2011 Buick Regal

Discontinued in 2004, the new Regal is a rebadged and slightly redesigned version of the Opel Insignia which is already popular in Europe.  The new Regal which will begin selling next year in the US as a 2011 model will initially be built in Germany for its first 12 to 15 months of production.  It will begin production in North America in 2011.

According to a report in Wards’ Auto, GM will begin production of a mild-hybrid version of the Regal later that year.  This would then be the first vehicle GM makes using its second-generation belt/alternator/starter or BAS+ hybrid system.  The system is reported to achieve 20% increase in fuel economy over standard gas versions of the vehicle.

The new BAS+ system has a 120 V lithium ion pack made by Hitachi and, takes up 24% less space, has 40% less mass, and has 33% more power than the current system, such as the one found in the Malibu Hybrid. That car was discontinued due to weak demand. The new system has slow speed EV only operation, electric assist during acceleration and engine off at stops.

The Regal will launch initially with a 2.4 L 4-cylinder direct injection engine. A 2.0 L turbo model, expected achieve 30 mpg on the highway will follow next year.

Jim Frederico, the Regal’s vehicle line director told Ward’s that the car has the appropriate dimensions to house not only the BAS+ system but also the upcoming 2-mode plugin drivetrain as well.

That drivetrain was initially intended for the Saturn VUE. After Saturn was terminated, GM next said it would appear in a similar-sized small Buick SUV. After those plans were also scrapped from negative public feedback GM hasn’t announced where the drivetrain would debut.

Placing it in this mid-sized sedan may be just the right solution.  What do you think?

Source (Wards Auto, subscription required)

2nd Generation GM BAS+ System

The Chevrolet Corvette, however, remains GM’s iconic lynchpin sports car. It is powered by a very highly spirited line of V8 gas engines, though new CAFE rules regulating a fleet average of 35.5 MPG by 2016 have some pundits wondering if the powerhouse’s days could be numbered.

Not so says Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman in charge of product development. In fact, Stephens doesn’t even think the V-8 has to go.

“I don’t believe that we need to do a six-cylinder engine in a Corvette at this time,” he said.

Down the road, he plans to keep the car alive no matter what it takes even if that means hybridization.

“We will only do a hybrid if that is what is required to maintain the vehicle,” says Stephens.

GM has plans to keep the car viable for the near future without resorting to hybridization.  “I think we have a pretty good plan right now that probably will not require a hybrid in the near term,” he says.  These efforts will include reducing the car’s weight, using direction injection, cylinder deactivation, variable valve timing and low rolling resistance tires.

The base 2010 Corvette uses a 430-hp, 6.2-liter V-8 that gets 16 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway.

Looking at the layout of the Fisker Karma, for example, with its 400 horses and sub-6 second 0 to 60, creating a plugin Corvette could certainly be a possibility.  Even so, GM denies it even has such a project on the drawing board.

We have “no plans for a hybrid Corvette at this time,” says GM spokesperson Rob Peterson.

Source (Automotive News, sub required)

This year’s Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany has brought with it several new electric car concepts that demonstrate the range of expression cars that do not run on gas can display.

Audi

At one end of the extreme we have the Audi e-tron.  This is a 2-seat performance car based on the current gas-powered R8.  It uses 4 electric motors, one at each wheel which together develop 313 horsepower and a fearsome 3319 foot-pounds of torque ( compare that to the Volt’s 295 ft-lb).  This configuration allows the car to go from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds but also from 37 to 75 mph in 4.1 seconds.

The car has a 52 kwh lithium-ion battery pack of which 42.4 kwh is useable, that will deliver 154 miles of range.  At 230 V, charge time is from 6 to 8 hours.

Audi noted the value of the supercar’s mind boggling torque:

The e-tron is able to freely distribute the powerful torque of its four electric motors to the wheels as required. This so-called torque vectoring allows for dazzling dynamics and an undreamed-of level of agility and precision when cornering.

Audi also makes it clear they do not believe electric cars are ready for prime-time. announcing “there is still a lot of work to do before electric cars are ready for volume production.”

Though the Volt debuted as a show car concept shell without inner workings, apparently this car is the real deal.  According to Audi President Johan de Nysschen, “the show car itself is a running prototype.”

How would you like to test drive that?

At the other end we have two odd little birds that are paired with more mainstream big brothers.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen L1, as its name implies, is a one-liter hybrid car that uses a 0.8 L 2 cylinder diesel engine mated to a 10 kw electric motor and a lithium ion battery that is not grid-chargeable. It delivers 40 hp and 0 to 60 time is 14.3 seconds.  Torque here is 100 nm.

Of course this concept isn’t new, VW’s first iteration was shown in 2002.  The main goal of the car is extreme fuel economy, and according to Volkswagen, that will be 170 MPG.

Volkswagen also displayed its mainstream upcoming BEV called the E-Up!, that they are calling “the Beetle of the 21st Century”

The E-Up! will not arrive into production until 2013 and then is only intended for use in city environments. Volkswagen thinks vehicular electrification wont fully take hold until 2020.

The car has 3+1 seating and is powered by a 60 kw motor that propels it from 0 to 60 in 11.3 seconds.  The 18 kwh total lithium-ion battery will allow 100 miles of range fully charged, with charging taking up to 5 hours on 230V.

The car also gets a 1.4 square meter solar panel on the roof that will supply electricity to the drivetrain while in operation or turn a cooling fan when parked in the sunlight.

Renault

Finally Renault introduced four new electric car concepts.

One of them is the rather bizarre Twizy ZE which is similar to an enclosed motorcycle with four oddly-shaped wheels that appear square.  It has a 15 kw motor with a top speed of 47 mph and the two occupants sit in tandem. It is said to have the performance characteristics of a 125cc motorbike.

Renault also unveiled the Fluence sedan which will be the electric car that will be used in Israel for Better Place battery swapping.  It is a stylish and reasonable sedan that has a 95 hp (70 kw) motor and a 99 mile range.  Though it can be charged in 5 hours at 230 V, it has the option of a 3-minute “Quickdrop” at a Better Place station.

No matter what your preference, it is clear that electricity is taking the automotive market by storm.  Concepts are taking very wide artistic liberties now as a automakers explore the boundaries of pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles.

There is no stopping it now, gasoline is dying a slow death.

Right now it isn’t really possible to walk into your local dealership and pick up an electric car, although you can get your hands on one with a lot of effort and money.

What we do have at our widespread disposal are state-of-the-art hybrids.  Though GM for example has applied hybrid technologies to its large trucks like the Chevy Tahoe, and that serves its purpose, I feel focusing on the small light sedan and optimizing it for efficiency make the most sense to me.

From my work here on GM-Volt.com not only have I been given and continue to get unrestricted access to GM executives and engineers, but I enjoy access to executives and vehicles from all the automakers.  A particularly fun perk is getting one-week test drives in some of the latest cars.  I took this opportunity to test drive two of the latest mainstream hybrids, the 2010 Prius and the 2010 Insight.  I will have the 2010 Fusion hybrid next week.

I compared the Insight and Prius side by side on several parameters, and offer a video of my impression at the end of the post.

I found the Prius to outperform the Insight in all areas but price.  It is faster, more powerful, more solid and better handling.  It has better interior space and technological nuances.  Mostly importantly it got tremendous fuel economy.  On a 6.5 mile course I was able to achieve 92.5 MPG in the Prius, with reasonable driving style and moving safely with the flow of the traffic.  On another 12 mile course I obtained 81 MPG.  The Insight could only achieve 62.5 MPG on that same course.

The Prius beings at $22,000 and the Insight at $19,800, making price the only parameter the Insight did better.  Recent reports indicate Honda is scrambling to put out a mid-cycle engineering upgrade to the new Insight to address its shortcomings.

At the end of the day however, neither of these cars can be compared to the Volt.  Though I have yet to drive the production model it will clearly be faster, more powerful, quieter, cooler and more high tech.  Most importantly it will drive 40 miles without the use of any gas at all.  Yes it will at first be more expensive, yet after rebates at $32,500 a Volt is only slightly more than a fully loaded Prius which is $31,770.

When I asked Mr. Lutz at the time whether GM would build the Converj, he replied if it were up to him they would, but due to GM’s “extreme financial stringency” at the time, they “would have to ask the federal government if the car would qualify for loan for extremely energy efficient new vehicle programs.”  Yes, I detected a bit of despondency in his tone.  By the end of that month he announced his retirement.

Now of course with the newborn GM, Maximum Bob is re-energized and staying to take over product development, marketing, and communications.

In a new interview with USA Today Lutz admitted his prior despair and the reason for his change of heart.

“When I made the decision to retire, I thought we’d be in bankruptcy for a long time. I thought we’d lose our freedom to design and build the products the public wants as opposed to the products the government wants to see on the road,” said the 77 year old Lutz. “I thought all of the fun is gone from the business. … But lo, and behold, the government task force were not a bunch of ogres. They were extremely helpful, and their only agenda was to make GM the best company it could be.”

Yet despite his fathering of the Volt and the clear path GM is taking to greener cars, including a new dedicated hybrid, Lutz still appears skeptical about how successful such vehicles can be.

“Other than in the media, there is not a groundswell toward green vehicles in the United States,” said Lutz. “In fact, they’re a very hard sell.”

(USA Today)

Indeed GM has public plans to launch 14 hybrids by 2012 and 26 by 2014.  The next question is whether these dedicated hybrid or hybrids should have unique and distinctive styling as does the Prius or the Inisght.  Though the Prius’ design is clearly polarizing it obviously attracts some buyers who want to display to the world that they are driving a hybrid.

Ed Welburn is GM’s VP of Design and I had a chance to ask him this question on a web chat.

Do you think hybrid vehicles should have unique designs like the Prius and not simply be versions of standard cars like the Malibu was, and are you developing new unique dedicated hybrid designs for your 2 mode hybrid system and BAS+?
That is a subject that we debate in the studios every day. I believe it can be an advantage to give a hybrid vehicle a unique asthetic. Volt (an electric vehicle) has a unique asthetic because of its aerodynamic characteristic and the creative design ideas involved. But the debate goes on…

So it looks like this may be a hot button issue in the conference rooms of General Motors’ design studios. Maybe we should help them out with a poll.

Chevrolet manger Ed Peper admits GM learned its lesson.

“One of the issues with the Malibu hybrid has been that the four cylinder 6 speed transmission Malibu gets 33 MPG on the highway,” he said. ” It has the best fuel economy of any mid-size car out there for a normal gas engine, so it makes it that much tougher to make a hybrid that gets significant better gas mileage than that.”

The 2009 4-cylinder Malibu has an EPA rating of 22 MPG city | 33 MPG hwy. The 2009 Malibu hybrid gets 26 MPG city | 34 MPG highway. It uses GM’s first generation mild belt-alternator-started hybrid system.

“Consumers are not going to pay for it unless they can get significant better fuel economy,” he said.

Peper disclosed to GM-Volt.com that GM is now working to develop an extremely fuel efficient dedicated hybrid besides the Volt.

“What we are trying to work towards is ‘Yes,’ we will have other hybrid vehicles (besides the Volt) but we are trying to work towards a dedicated hybrid,” he said. “We think that’s probably a better way for us to go longer term.”

“I think when we bring out a hybrid, and I think its very important, we’ve got to make sure it has significantly better fuel economy than a non-hybrid,” said Peper.

GM

We here are quite familiar with the extended-range electric car design that the Volt employs. GM is using its negative experience with the EV-1 and the notable range-anxiety customers experienced to improve on the electric car.  By adding a gasoline generator and an electric range that will satisfy 78% of the population’s daily driving needs, GM believes it can offer consumers the best of both worlds.  The Volt will allow for the pure electric driving experience and gas-free driving while at the same time eliminating range anxiety and the potential for limitless driving.

The company has been working hard to perfect the car’s engineering and for the most part has been doing it all transparently, magnified I hope by this site.

Nissan

The Japanese company is the recipient of $1.6 billion in federal loans for the purpose of retooling a plant for EVs and building battery assembly facility in the US.  They will be globally launching a mass production electric car at the end of 2010 around the same time the Volt arrives.  The car will be a 5 seat four door compact pure electric sedan with 100 miles of driving range.

“We’re going to the end of the spectrum, believing that is the way to go,” said Eric Noziere, Nissan North America’s vice-president for product planning.

Nissan doesn’t think range anxiety will be an issue.

Ford

Ford, also a recipient of DOE retooling loans ($5.9 B), as well  plans to mass produce a pure electric C-class car with a 100 mile electric range in 2011. They are sharing the risk with partner Magna International.  Ford is also currently producing a strong hybrid Ford Fusion, and will bring out a plug-in hybrid Escape for the mass market in 2012.  The company appears to be diversifying its electrification solutions in case one category doesn’t take off. Their plan it seems is to let the people decide.  The company has specifically criticized shortcomings of the EREV design and has no intentions of making one.

So who will be the winner here, and is there room for them all?

Source (CNN)

As we have learned from discussions with GM’s battery people, the company continues to work with multiple battery suppliers and is always looking for new cell technology to test.

In early 2008, GM announced that they had committed to purchasing lithium-ion cells from Hitachi Vehicle Energy Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. The Japanese company has recently developed very high power density cells that would be particularly good for hybrid applications, where large amounts of energy storage isn’t needed, just the ability to withdraw energy quickly in high power requiring conditions.

GM will be using these cells in their next-generation BAS+ mild hybrid systems that are expected to deliver 20% efficient improvement over the current system, and provide three times the power.

The systems works by providing engine off at stops, brief electric-only propulsion, and a more powerful electric motor to enhance engine efficiency.

By the end of June, GM had sold 8,349 hybrid vehicles in 2009.  Besides the Volt, they obviously have big plans for them in the future.

According to Reuters, the company has placed an order with Hitachi for enough lithium-ion cells to build 100,000 hybrid cars beginning next year.  Each vehicle uses from 30 to 50 cells.

GM sources indicate that this order is for multiple years of production and on a global scale, but nonetheless confirms GM’s belief that gas prices will rise and that consumers will continue to show growing interest in fuel efficient vehicles.

Source (Reuters)

Bloomberg reports that Toyota’s new President Aiko and GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson are to have a meeting in August to discuss the next step.  Citing persons familiar with the plan, the report said Toyota planned to offer GM the opportunity to build a GM-branded version of the Prius at NUMMI, speculating that such a move would motivate GM, who is half owner, to keep the plant open.

On Monday, however, GM issued a statement indicating it is leaving NUMMI behind as part of the 363 sale to stay with the old GM.

GM spokesperson Tom Pyden told GM-Volt.com that GM was not “able to reach an agreement with Toyota on potential future product at NUMMI.”  He noted this decision was made by GM North American President Troy Clarke. “We are not in current discussions with Toyota on licensing their synergy drive,” Clarke told GM-Volt.com last week. “I would point out that we are working like crazy on our own hybrid technology.”

“We were also at a point in the 363 sale process whereby we needed to designate NUMMI – like all other assets and contracts of GM – as either ‘New GM’ or ‘Old GM’,” said Pyden.  “Without an agreement on a potential future product, we went with the ‘Old GM’ designation regarding our ownership interest.”

Toyota spokesperson Bill Kwong denied the possibility Toyota was offering to build the Prius at NUMMI with GM.  He told GM-Volt.com “Toyota currently has no interest in building the Prius at NUMMI.”  He denied knowledge of any such offer noting “they are just rumors.”

Despite NUMMI being cast aside from the new GM, the company still hasn’t ruled out future collaborations.  “We have enjoyed a very positive and beneficial partnership with Toyota for the past 25 years, and we remain open to future opportunities of mutual interest,” says an official GM statement.

Thus it remains unclear if Toyota secretly offered a GM-branded Prius to GM in exchange for continuing the joint venture at NUMMI, or will still offer such an option in the future.

So is the rumor of a GM-branded Prius finally dead?

“Yes,” says GM spokesperson Pat Morrisey.  “That puts the rumor to rest.”

I hope so, but if not enjoy the 2011 Buick Irony pictured above.

Source (Bloomberg) and (GM)