Voltec to power Cadillac Converj, says GM

It’s the turn of Cadillac Converj to run on General Motors’ Voltec, - the future powertrain technology, that combines a lithium-ion battery and a traditional engine as a backup, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said. The two-door Converj will use the same technology as GM’s Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle, due to be launched in November this year. Without committing a date for production, Lutz said the model is now ‘cleared for production’ and will hit the road sometime in 2013. The cars will be able to drive about 40 miles on an electric charge before switching to a gasoline generator for power, Lutz who was speaking at an event organized by the Society of Automotive Analysts in Detroit.
Since the shake-up in the top leadership last year this is the first indication of what GM believes is the initial phase of small and hybrid cars. Making SUVs and pickup trucks comply with US fuel-economy regulations will make them more expensive, which means fewer people will buy them, said Lutz. Lutz also made it clear that GM will continue to be driven predominantly by piston engines, as he believes that despite the growth in electrification, electric vehicles won’t take over any time soon.
The automaker which resurfaced ‘lean’ after a quick Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcy filing in June 2009, plans to focus its business on its four core US brands — Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC and has kept the Volt on or ahead of schedule. Infact, the Volt has now been at the pivot of GM’s effort to reinvent its public image and show that it can compete with rivals led by Toyota on the next generation of hybrid technology. In 2009, the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry said that “GM is at least one generation behind Toyota on advanced, ‘green’ powertrain development.”
Having said that, the profitability of first-generation vehicle remains an issue for the cash starved auto-behemoth. GM executives have admitted that they expect to lose money on the Volt because of its high development costs and the cost of its battery, estimated near $15,000 each. For this reason, GM is said to be working on a range of vehicles in an effort to offset its costs over time that will be based on the ‘Voltec’ plug-in hybrid system. According to Lutz tax credits and other incentives from employers would make the cost closer to $30,000 for many consumers.
However, General Motors Co. expects the company to be ‘solidly profitable’ and expects a turnaround in the operations, when demand for new cars and trucks rebounds to normal levels. Bob Lutz added that the US automaker had made strides only months after it restructured through more than $50 billion in federal aid and a government-led bankruptcy.