xcel
09-12-2007, 12:04 AM
The E-Flex platform with European style and a diesel is only a dream here in the US. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/AUTO04/709110341/1148/AUTO01)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Opel_Flextreme.jpgJohn McCormick - Detroit Free Press - Sept. 11. 2007
The Opel Flextreme PHEV concept uses a diesel engine as the range extender and an all-electric drive with a range of 34 miles for everything else.
FRANKFURT, Germany -- The night before the environmentally focused Frankfurt auto show, General Motors Corp. laid out its green credentials with the unveiling of the Opel Flextreme.
As the latest version of GM's electrically driven E-Flex vehicle architecture, the Flextreme concept follows on the heels of the hit Chevrolet Volt concept.
The new concept differs from the Volt in its body design and use of a small diesel engine generator, or range extender, to charge the lithium-ion battery pack. Diesel engines account for more than 50 percent of sales in some European markets.
The Volt has a gasoline-fueled generator, while a third version of the E-Flex, revealed recently in China, uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its on-board energy source.
At the Frankfurt preview, Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman of global product development, highlighted the Flextreme's 55 km (34-mile) battery range.
"As 75 percent of Europeans commute less than 55 kilometers a day, the vehicle could effectively be emissions-free," Lutz said. Even when the 1.3-liter turbo diesel motor kicks in to charge the battery, the powertrain's emissions are predicted to be less than 40 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, which is a third of the standard the European Union is considering for passenger vehicles in 2012 … http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/AUTO04/709110341/1148/AUTO01
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Opel_Flextreme.jpgJohn McCormick - Detroit Free Press - Sept. 11. 2007
The Opel Flextreme PHEV concept uses a diesel engine as the range extender and an all-electric drive with a range of 34 miles for everything else.
FRANKFURT, Germany -- The night before the environmentally focused Frankfurt auto show, General Motors Corp. laid out its green credentials with the unveiling of the Opel Flextreme.
As the latest version of GM's electrically driven E-Flex vehicle architecture, the Flextreme concept follows on the heels of the hit Chevrolet Volt concept.
The new concept differs from the Volt in its body design and use of a small diesel engine generator, or range extender, to charge the lithium-ion battery pack. Diesel engines account for more than 50 percent of sales in some European markets.
The Volt has a gasoline-fueled generator, while a third version of the E-Flex, revealed recently in China, uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its on-board energy source.
At the Frankfurt preview, Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman of global product development, highlighted the Flextreme's 55 km (34-mile) battery range.
"As 75 percent of Europeans commute less than 55 kilometers a day, the vehicle could effectively be emissions-free," Lutz said. Even when the 1.3-liter turbo diesel motor kicks in to charge the battery, the powertrain's emissions are predicted to be less than 40 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, which is a third of the standard the European Union is considering for passenger vehicles in 2012 … http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/AUTO04/709110341/1148/AUTO01