. Sorry to dash your hopes, dude, but not going to happen anytime in the near foreseeable future.

[GoodCar]

so sad...............

[Icyfreakass]

But wouldnt the sky high and still increasing prices of petrol help in the progress of hybrid cars in sgp?

[CarsNStars]

But wouldnt the sky high and still increasing prices of petrol help in the progress of hybrid cars in sgp?

 

Yes, it does, but this factor does not carry much weight in consumers' perspectives.

 

It's not as painful to perceive spending $100 more a month for petrol, in comparison to an immediate $10,000 more outlay for a hybrid car.

 

Furthermore, petrol consumption is something people strongly believe they can control - lighter acceleration, add-ons, credit card rebates, shortcuts, etc. There is however no way you can control outlaying $10,000 more for a hybrid car.

 

And there's still market talk of oil prices stabilizing @ USD$70.00 per barrel, and not going that crazy upswing to USD$140 we saw just last year only.

 

So, even though we tend to think of consumers as rational people, the thing is that there are so many factors and school of thoughts that we might as well think of them as irrational.

 

[Picanto]

how come you never post your car models and pricelist for all forumers to see?

[Karoon]

i'm all for more efficient hybrids... however i don't see the point of buying a hybrid that has a practical fuel consumption easily matched by a conventional petrol engine.... ie jazz

 

i'll buy one when there's a proven 50km/l model

 

 

 

[CarsNStars]

how come you never post your car models and pricelist for all forumers to see?

 

It's on our website? and in SGCarMart? Let the forum be a forum, let an advertising listing be an advertising listing. I'm not here to directly canvass for sales, but rather to find out what are consumers' needs and questions.

 

Besides, I am a forum member in my other passions and hobbies too, and I dislike it when sales people start lelonging in what could be a place for knowledge exchange and banter. So, do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you!

Edited June 22, 2009 by CarsNStars

[Friendstar]

i'm all for more efficient hybrids... however i don't see the point of buying a hybrid that has a practical fuel consumption easily matched by a conventional petrol engine.... ie jazz

 

i'll buy one when there's a proven 50km/l model

 

 

in 100% city driving....

 

u see how the prius/insight own the jazz .

 

 

in fact, jazz fc isn't fantastic.

 

but honda fit is.

FC figures

 

[Friendstar]

Heard Hyundai and KIA coming up with hybrid car. Any idea when is it make available in SG?

 

 

to answer TS's question...

 

Kia is coming up with their Kia Rio Hybrid

Kia Rio Hybrid Website

 

 

Kia Rio is already a frugal car, why make a hybrid model of it?

 

Kia should try it on their magentis.

 

immediately separate the competition from the camry/teana/accord.

 

[Wishcumstrue]

There are many naysayers about hybridized vehicles, some proclaim it as a political joke, to technically wasteful, to ecologically damaging, to practically over-hyped.

 

Problem with this view is it is often seen from near-term perspective of only a decade or less.

 

Hybrid is part of the process of moving away from fossil-fueled engine and it is NOT the end such evolution.

 

This is one of many energy deviation process along with fuel-cell and clean-diesel away from gasoline-centric engine.

 

Of the many that had appeared since 1990s, hybrid-electric-gas system is the lowest hanging fruit that are both commercially and technically feasible. That has been proven in Insight and Prius since 1996/97. That acceptance has accelerated since the 2008 oil-shock over 150USD/barrel. We now see hybrid going mainstream since early this year after the 2nd and 3rd generations of these hybrid became available.

 

At the consumer level, we had already experienced 2 important aspects that have direct impact on both our wallet and well-being: Oil Price and climatic change. I am not going to debate on this 2 factors as these are already accepted fact and well-known issue to all.

 

In the context of Singapore, the problem in gaining larger acceptance of hybrid isn't due to its unreliably nor infrastructure issue.

It is more to the with lack of government-driven monetary incentives to support low-emission or frugal vehicles.

 

This is made worst by the apparent poor perceptions on hybrid system amongst the general Singaporean motorists.

Even those so-called motor-heads are only heard craving for higher hp and speed while proclaiming their love-affair with TC engines, super-large rims, SUVs, or doing crazy speeds that defies logic and rational while all these are known to be inversely proportional to the FC that we seek when oil price starts to go north again.

 

At the end of the day, there are many things which we cannot control nor predict.

But what we can predict is hybrid will become the main-stay within the next decade when we cannot wish away the ever-more expensive oil price.

 

So are we ready for another $2/litre octane 92?

 

Not if you buffer yourself by (A) don't own a car, (B) ride a bike or (C ) You'll get it

Edited June 22, 2009 by Wishcumstrue

[inlinesix]

Actually, Hybrid vehicle is a bridging technology. The future belongs to Electric Vehicle.

 

The lack of acceptance of Hybrid vehicle boils down to lack of public education. In addition, a lot of ppl like big car, low price tag & low FC. Other than low FC, it is very hard for ppl to buy Hybrid vehicle. Look at the price of latest prius, how many ppl willing to spend that kind of $$?

 

Diesel vehicle is more efficient than Hybrid vehicle. The only downside is high roadtax. For sales ppl, it is more worth it to indent a diesel vehicle than petrol equivalent. That's why there is rumour that Hybrid Diesel vehicle is underdevelopment.

[Wishcumstrue]

Actually, Hybrid vehicle is a bridging technology. The future belongs to Electric Vehicle.

 

The lack of acceptance of Hybrid vehicle boils down to lack of public education. In addition, a lot of ppl like big car, low price tag & low FC. Other than low FC, it is very hard for ppl to buy Hybrid vehicle. Look at the price of latest prius, how many ppl willing to spend that kind of $$?

 

Diesel vehicle is more efficient than Hybrid vehicle. The only downside is high roadtax. For sales ppl, it is more worth it to indent a diesel vehicle than petrol equivalent. That's why there is rumour that Hybrid Diesel vehicle is underdevelopment.

 

Yes. I see 3 hurdles you mentioned which I had highlihted earlier: technical, government policy and consumer awareness.

 

1) Hybrid is an interim towards full EV. Current limit into full-EV are battery cost, energy capacity limitation, safety and reliability as this stage.

 

2) Lack of effective incentives to encourage adopt alternative powered vehicles.

 

3) Perception issue amongst general consumers.

 

As for the diesel-hybrid, why not? Hybrid can be based around any form of internal-combustion engines (ICE) like the fuel-cell hybrid/

So it is not just the tried-and-tested gasoline-electric hybrid alone. All these have a shares same direction towards full-EV.

 

Before the battery technology catches up, the question now isn't about what type of ICE, but more of what type of hybrid system that can dominate the market.

 

 

 

[Eddieang]

I read that the current generation of hybrid vehicle (including Toyota's Prius) still largely run on Nickel Metal Hydride batteries due to battery stability reasons, Ni-MH batteries has poor power density compared to lithium-ion, imagine the sheer weight of nickel metal hydride batteries added to the vehicle weight probably negate and limit it's fuel economy, as statistic has shown.

 

It may take another couple of generation before we see a breakthrough in hybrid or full electric running on Li-on batteries.

[CarsNStars]

Battery technology is one of the most researched fields in technology nowadays - however so far no (publicized) breakthroughs have been reached regarding efficient and long-lasting batteries being able to power a mass as big as a car for considerable distances.

 

Renault's vision of the future (i want!) :

 

 

Hybrid as a previous thread has noted, is a bridging technology - the future belongs to full EV (Electric Vehicles). Yet the energy still has to come from somewhere - power plants. With the efficiency of electric motors nowadays, government realizes that net-net, optimized petrol is still on the big picture scale, more efficient than EV vehicles.

 

In future, when EV vehicles become the norm, drivers of EV vehicles might see cost-savings, but however, electric tariffs across the board imposed on everyone, irregardless of drivers or not, will rise as a whole. This might lead to a public outcry of non-drivers vs drivers, which might lead to governments imposing an "energy usage" tax on EV vehicle drivers, again making cars just as expensive.

 

The big energy companies have also started moving away from alternative electric energy such as wind and solar. Case in point, Shell announced not too long ago they are focusing their R&D budget on alternative fuel, citing "maximizing shareholder returns" as the main reason.

 

The resale value of hybrids will potentially be quite horrid as well - given the fast-paced change in technology for hybrid cars. Unlike a good petrol based engine which can hold its own for many years, electric motors or hybrid motors has a possibly shorter life-span. Petrol engines : close to 100 years of research. EV/Hybrid : close to 10 years of research.

[Wishcumstrue]

I read that the current generation of hybrid vehicle (including Toyota's Prius) still largely run on Nickel Metal Hydride batteries due to battery stability reasons, Ni-MH batteries has poor power density compared to lithium-ion, imagine the sheer weight of nickel metal hydride batteries added to the vehicle weight probably negate and limit it's fuel economy, as statistic has shown.

 

It may take another couple of generation before we see a breakthrough in hybrid or full electric running on Li-on batteries.

 

Yes and no.

 

Currently, NIHM is used in almost all the Japanese hybrids for a crucial reason that you had mentioned --> Stability.

However, even though a battery technology breakthru holds the key to future mass EV acceptance, it isn't the silver-bullet in achieving an energy efficient vehicle.

 

You still can squeeze more juice from the 10-years-old NiHM provided the battery is well managed to improve its longevity and reliability.

Also, you can engineer a more efficient vehicle without the benefit of lithium-ion batteries by focusing on designing and improving drive-train, weight reduction and overall dynamics of the vehicle.

 

Example is the new Prius, which is still retaining the old NiHM technology, has 10% improvement in energy consumption over its lighter and smaller predecessor.

 

Engineering gains are :

4% from more efficient interiors and better aerodynamic performance (HSD and lower body drag)

6% from a thriftier electrical system. (Inverter, motors, power-electronics systems etc)

 

Unless lithium-ion batteries cost and reliability is at least on par with the NiHM, I foresee that its mass adoption in the auto industry may take a little longer.