GM to put electric Cadillac Converj into production
http://tinyurl.com/y9jeq69
General Motors Co. has decided to produce the Cadillac Converj, an
extended-range electric car using the same technology as the Chevrolet
Volt, The Detroit News has learned.
Cadillac included the Converj, a concept car that wowed industry critics
and the public at the 2009 North American International Auto Show, in a
presentation made to the automaker's board of directors Nov. 2,
according to sources familiar with the production plan.
A production date has not been set, and it likely will be a few years
before consumers can buy a Converj.
"Cadillac needs as much excitement in its portfolio as possible, so I
think it's a good strategy for them," said Rebecca Lindland, director of
auto industry research at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.
Cadillac sales have fallen 39.2 percent this year, the steepest decline
among GM's four core brands.
A Cadillac spokesman declined comment.
Before GM emerged from bankruptcy July 10 with about $50 billion in
federal aid, company executives said there were no plans to build the
angular Converj.
At the auto show, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said if the Converj was
approved, the production model would resemble the concept, likening it
to the Chevrolet Camaro's evolution from concept to production.
Lutz said it would have been easier financially to produce a Cadillac
electric vehicle first because a premium brand would command a higher
sticker price, which in turn would help defray the cost of lithium-ion
batteries.
The Converj will expand the number of electric vehicles offered by GM
and spread the technology's cost. GM is spending more than $1 billion on
the Volt program alone and opening a battery pack assembly factory in
Brownstown Township. GM's German carmaker Adam Opel GmbH will produce an
Ampera model in 2011 that uses the same underpinnings.
The electrification of vehicles is seen as a growth area in the auto
industry, and rival automakers have launched electric vehicle plans to
cut the dependence on foreign oil.
The Volt, scheduled for production in November/December 2010, will let
commuters travel up to 40 miles on electric power. The engine kicks in
after its battery is drained by about 70 percent to sustain the
battery's remaining charge to keep the car running for several hundred
miles.
The decision to build the Converj excited dealers.
Cadillac sells a hybrid version of its Cadillac Escalade, but Scott
Allen, a dealer in California, hears from customers who don't normally
think of the large SUV as a traditional hybrid.
"A snazzy-looking little car like that would be cool," Allen said.
GM is years ahead of any of the other manufactures including Ford, in true
electrics. As their economies of scale improves the cost will come down,
because true electrics are much less expensive to build than conventionally
powered vehicles, particularly hybrids which are old out of date technology.
"Jim_Higgins" <gordi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
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Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it
An anonymous loser fired up the
etcha-a-sketch and scratched out:
> If you had a choice between a Cadillac Converj and a 1954 Chevrolet,
> which would you take? As for me, its the Chevy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xwYBBpHg1I
'nuff said.
--
perfectreign
www.perfectreign.com || www.ecmplace.com
a turn signal is a statement, not a request
"George Orwell" <nob...@mixmaster.it> wrote in message
news:42ae39153f581242...@mixmaster.it...
"PerfectReign" <theperf...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:pan.2009.11...@ecmplace.com...
> I as retired automotive engineer who designed crumple zones, I can
> assure you that anyone who would subject their family to any of the
> small or midget cars to save a relative few hundred dollars a year on
> fuel costs, is a fool at best.
Oh, I agree!
http://www.perfectreign.com/stuff/2009/av_hybrid_50.jpg