Russia Gets Its First Homegrown Hybrid, Yo
Yo, wazzup?`Want to get your hands on Russia’s first homegrown hybrid, yo? All you need to do is get yo sorry azz over to Moscow, dat Russia for you, yo. According to Itar-Tass, the Russian yo-Auto company shows their “yo” hybrid at the yo-mobile pavilion in downtown Moscow from January 2 through 11. Yo, dat’s right.
At the yo-mobile pavilion, you will find a yo-microvan, a yo-cross coupe, and a yo-minitruck, All are “environment-friendly and energy-saving cars for everyday use in urban conditions powered both by gasoline and liquefied gas,” as Itar-Tass promises.
Of course, Itar-Tass doesn’t live under a rock and has heard of the plug-in craze. They asked why yo doesn’t “follow the lead of world car manufacturers.” Yo, did they get an earful:
Alexander Sinkevich, the technical director of the yo-Auto company, said that his company is dead-set “against electricity-powered cars. If the world motor fleet is replaced with electrical cars, global electricity consumption will go up four-fold, but there are shortages of electricity supplies already now. The future belongs to hybrid cars. Hybrid power units of such cars generate electricity from natural gas, which weighs less, and it take less time to charge the car. Moreover, hybrid cars have a longer fuel distance than electric cars.”
Yo, dat’s right.
Yo-mobiles promise a (certainly non-EPA) 67 mpg rating, and come without range anxiety: 400 km or 250 miles on a single tank! All yo-mobiles are equipped with the full complement of electronics, full GPS GLONASS navigation devices, A/C, a telephone with a keyboard (listen up, LaHood, yo!) Internet and multimedia.
A plant is being built near St. Petersburg that will crank-out 10,000 yo-mobiles a year, yo.
And in case yo are wondering where the name comes from: yo-Auto is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the New Jersey Nets. Yo yo yo foos it be da hippest thang to come out of Russia, yo.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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