2014 Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain To Get eAssist Hybrid System
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Starting with its rollout in the 2012 Buick Lacrosse, GM has steadily added its eAssist mild-hybrid system to an expanding roster of vehicles.
Next year, it will be offered as an option on the 2014 Chevrolet Equinox and the 2014 GMC Terrain, which will be the first crossover utility vehicles to receive the system.
The news was reported by GM Insider this morning, based on Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) cards issued by General Motors for 2014 models.
UPDATE: GM representative Joe LaMuraglia contacted Green Car Reports to say the original report was incorrect. The VIN card located by GM Insider, he claimed, was a mockup that contained only placeholder information, not actual production data.
Following Chevy nomenclature, the Equinox with the mild hybrid system added to the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine will likely be dubbed the 2014 Chevrolet Equinox Eco.
The "Eco" suffix indicates Chevrolet's most fuel-efficient models, and on the 2013 Malibu and the 2014 Impala, it means the car is fitted with the 2.4-liter engine and hybrid system.
Only the Cruze Eco compact sedan breaks the mold, with a downsized and turbocharged 1.4-liter engine rather than the larger four with the hybrid system.
Other cars currently offering the eAssist system (which is the Buick label) as standard or optional include the Buick Verano compact sedan, Regal mid-size sedan, and Lacrosse full-size sedan.
The Terrain drossover will be the first GMC vehicle to receive the mild-hybrid system and, as yet, it's unclear how General Motors' all-truck brand will label its highest gas-mileage option.
The eAssist system consists of a 0.6-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack and an electric belt-alternator-starter motor.
That motor not only acts as a conventional starter when the engine shuts off at stops, but can also feed added electric torque into the engine so the six-speed automatic transmission doesn't have to downshift--meaning the engine can run at lower and more efficient speeds.
Finally, the motor can run as a generator to recharge the battery pack under regenerative braking.
The mild-hybrid 2.4-liter engine is expected to be a new option for the two crossovers, adding to the current (non-hybrid) 2.4-liter and the more powerful 3.6-liter V-6.
The most fuel-efficient version of the Equinox this year is the front-wheel drive model with conventional 2.4-liter engine, which is rated at 26 mpg combined (22 mpg city, 32 mpg highway).
The mild-hybrid system is likely to boost each test-cycle number by a few miles per gallon.
The Equinox Eco ratings, however, won't be as high as those delivered by full hybrid vehicles, which can run on electricity alone at least part of the time at low speeds and under light loads.
The two 2014 crossover hybrids will compete with a future Toyota RAV4 Hybrid model, based on the all-new 2013 RAV4 crossover just launched by Toyota.
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That is the problem. There are NO advantage of the belt system beside cost. Even that is arguable. GM is really silly in sticking with its "crappy" mild hybrid system. If they want to keep the cost down, then just add it to all GM cars as standard option. If People are going to "pay" for it, then buyers will expect more out of it.
GM's marketing team needs some new leadership on this issue...
And GM does appear to be rolling out the eAssist system across an increasing number of vehicles. It's standard on the four-cylinder Lacrosse and Regal, optional on Verano, Impala, and Malibu, and with more coming.
Might I suggest: inadequate, weak, substandard, suboptimal, unimpressive, irrelevant, or even pathetic?
Xiaolong also put it in quotation marks, for reasons I'm not sure I understand.
If the Two-Mode system cost less & Chevy offered it in more than one configuration, it might have had a chance.
But its very high cost and truck owners' contempt for what they thought "hybrid owners" were like politically likely doomed it, as you indicate in "lambasted by insults".
See here for more on GM's future technical directions:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1080494_gm-to-concentrate-on-plug-in-electric-cars-downplay-hybrids
I understand GM's "mild" hybrid configuration long time ago. The problem is that GM is NOT trying hard at all in its attempt at traditional parallel hybrid configuration. That could be resulting from all the "copyright" IP that other automakers already patented. But trying to use a "belt" driven alternator to increase efficiency is just silly in my mind, especially the type of belt system that GM is using. Sure, it keeps the initial cost down, but like you said, the ROIC is so low for buyers, it really doesn't bring any significant benefit.
Also, a typical start/stop system would bring almost as much saving those "mild" hybrid. I think GM's marketing team wanted that word "hybrid" more than the technology itself.
The GM eAssist mild hybrid system, OTOH, produces noticeable EPA ratings improvements that GM has concluded *do* provide a useful cost-benefit ratio. The company must boost its overall corporate average fuel economy; eAssist will play a big role.
You may not much like it, but I personally think GM made a smart choice by avoiding the dreaded H-word in marketing the system--either as eAssist or as a Chevy "Eco" model.
Have an opinion?Join the conversation!