Ideal weight for a CUV would be about 3200 lbs.

How does that math work? Wouldn’t this take more like 9 or 10 months with two engines?

@netrun–the system has been in use since 2003 in buses then scaled down for light vehicles, but its essentially the same. Almost 100 million service miles have been accumulated for total bus fleet…so they know what’s going on. The challenge is stuffing it into a package as small as the VUE and controlling the thermal episodes.

800k miles of testing is four engine durability tests. If you get lucky, you can run one engine back-to-back so you’d only need a total of two engines. It should take you about three months, tops.

And, since it’s a “totally new technology” you can write the test spec however you like and decide on what your acceptable criteria are after the test has completed.

If anyone thinks this has never happened before, just look around at all the crap GM has been selling all these years and you’ll see plenty of examples.

Most here haven’t had the opportunity to drive a Two Mode Hybrid. I did. I wnated to know the reasons they’re getting hammered here.

Practically seamless performance. Better fuel economy and real power. Trans knew where it was and what gear it wanted every shift, up or down. Mash it and it hauls; for a heavy SUV.

Go drive one for yourselves.

No. One way or another, this $16K-overpriced thing will sell about as well as the longer-EV-legged but $20K-overpriced Volt. Which is to say, nearly not at all. At least it will probably get here sooner.

Oh, and the “V6 power” isn’t going to help. Probably too late to get GM to fix that.

Rob,

Yep. A diet and exercise are what’s indicated, not a new wardrobe and accessories.

Ed, you apparently haven’t worked in this industry. Often less people means more progress.
At GM, programs are rarely understaffed.
Overmanaged perhaps, but rarely understaffed.

It seems amazing that car companies (not just GM) don’t implement simple fuel saving measures. For example: Cobalt XFE, or the Civic HX (older generations). These vehicles probably drive just like any other model, but offer significant mileage gains.

Full disclosure: I own a ‘98 Civic HX. The car has a slightly different engine from other civics of that year, 14″ aluminum wheels, low resistance tires (at least originally), tall gearing, and tips the scales at 2400 lbs. I have never gotten below 30 mpg (despite my best attempts), consistently get around 35 mpg in mixed Long Island driving, and get 40+ on long highway trips. The car feels and drives like a normal car.

Perhaps a better example would be the last generation civic HX, which supposedly offers the same mileage as my HX, but offers better (five star) crash test ratings and side airbags.

I find it frustrating that simple solutions are not being further exploited to make a modern small vehicle that can match or beat the fuel economy of a ten year old, hooned to death, 100,000 mile beater? Oh, and doesn’t look weird (Yaris, Fit, Civic).

It comes from the management school that teaches that if one man can dig a 3′ by 3′ by 3′ hole in one hour, five thousand men could dig the same hole in a fraction of a second.

Ineconomies of scale, writ large.

That’s already done.

Back away and let them work unencumbered.

Yeah, Ed has a point. In general, GM needs to get used to the fact that they can’t continue to make a variety of bets an many different platforms, models and technologies. Ford actually is way ahead of them on this, out of necessity.

Chrysler on the other hand has $0 for any bets.

Don’t proliferate the old tenets of poor management.

Besides, the “9 Pregnant Women” philosophy is supposedly on it’s way out.

Please let it die…