Green Car Congress

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

will convert three of DTE Energy’s fleet Saturn VUE SUVs to battery electric powertrains. The all-electric DTE Energy fleet Saturn Vues will be powered by Amp’s exclusive modular electric powertrain system. AMP Holding Inc. AMP, a company engaged in the conversion of new vehicles to full battery-electric drive, unveiled its all-electric conversion of the GM Chevrolet Equinox earlier this year. Earlier post.)

VUE 191

VUE Saturn 2010 Convert 191

Green Car Reports

MARCH 14, 2011

Vue redux The compact crossover that sold for only two years as the 2008 and 2009 Saturn Vue will return to the The shuttered Saturn brand is quickly fading from memory, but now GM plans to bring back one former Saturn model to live on in a new incarnation. But even if you're a Saturn fan, you won't be able to buy one--unless you're a business.

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VUE Saturn 2011 2008 80

Plugs and Cars

JANUARY 4, 2007

GM today announced two contracts to "design and test lithium-ion batteries" for use in the Saturn Vue Plug-in Hybrid announced last month at the LA Auto Show. According to the press release, two variants of Lithium batteries will be "evaluated in prototype Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in hybrids beginning later this year." Johnson Controls/SAFT, the huge battery company at which President Bush first publicly announced his support for plug-in hybrids, received one contract.

2007 100

2007 VUE Saturn Nickel Metal Hydride 100

Hybrid SUV Blog

MAY 17, 2009

In March of 2008 we announced that the upcoming 2009 Saturn Vue hybrid, the one that would be built with GM’s 2-mode hybrid system, might possibly end up being the most popular hybrid SUV yet. Then in November 0f 2008, rumors started circulating that the 2mode Vue would be delayed or “re-timed&# and wouldn’t be launched in late ‘08, but it would instead have to wait another 3-4 months.

Saturn 40

Saturn VUE 2009 Yukon 40

Hybrid SUV Blog

FEBRUARY 1, 2009

The last time we reported on the Two Mode Saturn Vue Green Line was in March, 2008. In November, GM spokesman Brian Corbett announced that the decision had been made to re-time the launch of the 2-mode Vue from December, ‘08 to sometime during the first quarter of 2009. As we now enter February, it stands to reason that the new Vue should reach dealers in the next 60 days (unless it is re-timed again, in which case we’d likely be watching for the 2010 model).

Saturn 40

Saturn VUE Durango 2009 40

Plugs and Cars

JULY 31, 2008

Representatives of GM stoked the clamor for the Volt, and a Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid sat on the show floor. Tags: plug-in 2008 smart car BMW mercedes electric mini electric car plug-in Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid chevy volt andy grove al gore plug-in car Once again, a conference on plug-in cars. Coming on the heels of the Google/Brookings event in Washington, D.C.,

2008 100

2008 Al Gore Plug-in Plug 100

Plugs and Cars

JANUARY 16, 2007

If the Sierra Club, NRDC, and the Union of Concerned Scientists awaken from their CAFE-induced slumber and espouse such a message as Roberts' suggests, projects awaiting commercialization from a Toyota plug-in Prius to the Saturn plug-in Vue and the Volt just might get the jolt need. Tags: union of concerned scientists electric cars urge2 plug-in hybrid chevy volt Saturn grist NRDC vue Sierra Club David Roberts is a staff writer at Grist , an online enviro magazine.

2007 100

2007 VUE Saturn Sierra 100

Green Car Congress

MAY 5, 2009

Prototype Saturn Vue PHEV plugging in to a Coulomb Chargepoint ( earlier post ) in San Jose, CA. Saturn currently sells two hybrid vehicles (VUE and Aura with GM Hybrid System) and was scheduled to begin initially offering a two-mode hybrid Vue ( earlier post ), with a Vue plug-in two-mode hybrid version ( earlier post ) due in 2011 for use in a cooperative demonstration test fleet with the US Dept.

2009 150

2009 VUE Saturn EPRI 150

Plugs and Cars

SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

From the pricey ads in national magazines devoting serious space to the Volt to today's announcement about the plug-in hybrid Saturn Vue, GM is compelling me to take their expressed interest in plug-in cars seriously. As announced in Frankfort and reported in Detroit , GM hopes for a 2009 release of the first Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid SUV.

2007 100

2007 VUE Saturn GM 100

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

GM has simplified the two-mode hybrid system for application in front-wheel drive vehicles—the Saturn VUE being the first instance ( earlier post )—while retaining its functionality and capability, according to Mark Selogie, Senior Manager Power Electronics, GM Powertrain, speaking at the SAE Hybrid Symposium in San Diego (11-12 Feb). The two-mode VUE, which goes on sale later this year, will accelerate from 0-60 mph in 7.5 Simplified schematic of different hybrid systems.

2009 150

2009 VUE San Diego Saturn 150

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 10, 2010

A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) project, funded by GM, found that an ultracapacitor-based energy storage system (ESS) in a Saturn VUE BAS (belt alternator starter) mild hybrid performed at least as well or better than the NiMH battery system in the production hybrid. For the Saturn VUE study, NREL selected off-the-shelf Maxwell 48 V, 165 F modules (each with around 35 Wh usable).

NiMH 245

NiMH 2010 Energy Storage VUE 245

Green Car Congress

JUNE 11, 2009

The Malibu hybrid shares components with two other GM mild hybrids: the Saturn Aura and Vue hybrids. Although GM is committed to delivering MY 2010 Saturn Aura and Vue vehicles as part of its Memorandum of Understanding with Saturn buyer Penske Automotive Group, no decision has been made as to whether or not hybrid variants of those two vehicles will be offered for that year.

Malibu Hybrid 150

Malibu Hybrid 2009 Li-ion 2010 150

Green Car Reports

AUGUST 21, 2009

Just two weeks ago, we reported that GM's first plug-in hybrid vehicle--originally meant to be a Saturn Vue before GM decided to sell Saturn to Pennske--would become a Buick crossover. My, how quickly things change in the new Internet world. As GM said Wednesday on its Fastlane blog, "not all the feedback was positive

Saturn 72

Saturn VUE 2009 Buick 72

Green Car Congress

APRIL 25, 2014

For EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future, GM donated Chevrolet Malibus; for EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge, GM donated Saturn Vues; and for Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility, the company donated Chevrolet Equinoxes. General Motors is continuing its partnership with the US Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory for the EcoCAR 3 collegiate advanced vehicle technology competition.

2014 200

2014 West Virginia VUE Saturn 200

Green Car Reports

MARCH 10, 2010

While the system is being tested in a discontinued Saturn Vue crossover, it now seems likely to appear in a version of either the GMC Terrain or Chevrolet Equinox compact Recent spy shots posted by our sister site Motor Authority show that despite delays, General Motors is continuing to develop the plug-in version of its Two-Mode Hybrid system.

VUE 60

VUE Saturn GMC 2010 60

Plugs and Cars

JULY 25, 2007

Toyota said it would provide prototype versions of plug-in hybrid vehicles to researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and the University of California, Berkeley.The prototype plug-in hybrids will be powered by two oversize packs of nickel-metal hydride batteries Yesterday, in Sacramento A123Systems , the battery manufacturer being used by GM for the Vue and Volt, challenged CARB not to wait for OEM plug-ins. From today's NY Times Toyota to Test Plug-In Hybrid, Rivaling G.M.

2007 100

2007 NiMH Nickel Metal Hydride VUE 100

Green Car Congress

MARCH 5, 2009

The Saturn VUE hybrid posted 188 units, for 6.4% of all VUEs sold. Reported sales of hybrids. Click to enlarge. Reported sales of light-duty hybrids in the US dropped 29% by volume in February year-on-year to 16,020 units. The decline in hybrids was less than the 41% decline in the overall light-duty vehicle market for the month. New hybrid sales represented 2.3% of the new vehicle market, essentially flat with the January 2009 results. In February 2008, hybrids held 1.9%

2009 163

2009 GS 450h Aura VUE 163

Green Car Congress

MAY 9, 2009

At the recent SAE 2009 World Congress in Detroit, General Motors engineers presented the first front-wheel-drive (FWD) iteration of their two-mode hybrid transaxle, termed the 2MT70 ( earlier post ), scheduled for its first application in the Saturn 2009 VUE 2-Mode Hybrid light sport-utility vehicle later this year ( earlier post ). Design parameters of the current design include a 50% improvement in EPA composite fuel economy as compared to a conventional Saturn VUE, as well as a 7.5

2009 218

2009 Saturn GM VUE 218

Plugs and Cars

FEBRUARY 23, 2007

A123 Systems , a much larger company which is providing batteries to GM for possible use in the Vue and Volt, will be showing off a plug-in hybrid powered by its Lithium batteries. Will Bush get the first view of a plug-in Vue? The Detroit News reports that an all-electric pickup and a plug-in hybrid will pay a visit to the White House today.

2007 100

2007 VUE Phoenix Detroit 100

Green Car Congress

DECEMBER 8, 2009

Sales of the Saturn VUE mild hybrid were down 31% to 134 units, for 9.8% of all VUEs sold. Reported US sales of hybrids. Click to enlarge. Reported US sales of hybrids rose 21% year-on-year by volume in November 2009 to 20,003 units. Overall light-duty vehicle sales were essentially flat for the month, according to figures from Autodata, with 746,928 units sold in November 2009, compared to 746,789 units in November 2008. Reported hybrid sales thus represented a 2.7%

2009 185

2009 Sale VUE Saturn 185

Green Car Congress

JUNE 5, 2009

GM would continue production, on a contract basis, of the Saturn Aura, Vue and Outlook. General Motors Corp. and Penske Automotive Group confirmed details of a proposed transaction under which Penske would acquire the Saturn brand. If completed, the deal would save more than 350 dealerships and 13,000 jobs at Saturn and its retailers in the United States, and would preserve the Saturn brand.

Saturn 150

Saturn 2009 Buy Puerto Rico 150

Hybrid SUV Blog

JANUARY 1, 2010

A $7,000 discount on a new hybrid vehicle is unheard of, but that’s essentially what you can get if you buy a 2009 Saturn Vue hybrid SUV before January 4, 2010. You might recall that the 2009 Saturn Vue was supposed to be equipped with the well publicized two-mode hybrid system, similar to what you currently find in the hybrid Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade and other hybrids from BMW and Mercedes Benz.

VUE 40

VUE Saturn Aura Yukon 40

Green Car Congress

MAY 4, 2009

338 units of the Saturn VUE hybrid, representing 11.3% of VUE sales. Monthly US sales of hybrids. Click to enlarge. Reported sales of hybrids in the US reported by Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM and Nissan dropped 45.5% year-on-year in April to 21,735, despite full month sales for the new Honda Insight and the Ford Fusion and Milan hybrids. Total LDV sales in the US were down 34.4%. Earlier post.).

2009 174

2009 Sale LS 600H GS450H 174

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 19, 2009

GM has cancelled its recently announced compact Buick crossover, which would have offered the plug-in hybrid system originally targeted for the Saturn VUE. Earlier post.). In a post on GM’s FastLane blog, Tom Stephens, GM Vice Chairman, who announced the compact two weeks ago, said initial feedback from employees, potential customers, dealers, media, analysts and others on the proposed new compact was consistent and negative.

2009 170

2009 Buick VUE Saturn 170

Plugs and Cars

NOVEMBER 29, 2006

Wagoner said GM is using the Saturn Vue hybrid sport utility vehicle to develop a plug-in hybrid, which can be re-charged from a standard electrical outlet, and will offer biofuel-capable Hummer SUVs. LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Corp. (GM) GM) Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said Wednesday that the U.S. needs to reduce dependence on foreign energy and insisted the No.

2006 100

2006 Saturn Hummer VUE 100

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 6, 2009

The EcoCAR competition, along with its headline sponsors—the US Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM)—challenges 17 universities across the US and Canada to redesign and reengineer a 2009 Saturn VUE to further minimize fuel consumption and reduce emissions. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has joined the EcoCAR consortium as a platinum sponsor of EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge. Earlier post.).

2009 150

2009 EPA VUE Saturn 150

Green Car Congress

JUNE 13, 2009

The competition challenges university engineering students across North America to re-engineer a 2009 Saturn VUE to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions while retaining the vehicle’s performance and consumer appeal. In year two of the competition, teams incorporate their unique powertrains into the Saturn VUE.

2009 150

2009 Ohio Universal VUE 150

Green Car Congress

FEBRUARY 4, 2009

153 VUE Green Line hybrids, representing 5.3% of all VUE sales. Monthly reported sales of hybrids in the US. Click to enlarge. Reported sales of hybrids in the US in January dropped 32.2% by volume from the year before to a combined 15,400 units, a lower rate of decline than that of the overall light-duty vehicle market in the month. Total light duty vehicle sales in the US dropped 37.1% by volume year-on-year to 656,976 units in January, according to figures from Autodata.

2009 150

2009 LS 600H GS 450h Aura 150

Green Car Congress

JANUARY 30, 2017

GM and Honda earlier collaborated in a powertrain cross-supply arrangement in 1999 under which Honda manufactured 50,000 V-6 engines for the Saturn VUE and Honda received diesel engines from GM’s Isuzu affiliate for use in Europe. General Motors and Honda are establishing the auto industry’s first manufacturing joint venture—Fuel Cell System Manufacturing, LLC, FCSM)—to mass-produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system that will be used in future products from each company.

2017 163

2017 Michigan Manufacturer Industrial 163

Plugs and Cars

DECEMBER 28, 2007

GM's Vue and Volt plug-ins have no firm date to appear in showrooms. Financial Times Deutschland has a report on Th!nk nk Global. Putting a little flesh on the bones of previous reporting. 10,000 Think City electric cars in 2009. Parts manufacturing in Thailand and Turkey. As previous reported, plan is to sell the car (€25,000) and lease the battery. Zebra batteries first. Online marketing and sales.

2007 100

2007 VUE Turkey Thailand 100

Hybrid SUV Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

That Saturn hybrid was to be called the Vue Plug-in. The idea was to give the Vue a Buick-style grill and other design features consistent with the Buick line. According to a Motor Authority article at that time, the rebranded Vue “didn’t mesh with the Buick image.” A Buick hybrid crossover has been envisioned for several years. In early 2009, there was great fanfare that the vehicle was on the way. A few months later, it seemed the crossover would never come to be.

Buick 51

Buick VUE 2010 Saturn 51

Plug In Partners

FEBRUARY 15, 2008

General Motors is also on the plug-in bandwagon with its Saturn Vue Green Line. The Vue Green Line will get a two-mode hybrid powertrain later this year and a plug-in variant will be introduced in 2009.

2008 100

2008 Transportation North Carolina VUE 100

Green Car Congress

JULY 23, 2011

The first, a Saturn Vue called the eMOOve, will be a series hybrid, to be completed in 2012. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Hybrid Vehicle Team will work with the UW-Madison Engine Research Center to test implementations of Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) engines being developed by UW mechanical engineering professor Rolf Reitz and his colleagues.

2011 179

2011 Engine Wisconsin VUE 179

Green Car Congress

AUGUST 6, 2009

General Motors will debut its two-mode plug-in hybrid technology—originally intended to appear first in a Saturn VUE, prior to that brand’s sale—in a new Buick crossover vehicle in 2011. The 8 kWh battery pack for the new 2011 Buick PHEV crossover vehicle is prepared for testing at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for GM) Click to enlarge.

2009 185

2009 Buick Li-ion 2011 185

Green Cars News

JUNE 15, 2009

The competition has challenged university engineering students to re-engineer a 2009 Saturn VUE to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions while retaining performance and consumer appeal. The next stage of the competition will see students use their powertrains in the Saturn VUE, while the third year focuses on refining the vehicles to near showroom quality.

Ohio 34

Ohio VUE Saturn Mississippi 34

Green Car Congress

APRIL 3, 2009

362 units of the Saturn VUE hybrid (10.4% Reported US sales of hybrids. Click to enlarge. US sales of hybrids in March 2009 as reported by the automakers dropped 44% by volume year-on-year to 21,433 units; that performance was worse than the total light duty vehicle market, which posted a 36.8% drop by volume for the month compared to March 2008, based on total sales figures from Autodata ( earlier post ). Those results represented a 2.5%

2009 161

2009 LS 600H GS 450h Highlander 161

Green Car Congress

JULY 3, 2009

GM hybrids currently comprise the Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn Aura and Vue BAS hybrids; and the Tahoe, Silverado, Yukon, Sierra, and Cadillac Escalade two-mode hybrids. Hybrid new vehicle market share by month. Click to enlarge. Reported sales of hybrids in the US increased 5.2% by volume in June 2009 year-on-year to 26,205 units, representing 3% of new vehicles sold—marking the highest monthly new vehicle share since April 2008, and the fourth straight month of increasing share.

2009 150

2009 LS 600H GS 450h Camry Hybrid 150

Green Car Congress

MAY 20, 2009

Results of an earlier simulation study of capacitor sizing for the system shows that a 75-100 Whr capacitor bank is appropriate for a Saturn VUE-sized PHEV. The actively coupled ultracapacitor-battery system has four primary components. Source: ANL. Click to enlarge.

2009 213

2009 PHEV Li-ion DC 213

Hybrid SUV Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2009

Saturn Vue (2,280). 2009 won’t end up being a record year for hybrid vehicle sales, but considering the circumstances it would be fair to say that hybrids have held their own. Even though they demand a premium over their non-hybrid counterparts, when compared to similar vehicles equipped with standard gasoline engines, hybrids continue to be a bright area within a mostly hazy car market. In the battle for best selling hybrid SUV of 2009 (U.S.),

2009 43

2009 RX400H Highlander VUE 43

Hybrid SUV Blog

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

As of the time of this writing, buyers in the market for a hybrid sport utility have eleven (11) vehicles to choose from (not including hyrids that have been discontinued such as the Durango, Vue, Aspen and Tribute). Based on what people are searching for on HybridSUV.com and the keyword searches driving traffic from search engines, we recently created a one-page document to help our visitors compare hybrid SUVs. We call this the Hybrid SUV Comparison Chart.

Durango 40

Durango Aspen Tribute VUE 40

Plug In Partners

JANUARY 28, 2008

W e've had the people in our shop go over the new energy bill with an eye for Plug Ins and electric transportation in general. Here is the outline of what the bill intends to do: SECTION 131 TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION SEC 131 Transportation Electrification DOE to establish competitive grants for electric vehicles and PHEVs to encourage early widespread use and advance production of electric (And PHEV) vehicles in USA. $90 90 million per year authorized (2008-2012).

2008 100

2008 PHEV Energy Saturn 100

Plugs and Cars

DECEMBER 22, 2006

As underscored last month when GM announced it would build a plug-in hybrid version of its Saturn Vue, the logic of electric propulsion is compelling. There is more to Dan Neil's recent LA Times column than a favorable review of yet another gasoline-only hybrid. He likes the Nissan Altima Hybrid well enough. Calls it a "Camry hybrid in tight jeans." More important, Neil says, is that it comes from an automaker that had scoffed at "hybridization."

2006 100

2006 VUE Altima Hybrid Saturn 100

Hybrid SUV Blog

JANUARY 17, 2010

Rounding out the list were the Saturn Vue hybrid and the Mercury Mariner hybrid. It’s January and the 2010 car season is officially in full swing now that the doors have opened at the North American International Auto Show. Manufacturers have long since made their plans for the vehicles we will see this year and they are now testing the waters with several new concepts including hybrids and electrics.

Highlander 40

Highlander Tribute VUE 2010 40