The death of the Saturn brand won't slow down the roll-out of General Motors' plug-in hybrid powertrain, Tom Stephens, vice president of GM's global product development said today.
The decision partially reverses a GM-announced decision last week to kill the Saturn brand along with all its vehicles.
Stephens said GM now plans to install the advanced gasoline-electric drivetrain in a compact crossover vehicle and introduce it at the same time as the Saturn Vue plug-in was to debut, early in 2011.
Stephens would not say which vehicle would get the plug-in powertrain, which was to debut in the Saturn Vue.
But the plug-in hybrid system, which will be teamed with GM's Two Mode front-wheel drive transmission, was designed to go into a compact crossover. So GM could install it in a vehicle similar to the Saturn Vue, such as the Chevrolet Equinox or GMC Terrain.
The plug-in Vue would have delivered fuel economy of about 35 mpg, or slightly higher.
"If you look at what [President] Obama is asking for it is not just hybrids. He's asking for plug-in technology. Well, that plug in technology will be applied to one of GM's four core brands," Stephens said.
"And so it doesn't just go away because Saturn goes away. We are going to plug it in. You have to stay tuned to which brand we are going to put it in. The good news is that the introduction of this technology will not be delayed. It is going to be on time," Stephens told Automotive News.
GM plans to start production in early 2011 and deliver the first plug-in hybrids to the Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute for fleet testing, Stephens said. EPRI is a non-profit organization that conducts research into electricity.
GM had planned to launch a full hybrid version of the Vue this summer using its acclaimed Two Mode transmission and then add the plug-in feature in 2011. Now GM is going to launch both the Two Mode transmission with the plug-in feature all at once in 2011.
"We will continue to do our development on the FWD Two-Mode hybrid system. We are modifying it with a bigger battery. We are modifying the software and control systems. We are adding the charge port. We intend to deliver the vehicles right off the production line," said Stephens.
No date has yet been determined for when consumers will be offered a plug-in hybrid. Stephens said the price of fuel may play a role in determining that. Toyota also plans to launch a test fleet of plug-in Priuses before offering them to consumers.
On other topics Stephens said:
• GM is continuing to negotiate with potential partners to put into production a new smaller version of the Duramax diesel engine. GM stopped work on the New York plant that would have built the engine, and halted integration work in March.
The engine, which features several novel design features, was slated to go into light-duty versions of GM pickups and SUVs next year. "We're still having discussions with potential partners. I can't discuss any of the details or specifics, but we are still trying to find a partner to take that into production," he said.
• With the death later this year of the Saturn Aura hybrid, GM will have more hybrid parts, such as batteries and electronics to build higher volumes of the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, which uses the identical powertrain. And that's just what GM will do if consumer demand is there, Stephens said.
"With the additional component inventory that won't be used in the Saturn Aura, I should be able to apply that to the Chevrolet Malibu," Stephens said. "If demand is high, we'll probably run out."
• If GM sells Opel, its German affiliate, there's no telling how that would affect GM's engineering capability. GM relies on Opel for small-car engineering and for fuel cell development.
"It puts many scenarios up," he said. "But GM knows the single most important thing to our survival is being able to deliver great cars and trucks."
