At the Stockholm Motor Show yesterday, Saab unveiled its BioPower Hybrid 9-3 convertible concept car.

From Saab,

By using 100% bioethanol the engine can produce even more power. At the same time fossil fuel emission is reduced to zero.

By coupling the turbo-charged engine with a battery-charged full hybrid drive system the car can deliver stunning performance and mileage.

The Saab BioPower Hybrid Concept is the world’s first hybrid vehicle without fossil fuel emission. And the world’s first hybrid soft-top.

Read the full press release at Autoblog for lots more information on this interesting new hybrid concept car.

DailyTech.com has a nice story on the evolution of hybrid technology, from 1999’s Honda’s Insight two-seater to the new Lexus, Toyota and Honda models available today.

The bottom line,

As the price of hybrids come down and the mileage figures goes up, we can expect to see more and more people snapping them up. And before you know it, hybrid technology won’t seem like just a passing fad.

The LA Times Dan Neal writes today about his driving experience in the new Lexus GS450h,

The well-bred hybrid
The Lexus GS450h adds a green machine to the sports luxury class. Doubters — it’s time to put away those slide rules and jump aboard.

How will hybrid haters attempt to dismantle the GS450h? By accusing its owners of green grandstanding? Perhaps, but the car’s hybrid badging is quite discreet — just a lovely sword of chrome along the lower panels. By accusing them of insincerity? Fuel-efficient powertrains must be made available across the vehicle market; to insist otherwise is to insist that everyone drive the same kind of car, essentially repealing capitalism — which, as nice as that might sometimes sound, isn’t going to happen. Yes, rich people can be more responsible too.

And from the sounds of it, they don’t have to sacrifice in terms of performance either,

I didn’t have access to a track and, not wishing to microwave my license, I didn’t verify my hunch, but I’m guessing the GS450h is about a second quicker in the quarter-mile than the standard GS430. Considering the wads of cash that luxury and performance buyers blow for much smaller increases in performance, the GS’ hybrid delta is charmingly nominal.

Oh, and by the way, the car gets 20% better fuel economy than its conventional cousin: 25 mpg city, 28 mpg highway, compared with 18/25 mpg. According to Lexus, that’s good for a savings of about 200 gallons per year, or $560 at current California prices for premium fuel. In other words, even without tax credits and accounting for increases at the pumps, the hybrid delta is covered in five years.

Also, the car is rated as a super-low emission vehicle (or SULEV). Not bad for a “performance” upgrade.

To read the whole article, click here.

A major milestone in the development of air hybrid engine technology will take place next week at the SAE World Congress in Detroit. For the first time, the Scuderi Group is unveiling the design of their breakthrough Air Hybrid Engine.

Here are some exerpts from announcement,

“These technology enhancements, and the subsequent patents, come at an important time as we as a nation look to be more efficient in our use of petroleum products and while the automobile industry struggles to increase the value of their automobile products,” said Sal Scuderi, president of The Scuderi Group. “Once these advancements are incorporated into our internal combustion engine, the industry will have available the fuel efficiency, power, and impact on the environment that consumers are looking for and at a cost that makes sense.”

While electric hybrids are struggling to reach a 50% increase, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid is anticipated to almost double the mileage of a vehicle. Besides having significantly higher increases in efficiency and better reductions in toxic emissions than electric hybrids, the Scuderi Engine also improves power and performance. Today’s electric hybrid cars normally reduce power and performance to obtain an increase in mileage. Because the Scuderi Air-Hybrid increases power while improving mileage at a cost of only a few hundred dollars as compared to thousands for an electric hybrid, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid is the first hybrid system that makes economical sense.

As a result of this breakthrough design, the Scuderi engine is expected to:

1 Potentially double vehicle mileage

2 Reduce toxic emissions by up to 80 percent

3 Be compatible with all alternative fuels, including natural gas, ethanol, and bio-diesel.

4 Be easy and cost effective to manufacture by utilizing the same components found in today’s engines

By utilizing fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and the unique features of a split-cycle design, the Scuderi Technology improves how an engine converts chemical energy into mechanical energy. Unlike conventional engines, the Scuderi engine divides the four strokes of a standard engine (intake, compression, power, and exhaust) over a paired combination of one compression cylinder and one power cylinder. These two cylinders perform their respective functions once per crankshaft revolution, while conventional engines require two revolutions of the crankshaft to perform these same functions.

The Scuderi Technology can be applied to any piston engine from very small gasoline powered lawn mowers engines to very large diesel powered train engines. The technology is patented worldwide with six patents issued and several pending in over 45 countries. The Scuderi Group plans to license the technology to qualified engine manufacturers.

The Air Hybrid Blog is a product of The Scuderi Group. This site aims to serve as a central portal for news and information relating to the development of air hybrid engine technology. We will also focus on hybrid developments related to gas-electric, hydrogen, fuel cell and other new technologies.

The Scuderi Group is an engine development company of fluid and thermodynamic experts who have developed a breakthrough air-hybrid technology, leading to the world’s most fuel efficient internal combustion engine. The Scuderi Group’s air-hybrid system doubles the fuel efficiency of today’s conventional engines and reduces toxic emissions by up to 80 percent - all within a design that will make hybrid vehicles easier and far less expensive to build.

Backed by the U.S. government and verified by a world renowned independent laboratory, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid Engine is adaptable to diesel and gasoline automobiles, commercial vehicles and any other applications powered by internal combustion engines.

The Scuderi Group is unveiling the design of its revolutionary air hybrid engine technology at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2006 World Congress in Detroit April 3-6.

Bookmark this site for more news and information on air hybrid engine technology and news.