Ford: America's greenest automaker

First to hybrid SUVs

Out of 500 companies, Newsweek has picked Ford Motor Company as the 108th most green company in America.

A representative from Ford told me that Ford was picked as the sole US automaker in this green list "for its improvements of fuel efficiency to its vehicles and by also having successful programs in place for recycling, water conservation, and GHG emissions reduction."

Ford's new F150: Should it have been a hybrid?

Would a hybrid version have sold?

It's probably a smart move that the new 2011 F-Series 'Super Duty' pickup was only made in gasoline and diesel versions. A hybrid version would have assuredly achieved minimal sales volume.

GM has already gone down this hybrid truck path, and without much success, despite the fact that that GM's dual mode hybrid trucks, such as the GMC Sierra hybrid, are easily the best hybrids GM makes. More interesting, if there is one segment of vehicle that needs hybrid technology, it's pickup trucks.

Of course, if GM or Ford sold only hybrid versions of their top selling American pickups, sales - and nice profit margins - would disappear, at least without massive subsidies.

Somewhat ironically, however, GM claims that's its dual mode hybrid technology, particularly designed for large trucks and SUVs, saves far more fuel per vehicle than does the Toyota Prius. And GM is right. Of course, these dual mode hybrids guzzle far more fuel than the Prius does as well.

Nevertheless, for those contractors, mechanics, etc. that truly need such size and functionality, hybrid versions of their favorite pickups could save America a massive amount of fuel.

Will hybrid and electric vehicle technology ever make sense in the full-sized pickup segment? Are fuel economy standards for trucks simply too low?

35 percent hybrid and EV by 2025

No price difference between a Camry and Camry hybrid?

According to a report by Reportlinker, "electric vehicles will penetrate the market rapidly to constitute 35% of the cars made in 2025 - 25% hybrids, 10% pure EV."

Why will we get there? What will cause this big swing towards hybrid vehicles?

"Within the decade, it will be possible for some suppliers to offer hybrid cars and no price premium to conventional cars in the way that the Japanese took the Western car market by storm 20 years ago by offering excellent vehicles with most accessories thrown in free. There would then be no strong reason why anyone would want the conventional alternative."

This analysis is a bit more optimistic than a number of other reports out there.

What do you think? Will a Camry hybrid be priced almost the same as a conventional Camry within the decade?