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Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid


June 2006
 Filed under: SATURN Car News | SATURN Headlines

- General Motors Steps Up Hybrid Offensive
- Two-mode full-hybrid system offers many benefits

Paris (2006-06-10) -- GM launched the world’s first hybrid pickup truck, the Chevrolet Silverado, in the USA in 2004. At this year’s Detroit Motor Show, GM’s hybrid initiative moved into the second phase: Saturn unveiled the production version of the Vue Green Line Hybrid, the first GM vehicle powered by a new, more affordable hybrid system. The Vue Green Line delivers an estimated 20 percent improvement in fuel economy, depending on driving conditions.

Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid Car

The compact SUV Saturn Vue Green Line uses sophisticated electronic controls and a unique electric motor/generator mated to a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing and an automatic transmission. The innovative powertrain produces

127 kW/170 hp, a significant increase from the 106 kW/143 hp provided by the 2.2-liter gasoline engine in the conventional Saturn Vue, to offer sporty driving performance with exemplary economy and environmental compatibility.

The Vue Green Line’s hybrid system reduces fuel consumption in many ways, including:

-Shutting off the engine when the vehicle is stopped to minimize idling
- Restarting the engine promptly when the brake pedal is released
- Enabling early fuel shut-off during vehicle deceleration
- Capturing vehicle kinetic energy during deceleration (regenerative braking)

Performing intelligent charging of the advanced nickel metal hydride battery when it is most efficient to do so The system also provides additional power from the electric motor/generator when accelerating from a standstill if necessary. Also when the full power of the system is needed, such as when overtaking, additional acceleration power is made available. The new hybrid system is designed so that all additional functions, including the air conditioning, continue to operate even when the vehicle has stopped.

The extra cost of the Vue's hybrid system in the USA will be under $1500 (around 1250 euros), making the entry-level price less than $23,000 (around 19,150 euros). This means the Vue Green Line will be the best-priced hybrid SUV on the American market, and will make the benefits of hybrid technology affordable to a broader customer base. The Vue Green Line will be starting in the USA in summer 2006. It is based on the popular Saturn Vue, whose exterior and interior were restyled for the current model year.


Innovative two-mode full-hybrid system in production from 2007

After its premiere in Detroit, GM presented the production version of the new, two-mode full-hybrid system for the first time in Europe at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. It is uniquely compact and scalable to vehicles of all sizes. It combines proven automatic transmission technology and progressive electronic controlling technology in an integrated, compact and powerful system, which can be used in both gasoline and diesel engines. The term “Two-Mode” highlights the fact that the system is optimized for city as well as highway driving. GM’s two-mode full-hybrid system in transit buses has been established as the starting point for the GM-BMW-DaimlerChrysler collaboration. The system integrates conventional automatic transmission technology with a patented hybrid-electric drive system to deliver the world’s first two-mode full hybrid.

This new system will debut in the USA in GM’s new, full-size Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs in 2007. Next year, the GM Baltimore transmission plant in White Marsh, Maryland (USA) will start production of the world’s first transmission for the two-mode hybrid system for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. GM will launch a range of hybrids, providing customers with several levels of fuel economy savings at different price points on vehicles ranging from cars to full-size SUVs. It is a strategy that leverages hybrid technology to produce the greatest overall benefit over a wide range of products in GM’s portfolio.

Source: GME Product Development & Technology Communications

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