GM's director of Hybrid Powertrain Engineering Larry Nitz has apparently taken to calling the Saturn VUE 2-Mode plug-in hybrid the "other" GM plug-in due to all the attention the Chevy Volt gets.

At the Plug-in 2008 conference he gave an update on the vehicle and has written about it on GM's FastLane blog.

He mentioned that there are currently 11 plug-in VUEs undergoing testing on the Milford proving grounds, and they brought one to show off at the aforementioned conference in San Jose, California.

The vehicles are based on the 2-mode hybrid front wheel drivetrain that is soon to make its appearance in the 2-mode (non plugin) VUE going into production later this year.

The plug-in prototypes are using extensively tested lithium-ion packs and Nitz notes plug-in charge integration is fully operational.

The 2-mode VUE is slated for production in 2010, and is a few months or more ahead of the Volt since the hybrid system is going into a vehicle that already exists.

It is expected that the plug-in VUE could cover up to 10 miles of electric driving range, but in practice usually never will.  The is because the car is not an E-REV, the battery is integrated into the 2-mode hybrid system, and controllers will switch the vehicle between pure EV (both low and high speed) and ICE power depending on the driving needs of the moment ( see prior post ).

In the end, Mr. Nitz noted the car has "the promise of potentially doubling the fuel efficiency of any current SUV." While GM has not recently given exact figures, early reports suggest 70 mpg is possible.

Source ( FastLane Blog )

 

Wow, 70mpg!

 

Great news, keep on going with your two track approach to bringing our plug-in future to fruition, GM. Go Green Motors, Go!

 

70 MILES PER GALLON !

Bring it On !!

 

OH Yea!! its getting good.

 

My Saturn Aura only get 30 mpg. This VUE is awesome. I need this vehicle NOW !!

 

Great fuel economy of course, but remember you will have to plug it in to acheive 70mpg (or whatever the maximum is). Of course, we all know that electricity used as fuel is much cheaper than gasoline.

 

This is unbelievable !
The current Saturn VUE Green Line Hybrid is estimated at 25city/32hwy mpg. Jacking it up to a whopping 70 mpg would be a massive engineering accomplishment. Only GM could achieve such greatness. Put that in your tailpipe Toyota !

 

"...extensively tested lithium-ion packs..."

Does anyone know the maker of the battery packs? 70 mpg...good enough for a start. It will be tough waiting for a Volt. Especially if the MSRP is reasonable.

 

Too bad it is only front wheel drive.
How about the All Wheel Drive edition?

 

Here we go again with crazy-high fuel economy ratings to call out for attention. It's not a constant 70 mpg, but rather for the first X miles of a trip, while still remarkable, it's a bit of a stretch of the truth.

 

The last article on Coulomb Technologies covered this a bit, but plug-in hybrids like this and the volt could have a huge impact on not just transportation, but the use of renewable energy as well. I've heard about this for a couple years, but this seems to be the best summary I've seen...

http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid520.php

 

I've gone to the electric car gatherings and owners of the electric Toyota RAV claim 120 miles/charge. Why such a difference with the Volt (40-50)

 

Excellent vehicle for short distance driving in dense cities. Fairly good for the suburbanites...

 

Just get it to market soon. Anything like this will decrease our dependence on foreign oil. I'm glad GM is really gung-ho about the plug-ins and e-flex since this is also forcing the competition to get into the game. In the end, America will be using less oil and that's better for all of us, whether we can afford a Volt or not.

 

How much will something like that go for? More than the Volt?

 

There are a several things about the plug-in VUE that make it especially appealing.....

1) The basic vehicle is one of the newest in the Saturn line-up, designed by GM in Germany as the Opel Antara crossover that's received rave reviews.... http://www.uberauto.com/news/opel/opel_antara_-_elegant_4wd_crossover_2006080242.html *

2) The plug-in VUE will be the first vehicle to employ the FWD version of GM's 2 mode hybrid transmission incorporating TWO 74HP oil-cooled electric motors (148 HP total)

3) Although the plug-in VUE should achieve mileage considerably better than a Prius, its gasoline engine is essentially the same engine as GM uses in the Cadillac CTS, a direct- injected 3.6L V6

4) The plug-in VUE will easily tow most boat or horse traiiers as well as 5 passengers along with all their "stuff" while delivering the performance of a powerful V6 (assisted as needed by its 148HP electric motors)

5) The plug-in VUE design will lend itself to an added-cost long-range EV-only version (approx 35 miles) by use of a 16kWh Li-Ion battery like that in the Volt (however, GM will neither confirm nor deny this for competitive reasons)

*The basic VUE has European handling, plus fit, finish & up-scale interiors comparable to those of BMW X5 & X3 CUVs, which at its highly competitive pricing accounts for its ~100% increase in sales from June '07 to June '08 (while sales of most other SUVs have in general "tanked") -- we can thank Bob Lutz in large measure for this!

 

To be clear, the 70 miles includes the electric charge from plugging in. So it's really more like 70 miles uses 1 gallon of gasoline plus some amount of coal, natural gas, or nuclear fuel that is used to make the electricity. So 70mpg is kind of a fudge.

As a comparison, the Prius plug-in conversion kits advertise 100+ mpg.

The Volt is a lot less confusing. With the Volt, you don't add electricity to increase mpg. The first 40 miles are all electric, and anything over that is (hopefully) 50mpg. That 50mpg is all gasoline, no charge from the grid added to fudge that number.

 

#16 nasaman says: "3) Although the plug-in VUE should achieve mileage considerably better than a Prius,..."
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Be careful here. If you compare apples to apples, the plug-in Prius will get 100mpg or more.

 

18 Dave G:

And the plug in Prius has a significant factor less of the utility of a plug in VUE. Its not even Apples to Apples since most people prefer an SUV

 

#16 nasaman
I knew we'd hear from you on the plug-in Vue! Any news on a 35 mi AER plug-in Vue?

 

2010 will be known as the start of the end opec's hold on american motorists .if only GM can weather the next 2 to 3 years , it can regain its place in the industrtal world !

 

This is really good news, because I've always believed that even despite current gas prices a smal/medium CUV like the Vue or GM's Theta platform have a real place in the market. Moreover, GM N.A. isn't going to prosper on Smart Car sized offerings.

 

I would love to have this technology in an Aura, or in a Cruze with the 1.4L turbo. Heck, put it in the new Camaro.

 

"I’ve gone to the electric car gatherings and owners of the electric Toyota RAV claim 120 miles/charge. Why such a difference with the Volt (40-50)"

Because the Volt is very conservative in its battery usage - it only uses half the battery capacity so its really 80-100 miles, as i suspect the RAV users are talking full to empty. The volt will have MUCH longer battery life (as in.. don't need to replace after 3-5 years) as the RAV's probably do.
Lutz made it seem like they're getting more than 40, so who knows what the final result will be?

This plugin vue is sounding pretty nice.. perhaps it will be my mom's next car!
(Mine of course, will be the volt )
(ok.. price and availability pending.)