Mazda to Put Tribute Hybrid on Market in 2Q
08 January 2007
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| Tribute HEV. |
Mazda Motor will begin selling its hybrid version of the Tribute SUV in the second quarter of the year. The Tribute is based on the Ford Escape.
Mazda will provide more details—exact timing, pricing, distribution, and projected sales volumes—closer to the launch date.
The Tribute shares the powertrain design of the Escape (and Mariner) hybrid: 2.3-liter, Atkinson cycle gasoline engine, 70 kW electric traction motor, a special electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission (eCVT), and a 330-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery pack. (Earlier post.)
The Tribute can run in all-electric mode up to speeds of about 25 mph.
I've been wondering for a while whether Mazda would go with their corprate cousin Ford, or Toyota.
Posted by: allen_Z | 08 January 2007 at 06:57 PM
Wow, a 5-passenger FWD vehicle that can top 36mpg city and 31mpg highway. Will the innovations at Ford never end? Yawn.
Posted by: Steve Patterson | 08 January 2007 at 07:05 PM
Ford hates it when we say this but... They did license many of the Toyota Synergy Drive components to avoid infringement issues. To Ford's credit their Airstream FC Hybrid concept comes closer to what the market needs.
Posted by: gr | 08 January 2007 at 07:24 PM
Wow, a 5-passenger FWD vehicle that can top 36mpg city and 31mpg highway. Will the innovations at Ford never end? Yawn.
but have you seen the cup-holders? They're awesome!
Posted by: DS | 08 January 2007 at 08:16 PM
I just priced the Ford Escape hybrid. With incentives and tax breaks I can buy one for less than a Prius. This keeps me in the game for their products.
Posted by: SJC | 08 January 2007 at 10:02 PM
I like Ford's Airstream too. It's closer to a VW Bus. Hybrid's however put of EMF's which are unhealthy.
How about a renewable fuel vehicle?
Posted by: James | 08 January 2007 at 10:22 PM
I wonder if they get a seperate tax credit allocation or if it counts against Fords?
This is just a Escape with a Mazda logo slapped on it.
Posted by: Ian Williams | 09 January 2007 at 12:02 AM
,axda is a different company so ya its seprate tax breaks.
Posted by: wintermane | 09 January 2007 at 07:32 AM
Hybrid's however put of EMF's which are unhealthy.
Wow, I'd expect that kind of statement from some of the nutjobs at my food co-op, but not here on GCC.
You know something else that generates EM fields (ones that are orders of magnitude stronger)?
The sun...
Oh no! Stop the sun! Shut it down! Shut it down!
Posted by: Steven | 09 January 2007 at 07:36 AM
I think the Escape is a Tribute with a Ford logo on it. I believe the Ford and Mercury are based on the Mazda design. I could be wrong, but that is what I always thought.
Posted by: SJC | 09 January 2007 at 08:47 AM
Did a bit of digging and it turns out Ford owns also 33.4% of Mazda, effectively controlling Mazda. They share alot of tech and engineering.
GR,
It was more scale of economy, sunk cost, and commonly developed technology, than IP infringement issues. A similar, but much more thorough, coop development was the 2mode hybrd system. GM, DaimlerChyrsler, and later BMW, came together after realising how similar their respective designs were.
Posted by: allen_Z | 09 January 2007 at 09:39 AM
http://www.iddd.de/umtsno/emfkrebs/PublicHealth-EMF.pdf
Posted by: | 23 February 2008 at 08:08 AM