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MUNICH, Germany — In the race to bring premium hybrid cars to market, the BMW Group and DaimlerChrysler announced on Thursday that they are expanding their collaboration and hustling to develop a mild hybrid-type module for rear-wheel-drive premium cars. The plan is to roll out the new system within the next three years on BMW and Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The surprising part of the announcement is that it did not include any reference to General Motors, which formed an "alliance of equals" with the two German automakers in 2005 at the Hybrid Development Center in Troy, Michigan. The initial agreement called for the joint development of a two-mode hybrid drive system that cuts fuel consumption. "No, we're not involved (in the expansion of the collaboration between BMW and DaimlerChrysler)," GM spokesman Brian Corbett told Inside Line. "It's my understanding all that work will be done in Europe for European cars. They want to go a different route....

Zero-emissions fire protection in Sacramento DaimlerChrysler has the largest fleet of fuel cell vehicles in the world -- more than 100 DaimlerChrysler works with emergency services to prove fuel cell technology More than $1 billion invested in fuel cell technology and almost 2 million miles logged -- more than any other manufacturer DaimlerChrysler builds first fuel cell-powered fire fighter vehicle with Mercedes-Benz F-Cell. (PRNewsFoto/Chrysler Group) DaimlerChrysler has introduced the first fuel cell-powered fire response vehicle. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District will operate the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell as a supervisor's vehicle in the Sacramento area. Outfitted with decals, lights, sirens and a healthy coat of bright red paint, the Fire Service Mercedes-Benz F-Cell is a look into the future use of fuel cell vehicles. The demanding operation of the vehicle will produce valuable data to help develop fuel cell technology. The new fire response F- Cell joins the first fuel ce...

More than 20 Dodge Sprinter Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) will be placed in the United States between now and the first quarter of 2008 as part of a test fleet program. Four of the vehicles are already in operation with customers. DaimlerChrysler is the only auto manufacturer currently evaluating a variety of plug-in hybrid powertrain configurations under customer-operation conditions in real-world service. Battery development is one of the keys to the success of hybrid and fuel cell transportation. Lithium ion holds the greatest promise for battery technology. A number of the Dodge Sprinter PHEVs are equipped with lithium ion batteries which are about half the weight and have much greater storage capacities when compared to nickel-metal hydride batteries. The vehicles will yield technical information through real world driving conditions about lifetime, performance and cost of batteries. "The future of plug-in hybrid technology rests on a number of improvements, the mos...