General Motors Corp. says it will launch a new wave of mild-hybrid vehicles equipped with lithium-ion batteries in 2010, marking its first use of the advanced battery technology.

The rollout will start in North America and eventually extend globally across various GM brands with total annual volumes exceeding 100,000 vehicles.

GM’s announcement follows a similar one last week by Daimler AG, which plans to
introduce a mild hybrid version of its top-end S-Class sedan in mid-2009. It’s showing the S400 BlueHybrid this week at the Geneva auto show.

GM’s next-generation system will build upon the integrated starter-alternator
offered in micro-hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Vue and
Aura models. GM says the new lithium-ion system can be teamed with a wide
range of powertrains, including naturally aspirated and turbocharged gasoline engines, diesels and bio-fuel engines.

The lithium-ion batteries will be supplied by Hitachi Vehicle Energy Ltd., a subsidiary
of Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. The company previously has supplied a few thousand lithium-ion batteries to Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. for use in hybrid trucks. Hitachi also has supplied electric motors and voltage control inverters to GM for hybrid applications.

GM says the lithium-ion batteries help make the mild hybrid system three times as
powerful as the nickel-metal-hydride system used in current mild hybrids but take up 24 percent less space and are 40 percent lighter. In addition, the electric motors used in the system are three times as powerful. GM notes that the new hybrid system can be paired with its Ecotec four-cylinder engine without major vehicle re-engineering.

Compared to the Saturn Vue hybrid with an integrated starter, the new system
should boost fuel economy by 1-2 mpg. In addition to start-stop functionality that turns the engine off while idling, the new lithium-ion system can provide brief electric-only propulsion (at speeds below 5 mph), boost acceleration, extend fuel cutoff during deceleration and improve regenerative braking performance.

The current mild hybrid carries a $2,000 premium. GM plans to keep prices for the new system about the same, despite initially higher costs.

The lithium-ion batteries used in the mild hybrids will not be powerful enough for use
in full hybrid vehicles. And an even more powerful battery will be required to power the Chevy Volt electric car that GM hopes to launch in 2010. GM is showcasing the new lithium technology in the Saab 9-X BioPower Hybrid concept car at the Geneva show. The Saab concept gets 48 mpg and emits 117 g/km of carbon dioxide.

GM says it will offer eight hybrid vehicles in North America and nine worldwide by
the end of 2008. It plans to introduce a total of 16 new hybrid vehicles over the next four years, including the Buick Lacrosse Eco Hybrid that will be built and sold in China.