GM Mild Hybrid System To Return In 2011, On Steroids Page 2

By John Voelcker

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The much higher torque output will allow it to fit a range of future engines, including boosted gasoline direct-injection engines and even diesels, to deliver fuel economy gains of 15-20%.

"Production of vehicles equipped with this hybrid technology could eventually exceed 100,000 units per year ," said Dan Hancock, vice president of Powertrain Global Engineering, during a technical briefing at the Geneva announcement.

GM spokesman Brian Corbett confirmed to GreenCarReports.com, "We are developing a next-gen GM Hybrid system that will debut in 2011." He said it would likely appear in the second quarter (April-June) of 2011, which we presume means on 2012 models.

That timeline has slipped somewhat from the announced Fall 2010 launch date, because the Generation 2 BAS system was one of several development programs frozen last fall when GM slashed expenses as it asked the Federal Government to rescue it.

Models still up in the air

The company hasn't revealed what models the new BAS system will be used for. But, Corbett said, "it will be more cost effective, more powerful and [can] be applied to wider array of vehicles than the current GM Hybrid system used in the Malibu, Vue, and Aura."

Last week, Corbett confirmed the higher volume goals for the Gen 2 BAS system, perhaps reaching the vicinity of 100,000 units a year after the first two years. This reinforced Hancock's projections from 18 months ago, so the program appears to be soldiering on after a short delay.

As we've noted before, future vehicles will use a variety of technologies to raise mileage dramatically in all car classes.

Given the new fuel-economy regulations, we expect to see the Gen 2 BAS system deployed far and wide on four-, six-, and even eight-cylinder GM engines throughout its model lineup. And yes, that could include pickup trucks.

In other words, there's a bit of life left in the BAS system yet. You'd just never know it from the media coverage.

2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

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