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. MORE

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. The mild hybrid Vue (formally known as the Green Line) is a front wheel drive model with a 2.4 MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

The Malibu hybrid shares components with two other GM mild hybrids: the Saturn Aura and Vue hybrids. General Motors has announced that there will be no retail production of the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid for model year (MY) 2010 due to “elevated inventory levels of the 2009 model.” MORE

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.” MORE

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% MORE

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% MORE

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. MORE

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., MORE

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.). MORE

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. MORE

The announcement from General Motors that the technology once planned for the Saturn Vue will now instead end up in a Buick came as a huge shock to me. Can this really be true? MORE

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. MORE

Nitz also noted that the coming next-generation of the mild GM Hybrid System ( earlier post ), which in its current form is applied in the Malibu, VUE and Aura, will offer equivalent power to Honda’s IMA system in the new Insight. by Jack Rosebro. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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% MORE

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." MORE

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. MORE

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. General Motors made it official last week that there will be no 2-Mode, FWD Saturn Vue hybrid. MORE

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 MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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.) MORE

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. MORE

Currently Saturn sells two hybrid vehicles - the VUE and Aura with GM hybrid system - and was also scheduled to offer a two-mode hybrid Vue with a Vue plug-in two-mode hybrid version scheduled for 2011 to be used in a test fleet with the US Department of Energy. Speaking in 2008, Stephens said the Vue two-mode hybrid would deliver around a 50 per cent increase in combined fuel economy compared to the non-hybrid Vue XR. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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). MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE

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% MORE

Prototype Saturn Vue PHEV plugging in to a Coulomb Chargepoint ( earlier post ) in San Jose, CA. Click to enlarge. MORE

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. MORE

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. MORE