LA Show: GM Announces Plug-In

At the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday, General Motors announced its plans to produce a plug-in hybrid version of its Saturn Vue Green Line SUV that, according to one GM engineer we spoke to at the show, could achieve fuel economy as high as 70 mpg. The plug-in hybrid Vue will use a modified version of GM's two-mode hybrid system as well as a lithium-ion battery pack to provide greater battery capacity and the ability to be recharged from an external electrical outlet. GM expects the batteries to offer an electric-only driving range of about 10 miles at 30 mph. The powertrain will combine two electric motors with GM's 3.6-liter V-6 engine with direct injection. The vehicle is based on the redesigned Saturn Vue (pictured above) that made its debut at the LA Auto Show. GM has not announced when the plug-in hybrid will go into production, citing the need to overcome technological hurdles involving the lithium ion technology.

The LA Auto Show announcement officially places plug-in hybrid technology within GM's efforts to offer a wide portfolio of hybrid systems at various price points. The Saturn Vue Green Line currently on sale uses a simpler belt-alternator starter hybrid system that will be available in the Saturn Aura Green Line and Chevrolet Malibu hybrid next year. The two-mode hybrid system will debut in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs in 2007 and be expanded to the Cadillac Escalade as well as the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups in 2008. Also that year, the first front-wheel-drive application of the two-mode system will be available - without plug-in capability - in the Vue Green Line, while the belt-alternator hybrid system will continue on as an option. An all-wheel-drive version of the two-mode hybrid system of the Vue Green Line will go on sale in 2009 and, presumably, the plug-in hybrid version would become available sometime after that.