Detroit Auto Show: A Cadillac defibrillated by a Volt
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
One of the absolute smash hits of the Detroit show -- so sayeth I -- is Cadillac’s concept Converj, a gorgeous, provocative, heated diamond of a sports coupe that could -- just theoretically -- contain the same range-extended gas-electric hybrid powertrain from the Volt.
GM has inevitably hung a branded name around this technology: Volt-tec. (Whatever happened to E-Flex?) Like the Volt, the car is proposed with a 16 kilowatt-hour battery and a 40-mile all-electric range. The Converj joins the Fisker Karma in the growing class of proposed luxury plug-in hybrids.
‘The Converj,’ intoned GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, ‘proves electric cars can be luxury, and luxury can be electric.’
Love the Converj with a ‘j.’ So street.
In any event, I caught up with the Converj designer, Simon Cox, who runs GM’s London-based design studio. Lutz ‘wanted a vehicle that looked doable and relevant,’ Cox said. The packaging advantages of the Volt-tec powertrain is made manifest, says Cox, in the dramatic cab-forward posture of the car, ‘doable’ because there’s not a big chunk of an engine under the hood. In fact, the car has a nose worthy of a mid-engine Lambo.
Yes, well, there’s just one leetle bit of a problem with Converj. The Volt-tec powertrain is obstinately front-drive and any Cadillac coupe worth its wreath and crest would be rear drive. I’m sure that can be fixed in rewrite.
And then, after kicking the Converj around awhile, Cox turns to me and asks, ‘So, what do you think? Is GM doing enough?’
-- Dan Neil
Related stories:
Carmakers’ hopes ride on minis
Chrysler (again) works to design itself a miracle
Can the new Taurus save Ford, again?
Fisker Droptop concept debuts, and more blue sky
Building a better Prius
A Cadillac defibrillated by a Volt
Toyota’s all-electric city car
GM says, ‘We’re a freedom company’
The Volt Bar and Grill
Mercedes blitzkriegs Motown
In photos: Detroit Production Cars
In photos: Detroit Concept Cars