Dinkum ecofriend

The Aussies are telling world carmakers that whatever they can do Holden can do better - and greener - with their environment-conscious hybrid Ecommodore. ALASTAIR SLOANE reports.

Holden calls it the Ecommodore, for environmentally friendly. It's a front-drive petrol-electric prototype built to showcase Australian technology to a world tuning into the Sydney Olympic Games.

It made its first public appearance 48 hours ago, joining the Olympic torch relay near Ayers Rock for the 100-day countdown to the Games.

The hybrid, a joint project between Holden and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, also tells the international car industry that whatever it can do with hybrids, the Australians can do better, mate.

It is an Australian attitude. Says Holden Australia chairman and managing director Peter Hanenberger: "It is a rolling showcase of all-Australian ingenuity.

"The Ecommodore incorporates some of the materials, components and manufacturing technologies that will be needed in the future.

"It also demonstrates that hybrid technology can conceivably be used in a large family car at a realistic cost."

There are two types of electric hybrid vehicles. A parallel hybrid uses a conventional engine and an electric motor to simultaneously power the vehicle.

A series hybrid is an electric car which has a small conventional engine driving a generator to charge the batteries, and a separate electric motor to drive the car.

The Ecommodore is a parallel hybrid built in 18 months at a cost of $10.5 million. Holden says a production version could be ready within eight years, although it acknowledges that its success depends on how green Australians ultimately want to become.

"The Ecommodore is a recognition of the increasing influence that social and environmental issues are bringing to bear on the uptake of new technologies," Hanenberger says.

"While it is not a prototype for the next Commodore, it provides our engineers with a hands-on learning tool to experiment with emerging technolgies that will be incorporated into Holden vehicles in coming decades."

The prototype is powered by up-to-the-minute battery technology, with a 50kW electric motor and an aluminium 2.0-litre four-cylinder 90kW engine borrowed from the rebadged Holden Vectra, the Opel Vectra in Europe.

The petrol-electric powerplant drives the front wheels (it is the first front-drive Holden) through a five-speed manual Getrag gearbox. Ultra-low tyres with less rolling resistance and a solar-powered air-conditioning system help save fuel. Top speed and acceleration is estimated to be the same as the V6 petrol-engined Commodore.

Holden says the Ecommodore will use half the amount of petrol of a six-cylinder family sedan and produce just 10 per cent of exhaust emissions.

It is built on a station-wagon chassis and uses a modified body with a new-look roofline and a lower design which cuts the drag co-efficient from 0.32 to 0.28.

The heaviest components in the car are the engine and the five lead-acid batteries. The batteries are stored in the spare tyre well in the boot and linked to supercapcitators, which sit behind the rear seat and store the energy needed to drive the electric motor.

The CSIRO says the combined weight of batteries and supercapacitators in the Ecommodore is 115kg, considerably less than the 150kg-plus of other hybrids. And the supercapacitators are the first to have an automotive application, providing a burst of power to the electric motor - during overtaking, for instance - when plenty of acceleration is needed.

The CSIRO, which claimed 11 patents in developing the lead-acid batteries, says the battery pack and supercapacitator cost about $2500. It is already working on a smaller, lighter battery pack.

Other hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight use nickel-hydride batteries, the same technology as mobile phones. These can cost up to $40,000.

The use of lightweight materials throughout the Ecommodore keeps its weight down to 1350kg, the same as the Commodore. Only the bonnet, roof, front doors and front bumpers are steel.

The windows are plastic, the floor - which is lower and flat to aid aerodynamics - and engine are aluminium, the wheels and brakes lightweight steel, the boot carbon-fibre and the rear doors and bumpers fibreglass.

Holden says a production Ecommodore would cost about $3000-$4000 more than the current model.