The 2010 Chevrolet Volt may be taking center stage in General Motors’ lineup of incredibly fuel-efficient future vehicles, but Larry Nitz – GM’s Executive Director of Hybrid Powertrain Engineering – doesn’t want us to forget about GM’s other upcoming plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Saturn Vue plug-in.
Checking in on GM’s corporate blog, Nitz says the Vue plug-in is progressing as planned and should be ready to hit the market in a “couple of years”. Although the first Vue plug-in development vehicles were using nickel-metal hydride batteries, the test mules have now moved to their production-intended lithium-ion setup. Moreover, there are currently 11 Vue lithium-ion plug-in hybrids testing at GM’s proving grounds in Michigan and Arizona.
Making the plug-in Vue’s development a little easier is the fact that its plug-in system is actually a derivative of GM’s Two-mode hybrid system, a system that has been used in buses since 2003 and most recently launched in the 2008 GMC Yukon / Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrids. In all, the Vue’s hybrid drive has clocked more than 800,000 miles of testing.
Nitz didn’t comment on the Vue’s all-electric range, but did say he expects the front-wheel drive only Vue Plug-in Hybrid to double “the fuel efficiency of any current SUV”.
