Ready to get enspired[sic]?
Buick’s latest concept vehicle, appearing at this week’s Beijing Motor Show, carries on the time-honored tradition of saddling vaporware with awful names, but the vehicle itself is worthy of further consideration. Decked out in a Chinese consumer-friendly red paint job, the coupe-like four-door SUV might not be all that conceptual.
Yes, you’re right, this exact vehicle will not make it to production, nor does General Motors claim it will, but a model not too dissimilar to it could. Just not yet.
The all-electric Enspire and its just-barely-floating roof packs a 410 kW eMotion power source, GM says, allowing for 0-60 sprints of just 4 seconds duration. In normal terms, that’s roughly 550 horsepower, presumably allocated to both axles. Driving range totals 370 miles.
Can the Enspire actually perform this feat? We’d gladly accept visual proof. Regardless, it’s a concept, so there’s really no need to know. GM refers to the Enspire as “an exploration of Buick’s bold design ideas and innovative technologies for future mobility,” and, as far as electric crossovers go, it’s certainly not the most ungainly looking one we’ve seen.
The wide stance/lowered roofline/raised body look is something we’d best get used to, as sporty, crossover-style vehicles seem to be what our collective future holds. Sport, luxury, utility, and green sensibilities combine in these vehicles, covering many bases for an automaker.
Inside the Enspire, gauges and other indicators have been packed into an OLED display screen, while the driver peers through a windshield with the largest head-up display we’ve ever seen.
While there’s no mention of the Enspire concept morphing into a production vehicle, the styling cues and proportions could easily find their way into the future Buick lineup. There’s four GM electric vehicles planned by 2020, and a dedicated EV architecture appears in 2021. The new platform is expected to spawn 11 electric vehicles; some of them will undoubtedly carry the Buick badge.
[Image: General Motors]
Beautiful Buick……………get rid of the name. bring it to market as is.
Unrealistic headlights are unrealistic.
Aside from that, agreed.
I love finding those special creeks to drive through where no water touches the car.
There’s one right by my place. It’s called “Photoshop Creek.”
ha
What the heck, let’s just get rid of windows completely. All that shoulder-checking and situational awareness is so twentieth century.
having a car model lineup full of alliteration worked so well for Ford.
It’s not really alliteration, since the model names don’t start with a B. Like Buick Belchfire, Buick Butthole, etc.
I could like it. It looks sporty without being so obviously a four-door. (Hide the door handles like this and I could maybe find a reason to buy one.) Problem is, at least for a while I need an open bed, and Buick doesn’t make a nice, SMALL, pickup truck. Then again, neither does GM… in the States.
I thought it was a “Tri-Shield” ….what the heck is a BUICK?
Love the “door handles?, we don’t need door handles”school of design…That, and the “steering wheel” with its out of centre hub. Bring back the Deuce and a quarter, on a real frame…with true hardtop styling…and fender skirts…and…
Looks like an Alpha Romeo somehow…
I see more of RAV4
Hmm, a sporty wagon with a bit of ground clearance? Give it headlights and smaller wheels and I’d be interested.
I dream that one day what I see in Photoshop will actually be on the show room floor.
If this is made in China… time wasted
I don’t know if I am ready to ditch wing mirrors for whatever you call those pathetic appendages. I suppose they house cameras but look totally lame. If you aren’t going to have actual mirrors, probably best to just integrate the cameras into the body somewhere lest a passing cyclist or pedestrian accidentally stab themselves in the neck.
That said, if we are all going to be driving crossovers in the future, I guess this is much better than massive hulks built on truck frames and the tall mommy mobiles that will dot the landscape.
Probably cameras feeding displays in the cockpit.
Agreed. The side “mirrors” look like they suffer from “Finding Nemo Little Flipper” syndrome
I’m typing this on a Dell Inspiron desktop PC. Will Dell sue?
I like Buick a lot. However…when “GM refers to the Enspire as “an exploration of Buick’s bold design ideas and innovative technologies for future mobility,”” with the word “exploration” being key here. This means the real Enspire will look much different than this model of imagination.
About the only thing that this enspires is my gag reflex!
Vaporware Concept!
Buick needs to die in the USA, and this needs to have been released 3 years ago as a Cadillac–this is why gm fails and is doomed to keep failing. I’m actually insulted by this concept. Anyone can make a concept and say anything they want about range, power, speed, etc, but where is it?
Audi, Mercedes, BMW, all have active crossover EVs about to be released, all have been discussing and are in testing. Jag just released theirs. GM/Ford/Chrysler/Japanese have NOTHING in this space, currently one of the hottest on the market.
GM has made some pretty bold claims and 2020 is looming, no spy shots or test mules have been spotted, no articles on upcoming production EVs, nothing. They had better start releasing their vaporware EVs and soon if they expect to make it to 2020, put up or shut up, the market isn’t going to wait when Jag, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Tesla, all have offerings to choose from.
Why is it these manufacturers who used to have unique designs all appear to be copying Toyota’s grill treatment? Ugly as sin in my opinion…
Grandpa and grandma will look so cool in this…