The Converj would use the same Voltec propulsion system as the Volt though tuned for greater performance.  Besides a stunning and already sufficiently aerodynamic exterior design so too was the interior stunning with its jaw dropping solid touch surface center console

Though from the beginning Bob Lutz wanted to bring the car into production there was substantial opposition both within the company and from the government’s Auto Task Force which questioned the economics of such an expensive  model.  Lutz told GM-Volt.com at the time the car would be priced at “two Volts” or roughly $80,000.

All of the strong pushback apparently forced the car to be shelved by the Spring.

Now that Lutz is in charge, and the company has been reorganized, he and several other executives are apparently trying to revive the program.  Its principal opponents, Troy Clarke who headed GM North America and Mark McNabb who ran Cadillac, have both left the company.

Even though Lutz is pushing for the Converj, the program still remains unfunded.

The car, if it makes it, would be aimed at the wealthy green crowd, and indeed the high cost of first generation Voltec technology has always fueled the argument it should debut in a Cadillac rather than a Chevrolet anyway.

If Lutz’ electric Cadillac does make it to market it will likely be given a new name, and wouldn’t arrive until 2014, more than three years after the Volt.

Source (BusinessWeek)

Bob Lutz told GM-Volt.com at the time that he wanted the car to be produced and even acknowledged that the clay models had been built and that its design had the necessary aerodynamics to achieve the 40 mile range. He also noted the car would cost “about two Volts”.

According to MotorTrend, GM has approved moving the car into production. Also the report cites unidentified GM sources as saying that GM also has approved an as yet unseen 7-seat people-mover/crossover as the third Voltec car, most likely under the Buick brand.

The Converj is to be launched in 2011 as a 2012 model and will remain a 2-door coupe.

The Buick is likely to be based on the Chevy Orlando which shares the same compact Delta platform as the Volt. It is a compact yet spacious vehilce that can either haul cargo or easily seat 7, and could likely readily be adapted to the Voltec drivetrain.

In fitting with this, there have also been recent reports that GM will be unveiling a Buick version similar to the Orlando at the Shanghai auto show on April 20th. Perhaps that will be the new Voltec machine.

Spokespeople for GM have not confirmed these assertions and for now they remain rumors.

Source (MotorTrend)

Currently a 2-Mode hybrid VUE is in pre-production, and launch has been delayed.  Many factors have gone into this delay first and foremost being GM’s financial position and possibly the dead end road Saturn is on.

The 2010 Cadillac SRX, initially previewed a s a fuel cell Voltec derivative Provoq concept, is set for launch this summer.  There will be two drivetrain options, a 3.0-liter Direct Injection and a 2.8-liter turbo.

GM has now acknowledged it is their desire to produce a hybrid version of that vehilce too at some point in the future.  “We would like to add a hybrid (SRX), yes,” Cadillac spokesperson David Caldwell told GM-Volt.com. “But there are no announcements to be made right now.”

The 2-mode VUE is set up to be powerful if not maximally fuel efficient.  The vehicle does a 0 to 60 in 7.4 seconds generating 262 hp and 250 ft-pounds of torque.  With all that strength it returns  27 mpg hwy | 30 mpg city with a 3.0 L V6 engine.

Perhaps a Voltec SRX may come eventually, as we’ve heard before from GM, “Voltec is on the table” for designing the next generation hybrid truck drivetrain.

Incidentally, Mercedes has just revealed its new small SUV ML450 HYBRID. This vehilce uses the same 2-mode hybrid drivetrain that GM is using. I has a 335 HP 8 cylinder engine, with a fuel efficiency of 24 mpg hwy | 21 mpg city.

Source (Edmunds)

Did you engineer the Converj?
Yeah, my job is advanced system integration I did modeling to make sure its propulsion system would work if we go to production.

Are there design blueprints for under the hood?
The car is a concept, so its a design exercise but it has the right configuration in size and space to fit in the Voltec propulsion system.

Would the car have to be changed in shape?
Not really, very close in the shapes and sizes but probably a little bit of a change for Cadillac performance. The expectations of a Cadillac customer are different than a Chevrolet customer.

Have you developed an all wheel drive Voltec model?
We actually did show a chassis with a front electric drive unit and two individual rear wheel motors in the Provoq concept. The front drive motor has a differential.

How about four in-wheel motors, Michelin showed a concept of a tire and wheel with its own electric motor built into it.
That’s more for mini cars or urban-type vehicles. When you need a motor strong enough to drive a car it gets pretty large. Trying to package it in the wheel and turn the wheel is a challenge.

Was the Converj built to be able to be produced?
The original Volt started as a concept based on the propulsion system and we did a lot of modeling that indicated it would work. We worked with design staff but we didn’t have a set of parts that existed to know how the car should be shaped.

To be honest when we did the concept car we did not do it with the thought that it would be a production car. We thought it would be a good public reaction, but it was actually overwhelming. Then so within a couple of weeks of the Auto Show our board of directors said you better do something. We decided we really wanted to do it and do it fast in a reliable way.

The Converj is closer in basic proportions to be able to use the Voltec propulsion system without making any major modifications. The aerodynamics are also a lot closer.

So would you need a bigger battery pack to achieve its stated performance?
On the Converj even though its a concept car we did go through some modeling to see what we could get in terms of performance. When we designed the Voltec system, we had enough bandwidth in the basic subsystem design that we could adjust its performance.

And keep the range 40 miles?
Yes.

By increasing the battery operating window?
Well there’s a number of things that are happening. In the later generations of the Volt Gen 2 stuff that we’re working on, we’re working on the battery. We’re improving things such as the efficiency of cooling so you don’t need as much energy for parasitic losses. We’re looking at ways of improving the electronic control system and simple things like axle ratio change or final drive ratio change allows us to get a little quicker acceleration for the Converj. With the improvements in the battery and control system we can compensate and attain the top speed of the car and attain the driving range.

It wont be like a CTS-V performance?
No, no its going to be a little better and punchier feeling that the Volt off the line.

I asked him about whether the Cadillac Converj would be produced. He said he wanted it to be and said the production clay model is already built and essentially identical. He notes financial difficulties limit the certainty for moving ahead. He also said the government would have to clear it as being worthy of advanced technology loans. He said it would be an internationally accepted vehicle.

I asked him how much the car would cost, he said about “two Volts”.

I asked if he believed GM was responsible for the auto industry’s recent rapid focus towards electrification, and he said he did.

I also asked him why electrification was so important for him. He mentioned the need to displace oil and to achieve legislative efficiency requirements.

He also explained how he believes in three years battery packs will be “way down” in price.

I asked him whether GM could build packs for other companies as a new business considering their new pack assembly plant plan, and he said he saw no reason why not, although said it hadn’t been contemplated yet.

He said the Volt program production volumes remain unchanged despite GM’s financial situation.

Lutz said he does feel Volts wouldn’t sell as well if gas stayed at $1.50 per gallon, and that at first they won’t make GM a profit.

He said the Converj would cost only slightly more than the Volt to build but yet could be sold at double the price and actually make money for GM, and that’s one of the reasons why he said he’s so enthusiastic about bringing the Converj to production.

Bob Lutz GM Interview January 2009 from Lyle Dennis on Vimeo.

Sorry for the play on words.

The vehicle was actually designed in England and not primarily by the same volt design studio that designed the Volt. It has also not been put the the wind tunnel yet but was designed with all of the learning GM acquired in building the Volt aerodynamically. The lead designer Simon Cox told Autocar that the team was charged with designing the car just in July.

Cox said “We wanted an aerodynamic profile and the cab-forward design is a very different look for Cadillac. Fuel-efficient cars don’t have to look boring and undynamic.” And “This is a very real concept in terms of the look and feasibility of it” he said. “The interior is very believable and that was intentional.”

The front grille once again uses the new closed design that the production Volt has.  It is not actuating. The headlamps are pure LEDs and can change colors so that they can in part act as turn signals, which is the same for the tail lights that can turn white to indicate the vehilce is going in reverse.  They are housed in special laser-etched acrylic. It is a two door coupe style and although not designed with a four door variant could theoretically be implemented as such I am told, if the demand is there. The rear spoiler is actuating and activates a higher speeds.

Instead of using standard rear view mirrors, there are small rear-view cameras, which improves aerodynamic drag.

The roof is shown to have solar panels which would be used to help power the A/C compressor for ambient cabin cooling. The concept uses 20 inch wheels in front and 21 inch in back, which would be somewhat large for production. Although the car is a concept, it is being displayed to see public reaction as it could indeed make it to production, something Bob Lutz told me he would like to see happen.

Like the Volt, it continues to use the same Voltec drivetrain, with the same 16 kwh pack and 40 mile electric driving range. It has a 120 kw peak electric motor, and the powertrain is tweaked with new learning stemming from the Volt development program to give it more performance than the Volt with a 8 second 0 to 60 time.  It will also have to “dig a bit deeper” into the battery to do so as one engineer said.

The interior is extremely remarkable and striking too. High-end materials including a suede dashboard top, leather seats, and engineered wood inserts appear. There are above-dash displays showing the side view camera stream in a bilateral panaromic configuration, which gives the driver a far better image than a rear view mirror ever could.

The center stack is entirely a massive touch screen surface and uses OLED displays which are crisp and high definition. If the Volt’s center stack is an iPod, the Converj’s is an iPod touch.

The design manager told me all the components for the interior are actually production capable.

Overall this car is truly impressive aside from its drivetrain, and most likely represents the most beautiful electric car concepts ever shown.

Lets hope Mr. Lutz gets his way and this does go to production. More on this soon when I publish my exclusive 1 to 1 video interview with Mr. Lutz

Enjoy my gallery below.

I am here in Detroit about to get started out to the events. Below you will find a real-time live video stream so you can watch the press conference unfold at 10 AM EST. We expect to see a production version of the 50 mpg Chevy Beat (now called Spark), the high efficiency 7-seater microvan called Chevy Orlando, and the new E-Flex Cadillac. As well we should finally have confirmation that LG Chem/CPI got the Volt battery contract and that they will be building a Volt battery pack assembly plant in Michigan.

There has also been news that Ford has finally decided to jump into the electric car arena, and will be showing a 100 mile range pure electric Focus with production plans for 10,000 units in 2011. That’s of course at their press conference.

I’ll be getting more details from the executives involved as the day goes on. Enjoy and thanks for your questions.

Video feed can be found here .

In fact I have heard from sources that the car would be an example of how far machine-driver interface could be taken, and that it would not be a four door Chevy.

Businessweek has now published more details about the car.

Sources have advised them it will be a brash new 2-door Cadillac Coupe, similar in styling to the upcoming CTS coupe (shown above). The car will be smaller and even bolder.

The design will be so striking that an unnamed GM executive has said it will make “people want it regardless of the energy source.”

The car is noted to be a concept, not necessarily production-intent, but will illustrate how additional vehicle designs could also achieve the 40 mile AER and utilize the E-Flex underpinning. Indeed Volt executive Frank Weber has previously told me that changing designs is the “easy part” relative to the complex undertaking of creating a perfect E-Flex drivetrain.

Source (Businessweek)

President Bush is soon to make an announcement about whether GM will get government loans or possibly have to endure a pre-packaged bankruptcy.

Regardless of the timing there is a rumor brewing.

Sources have told GM-Volt.com that GM has a brand new E-Flex extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) under wraps and have been hoping to unveil it in January at the Detroit Auto Show.

We have known previously that other E-Flex cars were being designed. The last time I spoke to E-Flex Design Chief Bob Boniface he acknowledged that was true. Although he didn’t say exactly what it would be he did say it wouldn’t be a “four door Chevy”

Since about four GM brands are on the chopping block, and we’ve heard rumors of such in the past, Ill go out on a line and predict the car will be a Cadillac. Indeed previous reports have stated the next E-Flex car would be a Cadillac, and vice-chairman Bob Lutz has gone on record stating “there’s going to have to be some kind of dramatic environmental statement from Cadillac.”

Sources indicate that the new car will illustrate just how far one can go technologically in advancing the driver machine interface under the unique circumstance of the car being electrically driven. Considering how costly such an interface might be, it would logically have to be a luxury car.

Furthermore, GM unveiled a Cadillac Provoq crossover concept with an E-Flex drivetrain and fuel cell last year. This same design is to be launched as the Cadillac SRX crossover. It is unknown whether this new car will be an E-Flex SRX with a gas generator, or whether GM has a totally new design.

Thus it looks like we have yet another reason for being excited about GM’s survival and success, one more route away from oil dependence, and one more reason for the Bush administration to give them another chance.

Stay tuned.

The Cadillac Provoq is GM’s latest E-Flex concept car, a luxury crossover with all wheel drive and fuel cell range-extender. Nick Zielinski who used to be the ICE Volt’s chief engineer is now the chief engineer of the hydrogen Volt and Provoq, as well as the fuel cell Equinox. I had a few moments to speak with Nick at the Provoq Detroit unveiling (see post).

What brought about the Provoq design?

We’ve been intrigued with trying doing something with Cadillac, its our high line vehicle, our technology leader, taking our most advanced technology propulsion system and marrying that with Cadillac made a lot of sense.

When you figure fuel cells as we introduce them are going to be low volume and they’re going to be more expensive than traditional propulsion systems. So it made sense from a marketing standpoint to link up with a high line vehicle. It was just a nice marriage between the image of Cadillac and the technology of our most advanced propulsion system. So my role in that one was around the propulsion system of E-flex, since I’m doing the E-Flex fuel cell off the Chevy Volt, we also did the Provoq.

Are you actually in the production pipeline, moving towards a hydrogen fuel cell Volt?

Were working on an E-Flex version of the fuel cell as opposed to the generator set, and were working in the same way were working the regular E-Flex for the Volt. We are moving towards production. We are not making any commitments on production timing. We’ve got a number of issues. We are working on our fifth generation fuel cell stack. Similar to the battery, the readiness of that fuel cell is going to take whether we introduce it and when we introduce it.

Is the fifth generation lighter or smaller or more efficient that the fourth generation?

There are a number of drivers. One of the big things we are doing for the fifth generation is physically making the stack part of it smaller. In our Equinox program the fuel cell stack is pretty tall and what we want to do is get that system smaller. That way we can pack it into a broader range of vehicles. Because of the height of the current stack there were some limitations on the vehicles you could put them into. So the next generation will have much broader application, also some new technologies to address durability which is an issue we continue to need to work on in our fuel cell systems.

What do you mean by durability? Are they fragile and not handle road vibrations well?

No. Thats not really an issue. The way a fuel cell works is they like to be what we call a steady-state device. They like to produce power at a certain operating level and stay that way. A car is a dynamic device. You have to increase the amount and oxygen and hydrogen to get more voltage to make a car accelerate. What happens in a fuel cell is those transients take a little bit of the life out of the stack. So we have to make sure we understand the materials and the chemistries and the membrane that does the conversion to electricity. Things like starting it and stopping it affect that durability. So a lot of work to pull all that stuff together.