Our Next-Generation GM Hybrid

Loved the news in the press release. Keep up the excellent work !

Can't wait for Coskata (ethanol) initiative to materialize. Together with Hybrids and Volt, this will shape the auto industry for the next decade....and then there is Equinox with Fuel Cell !

-Uday

any ideas on how much more this hybrid will weigh over its pure gas counterparts? also, when are we going to get diesel hybrids? It makes alot of sense, but no one has picked up on it yet. and the heck with your fuel cell vehicles. You only test them in certian areas. Come test on in Kansas. That will really put a vehicle through the ropes. Extreme cold and heat. It can be 76 degrees one day and 28 the next.

I welcome a hybrid system like this. Being relatively in-expensive and less complex then a "full hybrid" system, GM can spread the fuel efficiency increases over a wider spectrum of customers. Benefits include Lithium Ion batteries getting proven and tested on a wide scale, customers saving fuel and money, and pumping a few less tons of emissions into the atmosphere.

I would suggest to take this hybrid concept one step further in a few years and make this a "standard" on vehicles vs. just an "option" as it currently stands. The system could become as ubiquitous and ordinary as Air Conditioning and Power Windows are on vehicles now. Is this a consideration at GM?

I think I would be paying very close attention to what VW is getting ready to release in Europe, which is a diesel/hybrid version of the Golf that will supposedly get around 83MPG. If that be the case, then this presents an excellent case of how existing technology such as diesel engines, which in of themselves already had good fuel economy can serve as appropriate compliments to a hybrid drive train.

You at GM already have lots of expertise in this area, especially in regards to the hybrid buses you produce. But A diesel hybrid car that gets close to 100 MPG... that seems like a very straightforward approach. I hope that this variant is on your list of potential developments.

This sounds great but I still think GM needs to test more diesel engines for applications other than large trucks. I own a 2007 Duramax and love it and would consider buying a new car also if I could get a diesel in it also. European car companies obviously have luck with them overseas so why not offer them in America?

I always liked the idea of the BAS hybrid, and this is a nice tweak and welcome announcement. Except for one thing: 2010?? Why are you announcing this a full 2 years ahead of production? And what the heck could take so long anyway for producing this mild evolution of a mild hybrid, which presumably is already being tested in prototype form? When you make an announcement like this, unfortunately it makes GM look like a lumbering behemouth, not a lean corporation at the top of its game. I also think you're going to hurt sales of the current BAS hybrids, unless you announce plans for a retrofit kit.

I don't understand why the alternator-motor wasn't just put on the end of the crankshaft to eliminate the belts which have to be the weak link in the system

No Plug?

NO SALE!!!

I agree with Bob L that continually announcing products/improvements 2-3 years away can have a very negative impact on GM'S image, particularly hybrid/fuel technology. The new Camaro, the Volt, this mild hybrid improvement, were all 2+ years away when announced, that by the time they are out, they could be "old" either in appearance (Camaro, even though it had rave reviews when announced), or technolgy. I do not know how well mild hybrids are selling, but I read this improvement will increase mpg by 1-2 mpg's. I sincerely hope this is not true, for if it is, to me this would be an expected continuous improvement not really worthy of a major announcement, especially one that is two years out, even if vehicle performance was improved. Hopefully, the Volt will not only meet expectations but actually exceed them. Anything less will be another example of "just words".

"...we at GM remain committed to ... reducing the CO2 emissions of all our vehicles. Your thoughts, as always, are welcome."

Thanks for this pledge. I must ask, though, why would GM invest in the high cost of lowering CO2 emissions if it believes that global warming is a "total crock"?

The prospect of ultra-high mpg passenger cars becoming available needs to be addressed by GM. I agree with their short term approach of increasing efficiency of their large trucks and SUVs by going "hybrid". I’m proud of their work on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for the long term. However, the near term trend seems to be toward smaller, higher mpg cars (and higher priced gasoline). Many people (including myself) are not in the market for an SUV or large crossover. To us, 21-25 mpg hwy is still laughable compared to the average small car. GM will be left behind (again) if they fail to offer competitive vehicles in this segment. I love the Volt concept and strategy behind e-flex; but what will GM offer in the 40+ mpg range when I purchase a new vehicle in 2-3 years? Please don’t answer a BAS Aveo.

"Thanks for this pledge. I must ask, though, why would GM invest in the high cost of lowering CO2 emissions if it believes that global warming is a "total crock"?"

when did GM ever release an official statement saying that? Never. Furthermore, reducing CO2 emissions and improving mileage is good for BUSINESS. GM knows it has to compete with hybrids to compete with Toyota. The reasons why they do it are really irrelevant as long as they provide the product people want.

No plug no sale? Is that guy on crack? I would much rather not have to plug a car in. What happens if you forget, or are out somewhere that you can't plug it in overnight? I think GM knows this, but for them to reach 35 mpg fleet wide, they will have to increase fuel milage 32.17 percent. That is mainly with the trucks. Cars only need 12.4 percent increase, where as trucks and suv's need 38.86 percent. I can only hope either someone slaps the EPA around and tells them 35 mpg is stupid, or the 4.5 duramax gets some excellent fuel mileage.

Well, I checked your new mild hybrid belt-starter system and liked, because of the low cost and the few changes needed in a car. Let's ask a bit:

1) Can this be matched to a manual transmission without problems?

2) Will it arrive to Brazil? We've being forgotten by you in a lot of issues. And your cars are the gas-guzzlers of their classes. I traded my 1997 Corsa, which made a 25 mpg average with its 92 hp 1.6 liter 8-valve Family I engine - without using the air-conditioning and driving very, very carefully - for a 2001 Civic, which makes an average 31 mpg, most time in city driving, using the A/C almost all the time, without being any nenpimaniac. Yes, I jumped one class up and have a car that makes better fuel economy than a GM with an 1.0 engine and have better performance than a 2.0 8-valve Family II engine Astra or Vectra.

3) Will you put this technology in all your Zetas, Kappas and future Alphas and give us a lot of inexpensive RWD rides that uses less fuel than some good FWD equivalent ones?

"No plug, no sale"

There is nothing wrong with this poster's comment. Having a plug doesn't mean you have to plug it in (unless it's a true EV). A plug in hybrid gives the owner this option, however. In most vehicle applications, you'll find that the $/mile of plugging in, is less than $/mile of running on gas or diesel.

The plug in option would allow many people the ability to run on electricity MOST of the time...saving money.

Prius 48mpg today and comfortable inside for 4
GM's answer is take a look at our concept cars that may come out.
The Volt is already increasing in price from what I read.
The VUE was a HUGE disappointment to me. I went to the Chicago Auto show to see it.
Its SMALLER a doenst hold a family of 5 anymore while most mini vans had seating for 7 now. Gas mileage for the Hybrid was worse than some of the 4 cylinder MiniVans that cost thousands less.
Go figure. So the Vue doesnt seem to make ANY sense to me.
The Ford Escape made more sense and I am not a Ford guy.

My suggestion is for GM to go buy a Toyota Prius copy it then improve on it. Then I will strongly consider buying your product. I am tired of your compromises. I remember your TBI instead of port fuel injection your competitors offered. Presently, I own two 2007 Prius and mine has averaged slightly over 55 MPG in 25,000 miles. My wife gets 44-48 with hers. Frankly, I would prefer to buy a GM car but the economics do not justify me making that decision. The price I paid for my two cars was in the $23-24K range. That is a reasonable price for a car of this size that retains its resale value.

sheth Wrote, "when did GM ever release an official statement saying that [GM was committed to reducing CO2 emissions]."

I don't know when they first said that, sheth, but it's right in Paragraph 6 of Tom Stephen's article at the top of this page.

Bring back the EV1. I want a vehicle I can plug in at home over night and get a 120 miles between charges. I want to drive by a gas station and give them the bird. With gas predicted to go as high as $4 per gallon this year GM couldn't keep up with the demand for such a vehicle even if every factory they owned produced them. The EV1 would be my everyday car. When I need to take a long trip, I would use my hybrid.

What is going to happen to the economy of this country when crazies like Hugo Chaves and Arab dictators decide to punish this country by cutting the oil supply. We need to get off oil all together for powering passenger vehicles.

The plug in got people excited because like me I could go a month not running the gas engine. My next car will be a plug in whom ever comes out with it first. Get on the ball GM.

I really like the Saab 9-X Biohybrid concept, buy we're never going to see it in the US if the US dollar remains weak compared to the Euro. GM needs to retool a truck plant and start manufacturing premium small cars in North America. Truck sales for GM were down almost 20% last month. It's time to move beyond trucks.

Build a hybrid with a Diesel Engine. Make it available in a small pick-up (not the miniature Colorado/Canyon) that can actually tow something (6500-7000lbs) and you may find me finally buying a GM.

I don't want/need a full size SUV (Tahoe) or a rolling shoe box (Prius). I don't want a full size pickup either with a 5+L V8 that will take $200 to fill up starting 2009 in order to drive less than 400 miles.

Maybe you can announce it at the next auto show - availability date 201x. That way the competition has enough time to top those claims with real product before you can start shipping.

Reiner

Why does GM continue to advertise and market all this hybrid technology to the world when it's almost impossible to buy one from a dealer?

Having a family business which includes several GM stores, the total allotment of hybrid vehicles is essentially zero. Why do we see so many Toyota hybrids on the road? Why does Toyota get credit for being the 'green' car company? Look no further than a GM store and check out how many hybrids are 'not' in stock and you will know the answer. It's time to step up to the plate, give your dealers a realistic product line that can compete in today's ultra competitive market rather than continuing to advertise exciting products that your customers can't buy.

Try to buy a 2008 Vue hybrid or Aura Green Line - good luck!! I know your dealers aren't happy about this situation.

Bob

Just a quick note. Why can't i personalize the hybrid. I thought about a malibu hybrid, but heres the kicker, why can't i get the cool interior? At the very least heated seats? i live in Chicago and want the seats. Personalization is becoming the new item for us under 30. A bluetooth option would be nice as well. Guess I'll see you at the honda dealer. two steps foward but always a step behind.

This is a very heartening statement of yours
"Let there be no doubt that we at GM remain committed to increasing the fuel efficiency and reducing the CO2 emissions of all our vehicles."

Hybrids and indeed electric vehicles are the vehicles of the future. I think it is wonderful to be able to have a vehicle that i can recharge at home rather than spend mega bucks running it on petrol. The innovative electric vehicles developed and manufactured by ZAP are the sort of thing i am talking about.

If you are now going to make a Soltice coupe and are now considering the 4 ecotec turbo in the Camaro, at least use the 2.8 v6 turbo from Saab.Someday that HHR is going to die as ls well as the PT cruiser, and though I love the new Camaro concept as a baby boomer, it will probably be my last car unless it moves to Alpha.

The new Saturn commercial is great. It shows a guy that walks into a Saturn store, looks around and then steps outside to make sure he's really entered a Saturn store. So what GM is really admitting is that until now, Saturn's were really crappy and folks that bought them in the past came back with low expectations. Don't worry you loyal Saturnites - yes there might be a classier skin inside and out. But look closer and you'll see that it's still a really crappy GM car - just like you expect. Because nobody really cares about the product at GM, and they haven't for about 5 years. And even if some try to do better, they can't do anything about it because all decisions are made by the beancounters. To this group, true high quality, reliability, and performance do not matter because they are only concerned about cost. So, making them cheap, with the "perception" of looking decent is their game. Sales do not matter.

So welcome back you loyal Saturn fans - just don't look too closely or it will be all too familiar.

Tom,

I somewhat disagree. Many of the new Saturn cars are strongly based on European models, which are pretty well engineered and regarded. GM actually has invested in their European small cars and we can blame ourselves (as Americans) for supporting SUV sales for so long. I'm very disappointed in GM, however for not having the foresight to predict the current trend in premium small cars and higher mpg vehicles. I saw this coming years ago, so why didn't they?

Jeremy,

I agree that a number of Saturns are now badge engineered Opels, but that brand isn't exactly very highly regarded either. Ask any German what they think of Opel and the response will likely be "bottom of the food chain". Both the Vue and Astra get relatively low fuel economy, and there are just way too many rough edges and cheap choices in materials and features. However, my comments above were more focused on the Aura - even though it took car of the year awards, it hasn't had much sales success because it is still a cheap car. Too much cheap hard interior plastic instead of the more expensive soft touch, and largely unrefined engine choices with poor fuel economy. The Sky looks great from a distance, but cheap materials, cheap convertible operation, poorly engineered storage, crappy audio, unrefined transmission and engines - did I miss anything of importance? Oh yeah, priced above the competition like Miata that gets all these things right.

GM doesn't operate with foresight, but rather as worn down, tired and antiquated has-been, too worried about whether they will have a paycheck next week. And the continued focus on cheapening the product is not helping their sales. The buying public sees right throught it.

Dear Tom, It is amazing how desperation leads us to our best creative thinking. Imagine a new internal combustion engine completely off the charts, delivers high torque at 0 RPM's but can spin off the tack dial, requires very little oil, runs at 800F, small, light weight, uses twice as much water as fuel, requires no transmission, and gets 100MPG at highway speeds in today’s full size car. Yeah, couldn't sleep with this one. OK, lets design a rotor on a shaft. The rotor contains internal vanes similar to the cross section of a sea shell spiraling outward from very small to large. Down the shaft we inject pre-compressed air from on board storage tanks in very low volumes and high pressure to the rotor center. We inject fuel and ignite it. Tremendous heat and expansion of gases expands outward creating a torquing force as it expands through the spiraling vanes. The tremendous heat is cooled by injecting a small amount of water which instantly becomes super heated steam further driving the rotor and preventing a melt down. The mixture of hot gases and steam exits the rotor where it is cooled and the water is re-condensed and re-used. Hold on to your hat Tom, out of our way Vett! So what if we fill up with 2-1/2 gallons of gas and compressed air every 250 miles.
Fun to dream isn't it?

Tom Jenkins said: "The new Saturn commercial is great. It shows a guy that walks into a Saturn store, looks around and then steps outside to make sure he's really entered a Saturn store. So what GM is really admitting is that until now, Saturn's were really crappy and folks that bought them in the past came back with low expectations."

Tom,

All the more reason that GM should scrap the Saturn brand completely, and market these cars for what they are -- European-inspired and designed Opels.

Opel may or may not be considered a first-rate brand in Europe these days, but in the States, GM should use the cachet and prestige of the cars from their European subsidiary as being "Euro-inspired," and "German-engineered"

Instead of saying, "Look, our Saturns are no longer Saturns so why not take a look?" as you pointed out in your post, GM should just throw away all the old Saturn signs and logos, and tell their dealers to put up Opel signs.

Their ad campaign could then say something such as:

"At last, GM's respected and venerated Opel brand is now available in the U.S. for discerning auto buyers. Now is your chance to own a car inspired by European designers, engineered to legendary German standards, and built by Old World craftsmen. Why not treat yourself to cars engineered to feel as at home on the Autobahn with its unlimited speeds, as it is on the twisting narrow streets of quaint German villages and the winding roads of the Black Forest?"

None of it may be exactly true, but as a campaign it would be an improvement over, "Hey, at least Saturn is better than it used to be."

Regards,

Gary Dikkers

Gary,

You can spin the manure with the best of them! LOL!!

From what I've experienced in the reliability of cars built to "legendary German standards", these new Euro -inspired cars would likely break often and be expensive to fix. Not exactly the cheap cheap solution that is the General these days. And with the current exchange rate, GM would probably lose money. But they are already experts at that, right? And continuing to lose money doesn't seem to phase them into changing course. Product quality and sales in the US just don't matter anymore to GM. Actually, I wonder if they EVER have mattered? The fact is GM has been outgunned by the competition and consumers now have much better choices. GM refuses to take notice because they are hell bent on building cheap cars, and duping the public into believing that they are getting something that they are not. They have alienated an entire generation, and they must now INVEST in the product to bring consumers back. And that will never happen as long as the beancounters continue to be in charge.