Getting your player ready...
GENEVA — General Motors and Daimler AG unveiled plans Tuesday for lithium-ion hybrids as automakers push to overcome difficulties with a technology that promises to drive hybrid autos to the next level of performance. Daimler will be the first to get to market, announcing its intention to introduce a hybrid version of its Mercedes-Benz flagship S-class luxury sedan using a gasoline engine and a lithium-ion power source in 2009.
The new S-class is called a “mild” hybrid, meaning the electric motor aids combustion but does not itself drive the car.
GM said it expects to bring its first lithium-ion battery-powered hybrid-engine system to market in North America in 2010.
The Associated Press
