Yesterday it was Nissan talking down gas-electric hybrids, arguing that they were too expensive to build. Today, the LA Times is writing about Honda’s plan to cut production as hybrid sales fall.

Honda Eyes Production Cut as Accord Hybrid Sales Fall
The move highlights the industry’s uncertainty over the technology’s popularity and future.

Honda Motor Co. may be learning a hard lesson about hybrids: It’s better to hold the horses.

A Honda executive said Thursday that the automaker might reduce production of its gas-electric Accord hybrid sedan because the vehicle, marketed as a performance model rather than a fuel miser, hasn’t been selling as well as hoped.

It was the second time this week that auto executives attending the New York Auto Show have raised questions about the popularity of hybrid technology.

Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday that hybrid sales appeared to be slowing, something he has frequently suggested could happen as consumers weigh hybrids’ extra sticker cost against their fuel economy.

Accord hybrid sales are off 51% from last year, when the model was introduced and was still a novelty because it mates a V-6 engine with Honda’s hybrid electric drive system that gives it 253 horsepower, versus 244 in the non-hybrid model.

The HyrbidSmarts blog says that Honda is already looking ahead to what’s next,

Hybrid vehicles are a stepping stone, moving auto manufacturers slowly towards the ultimate goal of clean, zero greenhouse gas, renewable automotive fuels. Many observers are placing their bets for the ultimate clean car technology on hydrogen fuel cells.

Honda, therefore, is to be congratulated for announcing that it will put a hydrogen-powered vehicle into production, albeit in extremely limited numbers.

There has been a great deal of hype around gas-electric hybrids, and deservedly so, as they are the first true alternative to the internal combustion engine. As we see with the news this week, this promising technology still faces many challenges, most notably, the extra cost that results in automakers losing money on each vehicle sold.

This is what makes the Scuderi Air Hybrid engine so compelling. Unlike conventional engines, the Scuderi Engine produces compressed air during its normal operation. By adding a small air storage tank with some simple controls costing only a few hundred dollars, the Scuderi Engine can recapture energy normally lost during the breaking of a vehicle. To accomplish this with electric hybrids requires a complex electrical system, costing thousands of dollars, consisting of generators, motors, and large batteries. In addition, unlike electric hybrids, the Scuderi Air-Hybrid has the unique capability of recapturing energy from the exhaust of the engine, making it possible to utilize a Scuderi Air-Hybrid design in stationary applications such as electric generators - an application where electric hybrids are considered impractical.

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.

To learn more about the next-generation of hybrid, the air hybrid, click here.