One of the most exciting cars from January’s Detroit Auto Show was the Cadillac Converj concept car, which General Motors used to showcase its plug-in hybrid technology in a luxury platform. Despite the concept featuring one of the most striking designs we’ve seen in a while, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz said it was designed so that any eventual production version would look “exactly like” the show car, hinting that we may eventually see such a car in showrooms.
The Cadillac plug-in hybrid would feature extra batteries to power a higher-output electric motor than the one in the Volt. The styling of the vehicle would also be slightly different to the Converj concept as much of internal structure, such as the firewall, would need to be sourced from the taller Volt.
The coupe's powertrain would likely feature a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery which would be recharged by a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine after the car travels past its 40 mile electric only range. GM would probably make some minor modifications to the powertrain in order to help differentiate it from the Volt, although we can't be sure what this implies as it seems logical that the Cadillac would either feature a larger battery or a more performance oriented setup.
According to an inside source, the new model will be on the road by 2011 if GM’s financial situation improves. The car would be based on the same Delta platform as the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, and power would also come from the same Voltec plug-in hybrid system. The source also revealed that a seven-seater MPV plug-in hybrid was in the pipeline – already previewed by the 2008 Chevrolet Orlando concept.
GM has consistently stated that its Voltec plug-in hybrid system would be used in other models to spread the investment costs as much as possible, and reports of a Cadillac plug-in hybrid date back as far as last August.
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