Giving voice to a widely held belief in the auto industry, Bernard Robertson, DaimlerChrysler's senior vice president for engineering technologies, noted that Amercians "won't pay exclusively for fuel economy. The way to get this car to market is to make trade-offs to get it close to the point where people will pay for it."
In the words of Jim Holden, DCX president, "What consumers want is for us to mass produce moon-shot technology at down-to-earth prices."
That cost issue is being brought under control, Holden said. When the ESX came out in 1996, it had a cost penalty of US$60,000, and the ESX2 in 1998 had a penalty of US$15,000.
As for a shape that will appeal to consumers, that is of course in the eyes of the beholders, but the ESX3 is certainly more in tune with today's styling tastes than are the other PNGV concepts. DCX also went its own way with its choice of body material, picking plastic over the aluminum used by Ford and GM. While this is undeniably less expensive and lighter, there are quality, production and perception issues with plastic that would need to be addressed.
The progress in fuel efficiency and cost stem from several major improvements in technology, Robertson explained.
Most importantly, the ESX3's mild hybrid electric (or "mybrid") powertrain "combines a clean, efficient diesel engine, electric motor and state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery to achieve an average 72 miles per gallon (3.3 liters/100 km) fuel efficiency. That is two miles per gallon better than the fuel efficiency of its predecessor, the ESX2 in 1998, and close to PNGV's goal of up to 80 mpg (2.9 liters/100 km)."